Dear John & Doves,

I have been mostly a lurker on this wonderful site for years, but rarely
can add to the excellent knowledge and insights shared here.  As others
often express, this site is a true blessing.  It's exciting, uplifting,
and encouraging to encounter brothers and sisters in the Lord digging
deep into the Scriptures to unveil some of it's hidden truths!

One thing I've noticed over the years, however, is there is sometimes a
misunderstanding over how to calculate years from B.C. to A.D.  Often,
people adjust their calculations for the missing year zero.

A time line is exactly the same as the number line most of us played
with when we were in school. Date calculations are done the same way as
any other mathematical calculations.  The B.C. dates can be looked at as
negative numbers (because they fall to the left of the zero mark), while
A.D. dates correspond to positive numbers.  Therefore, when calculating
the distance between 586 B.C. and the current year of 2007, we simply
add the two numbers together to show that 2,593 years have transpired
(586 + 2,007 = 2,593).  If we need to start with 722 B.C. and add 2,730
years, we simply calculate just like we normally would in math (-722 +
2,730 = 2,008) to bring us to the year 2008 A.D.  (Note: 2,730 - 722 =
2,008)

There is no need to adjust for the year zero!  On a time line, it's the
spaces between the marks that actually make up the year; the marks are
merely convenient placeholders.  Year 1 A.D. on a time line is actually
totally represented by the space between the 0 and 1 marker on the
right-hand side of the time line.  Likewise, year 1 B.C. is totally
represented by the space between the 0 and 1 marker on the left-hand
side of the time line.  (The first month of the year is the 1/12 of the
space that is closest to the zero; the twelfth month of the year is the
1/12 of the space that is closest to the 1.)  Therefore, we're actually
counting spaces, not marks.  Since there is no space for zero, we don't
have to either add or subtract a year to adjust for the missing year.
(It isn't missing!)  Since it's tedious to count spaces, simply do the
calculations the same way you would do any mathematical calculation.  If
you don't believe me, draw a number line and start counting spaces; it
really works!

Carolyn II

(I've posted in the past under the name Carolyn.  However, I've noticed
there is another Carolyn who also posts.  Since the other Carolyn posts
more frequently than I do, I thought I'd add the "II" to my name to
differentiate between the two of us rather than create a new identity
and add confusion.  Hopefully, no harm/no foul/no hurt feelings.  I
doubt most will have a burning desire to accurately identify the past
posts; the vast majority belong to the other Carolyn.)