part ii. pp. 1–27, and in his “Season of the End,” pp. 73–90, where he

refutes the opinions of Newton, Hales, Gresswell and others, and demonstrates that the Passion of Christ took place in the _thirty-fifth_ year of his age, that is, according to the vulgar reckoning in A. D. 33: and, that consequently, the true date of his Nativity was B. C. 3. The Scriptural evidence for this conclusion recommends itself to the mind, both by its simplicity and sufficiency. It appears from Luke iii. 23, that Christ was baptized when he was _thirty_ years of age; and from Luke iv. 16–24, that soon after that period, he began his public ministry. Moreover, from the whole of the Gospel history, particularly that of John, it appears that he was present at _four_, if not _five_, public celebrations of the Passover; and consequently, that his _thirty-fifth_ year was coincident with the date of the Crucifixion. Hence, it clearly follows, that the _epoch of the birth of Christ_ was coincident with the 455th year of the prophetic period of _seventy_ weeks, this being the difference between 35 and 490 years. Again, the intervals of _thirteen_ years between the commissions of Ezra and Nehemiah, and of _twelve_ between that of the latter and his return to the court of Artaxerxes,—amounting to _twenty-five_ years in all,—being deducted from the 455 years, gives the last interval of 430 years to the Nativity. Thus, we perceive a singular coincidence in the period of the pilgrimage and afflictions of the Hebrews in Canaan and Egypt, till the time of Moses; and that of the persecution and sufferings of the Jews in Syria and Egypt, till the Advent of the Messiah! The following table exhibits, according to the two systems, the extent of the _six ages_ of the world:—

TABLE XVI. AGES OF THE WORLD. HEBREW. SEPTUAGINT. Years. Years. First Five Ages 3416 4891 Sixth Age 583 585 ———— ———— THE SIX AGES 3999 5476

Usher states in his “Chronologia Sacra,” p. 45, that the true period from Creation to the Birth of Christ, is 3999 years, _two_ months, _four_ days, and _six_ hours; but, according to the vulgar reckoning 4003 years, _two_ months, _eleven_ days, and _six_ hours! Hence, according to his computation, the true date of the Nativity in current years is A.M. 4000, and the vulgar date A.M. 4004. It is indeed admitted by all chronologers that an error of two or three years was committed by Dionysius Exiguus, who first introduced the Christian era, in A.D. 532; and, by Bede, who followed him, in A.D. 720. Accordingly, Mr. Cuninghame very properly places the commencement of the vulgar era in A.M. 5478; and that of the Public Ministry of Christ, in A.M. 5508, which was in fact the true period of his appearance to the world! In the whole of this interesting inquiry, now approaching a close, we must candidly acknowledge the invaluable assistance we have received from the learned and original works of Mr. Cuninghame, which have been, as it were, our guide through the labyrinth of chronological difficulties, till we have at last arrived at the open field of well-known History.

SECTION II. CONFIRMATION OF THE GREAT EPOCHS.

The epochs of the Nativity and Epiphany of Christ, determined in the preceding Section, receive very strong confirmation from the histories and chronicons of ancient writers both sacred and profane, from the writings of the early Fathers, and from the prophetic arrangement of “the Times and the Seasons” by the Great Θεος, or Supreme “Disposer” of all human events. It is plain, however, that a multiplicity of views both of the Hebrew and the Septuagint chronology may be taken, according as more or fewer of the errors, which we have pointed out in the computation of the different ages of the world, are either adopted or rejected. Dr. Hales, in his “Analysis,” vol. i. pp. 3–7, gives a list of more than a _hundred and twenty_ different dates of the birth of Christ, under the title of “Epochs of the Creation;” and he adds that the list might be swelled to the number of _three hundred_! In such a multitude of discordant dates we might, at first sight, despair of ever arriving at the truth; but let us remember that error is a hydra-headed monster, which in chronology as well as in more sacred subjects, can only be successfully destroyed by the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

It is easy to see the source of the differences of opinion among the learned, in regard to the point under consideration. Instead of taking the sacred Scriptures as their guide, men have chosen rather to follow their own fancies; and, because discrepancies were found to exist in the ancient texts, they have with one consent agreed to abandon the light of internal evidence, and to take refuge in the obscure glimmerings of heathen tradition or the doubtful testimony of Jewish writers and Christian fathers. Hence, we have all varieties of dates, from the bold conjecture of Alphonsus, king of Castile, who supposed that the Mundane Cycle of 7000 years had nearly expired at the birth of Christ, to the traditionary epoch of the Chronicle of Axum in Abyssinia, which, according to Bruce, places that event in the year of the world 5500; and, from the Alexandrian or Constantinopolitan era, which, according to the computation of the Greeks, places it in A. M. 5508, to the Jewish epoch of the “Seder Olam Rabba,” which according to Ganz, dates it in A.M. 3751.

The following Table of the extent of the different ages of the world according to the three texts, will serve the double purpose of showing the leading varieties in the computation of the date of the Nativity from Creation, and of bringing before our readers, at a single glance, a condensed view of the result of our investigations in the preceding pages. As the Samaritan text comprehends only the chronology of the first two ages, the extent of the remaining four ages is borrowed from the Hebrew.

TABLE XVII. AGES OF THE WORLD. HEBREW. SEPTUAGINT. SAMARITAN. Years. Years. Years. 1. Antediluvian age 1656 2262 1307 2. Postdiluvian age 427 1147 1017 3. Patriarchal age 430 431 430 4. Critarchal age 480 612 480 5. Monarchal age 424 439 424 6. Hierarchal age 583 585 583 ———— ———— ———— Birth of Christ A.M. 4000 5476 4241 Error in the Sixth age 2 0 2 Error in the Vulgar date 2 2 2 ———— ———— ———— Extent of the Six ages 4004 5478 4245

In the preceding Table we have reckoned the date of the Birth of Christ in current years, and included the year of Abraham’s sojourning in Egypt in the Patriarchal age of the Septuagint computation.—See page 66 of this Dissertation.