BCE/CE vs. BC/AD

I know of several posters, (people whom I respect), who obviously love the Lord; use the terms BCE (before the common era) and CE (common era) instead of BC (before Christ) and AD (Lit: the year of the Lord) when talking about timelines.

I personally do not like the terms BCE and CE, as I feel (my opinion) that these terms are a secular attempt to remove "Christ from the equation" in much the same way as X-Mas....

Which terms do you prefer BCE/CE or BC/AD and why?
Should we as Christians accept the secular terms simply because they have become common usage?

What are your thoughts on the matter?

 

Thank you for your response, PastorSBC1303...

Let me re-phrase my question a little bit.

I think you would agree with me that we see within our society (and the world at large) an attempt to remove all vestiges of Christ from the day to day life of our communities.....

We live in a time when people want to reject Christ, even get rid of the very mention of His name.

I think that we can also agree that Satan doesn't do anything new, but merely refines what he has done in the past......That subtlety and compromise are two weapons he uses to great effect.

Now, if we are to be the salt of the earth (in a preservative sense), if we are to proclaim and stand for the name of Christ.....

Where do we draw the line?

 

Hi pastorSBC1303,

I agree that our mission has not changed, and I agree that lost people act like......well, lost people.

I just got to thinking about all the various ways that we as Christians, by accepting and using certain "accepted" terminology (of which BCE/CE is only an example), tend to lend a certain air of "respectability" by our (on occasion) inaction or adoption of these things. I know that we live in this world, and certain things are going to happen over which we have no control..(Praise God that He is in control!), but as I see little compromises....well it bothers me.

Should we "give and take" in certain areas, or should we not?

I know that this is a little bit of an intelectual exercise, but I think its something to chew on a little bit. How far should we be "pushed" before we "put our backs up"?


Also, I have always heard BCE as Before the Common (not Christian) era, going back to the 70's when I was in school in Ca.

 

Hi Hank,

Very true, but that has been the accepted terminology until the late 20th century......Why change it?

Or a better question would be: Has it been changed to provide "political correctness" or because it is a better, more defining term?

 

Rsr and Dr Bob:

You both make valid points, and at one level I concur.......

This may be an apples to oranges comparison, but bear with me a moment.....

I understand that with advances in technology we have become almost a "global community" (scary thought ) and I understand the need for a certain commonality.

However, as an example, with the notable exception of our military forces (who adopted the metric system to conform to NATO standard), our system of weights and measures are still based on the "English" (is that the term?) system.....Even though the majority of the world is on the metric system. We spend our life's savings on a gallon of gasoline instead of a liter.

Let's face it, we haven't gone metric simply because we as Americans don't want to do so. It is in fact a more scientific system, and is the world wide standard......except in the USA.

Other nations understand this and to a large extent bow to our wishes when doing business with us (even the "Barrels" of oil from OPEC are a concession to American standards).......

Therefore, if we as Americans won't change to a world wide metric system because of our cultural bias.......
Why should Christians change to a system that has been changed that avoids mention of Christ?

 

Hi El-Guero:

The "C" stands for "common" not "Christian".

 

Circuitrider wrote:
____________________________________________
Its inches and pounds for me.
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Meee too! I hate to think of my waistline in centimeters!

 

Hi StraightAndNarrow:

Although I agree that we are in this world but not of it.....
I think that we as Christians and the church as a whole have an obligation to affect the world around us.......The great commission for example tells us to "make disciples", and that's about "affecting" as you can get.

What I'm interested in, and what I used the BCE/BC etc. as an illustration for; is at what point do we decide that we will not comply with the world in order to be "politically Correct" (for lack of a better term)?

I remember when I was studying for a degree in Anthropology during the time that BCE was coming into use; that the professor used that term with glee as he indoctrinated us into the evolutionary "philosophy". It made it so much simpler for him not having to say "BC"......Don't want us eager young minds to think too much about Jesus, now do we?

 

P.S.

Do we really want the world to be like us?
Let's see. Hmmmmm.......
Saved, Sanctified, Bought by the Blood, One in Jesus Christ.....
Doesn't sound too bad to me at all!