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Ethiopian Orthodox Church

The True Date of the Birth of Christ

DID YOU KNOW THAT the year count in the Ethiopian calendar is 7 years lower than the western one (it’s 2016 in Ethiopia now), as it traditionally places Christ’s birth in 7 AD?

It is well-known that the European date of the birth of Christ, in the so-called year 0, is historically incorrect, in clear continuity with the project of general falsification of Christmas that we witness in the West. It’s interesting to note that even the late Catholic Pope Ratzinger, in his volume “The Childhood of Jesus”, literally admitted that:

the beginning of our calculation of time – the determination of the birth of Jesus – dates back to the monk Dionysius Exiguus (died around 550), who in his calculations was evidently wrong by a few years… “. And this mistake, according to Pope Ratzinger, should be of “six or seven years“.

Regardless of all the possible speculations regarding the Gospel and its historical credibility, Scripture actually provides us with very precise historical references to locate evidence and witnesses of the told events. And in the case of Christ’s birth, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, says clearly that:

“And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.”

The presence of the Holy Family in Bethlehem is determined by the census of Cyrenius (also said Quirinius), which is historically well documented and indisputably placed in the 6 AD Western Calendar.