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Crucifixion darkness

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Crucifixion eclipse refers to a three-hour period of darkness that was reported to have occurred during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by the synoptic gospels of the Christian bible. It is referred to as an eclipse although such phenomena cannot reproduce the specific conditions described in the gospel and related accounts.


Biblical descriptions

According to the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), a period of darkness was associated with Jesus' crucifixion, which took place on the first day of Passover (Nisan 15), and coincided with the crucifixion of Jesus. (The crucifixion narrative of the Gospel of John does not describe the loss of sunlight and places the day of crucifixion on Nisan 14; see also Quartodeciman). All three Synoptic Gospels reported that the darkness began around noon ("the sixth hour") and continued until 3 o'clock ("the ninth hour"):

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. … And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God (Matthew 27: 45, 51-54).
And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (Mark 15:33).
And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst (Luke 23: 44, 45).

Biblical prophecies

The following scripture about a cloudless day solar darkening commencing at noon was recorded during the reign of Uzziah of Judah (Thompson, 1964), several centuries before the crucifixion eclipse accounts:

And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day (Amos 8:9).

Walvoord (1991) has argued that the following scripture would be a sign preceding the great and dreadful Day of the Lord:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come (Joel 2:31).

Non-biblical accounts

Tertiary documents

The 3rd-century Christian historian Sextus Julius Africanus, in a section of his work surviving in quotation by George Syncellus, stated that the chronicler Thallus had called the darkness during the crucifixion a solar eclipse.[1] Africanus objected based on the fact that a solar eclipse could not occur during Passover; the earth is between the sun and the moon during that holiday.

The church historian Eusebius of Caesarea (264 – 340), in his Chronicle, cited a statement of the 2nd-century chronicler Phlegon of Tralles that during the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad (AD 32/33) "a great eclipse of the sun occurred at the sixth hour that excelled every other before it, turning the day into such darkness of night that the stars could be seen in heaven, and the earth moved in Bithynia, toppling many buildings in the city of Nicaea".[2] In the same passage, Eusebius cited another unnamed Greek source also recording earthquakes in the same locations and an eclipse. Eusebius argued the two records had documented events that were simultaneous with the crucifixion of Jesus.

Tertullian, in his Apologeticus, provided a brief description of the darkness that had commenced at noon during the crucifixion. He also indicated that those who were unaware of the prediction for the noontide onset of darkness had called it an eclipse (Bouw 1998).

New Testament Apocrypha

The apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus refers to the crucifixion darkness, stating that it started at midday, lasted three hours, and was caused by the darkening of the Sun. The Gospel states that Pilate was disturbed by a report of what had happened, but that the Judeans he summoned said it was an ordinary solar eclipse.[3] The Gospel of Peter contains another extra-biblical reference to the darkness, stating that the darkness began at midday, covered the whole of Judaea, and led people to go about with lamps believing it to be night.[4]

In a letter written under the name Dionysius the Areopagite (see Pseudo-Dionysius), the author claims to have observed a solar eclipse from Heliopolis, Egypt at the time of the crucifixion.[5] The Archko Volume, a 19th-century forgery purporting to be a collection of ancient documents concerning Jesus, contains a report by Pontius Pilate about the crucifixion events.

Historicity

Some writers contend that the account in the synoptic gospels is mythical and does not correspond to any historical event. For example, Burton Mack suggests that the story was an invention originated by the author of the Gospel of Mark.[6] The unusually long length of time the eclipse is supposed to have lasted has been used an argument against its historicity, as has the lack of mention of the darkness in secular accounts and the Gospel of John.[7]

Use of the eclipse to date the crucifixion

Research to determine the exact date of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ by means of solar eclipses, has yielded inconclusive results (Humphreys & Waddington 1983). Astronomical determinations of the date of the crucifixion have been derived from calculating the dates when the crescent of the new moon would be first visible from Jerusalem, which was used by the Jews to mark the first day of a lunar month, for example Nisan 1. Popular estimates have been April 7, 30 AD, April 3, 33 AD, and April 23, 34 AD (Schafer, 1990; Pratt, 1991).

Extra-biblical records have been incorporated with the determinations of the year of the crucifixion. Eusebius connected the solar darkening with the 18th year of Tiberius’ reign and the earthquakes to the year of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Since Tiberius Claudius Nero (42 BC – 37 AD) ascended the throne in 14 AD, the 18th year of his reign would have occurred in 32 AD. Also, the darkening recorded by Phlegon yielded 32 AD. The fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad is 32 AD because the first Olympiad occurred in 776 BC. The Olympics had been conducted every four years after 796 BC until 394 AD.

Africanus had connected the date of the crucifixion with the fulfillment of one of Daniel’s prophecies. Those predictions indicated the number of years, in groups of sevens, that would transpire between the command to rebuild Jerusalem and the Triumphal Entry (Palm Sunday) of Jesus Christ. Sir Robert Anderson determined 32 A.D. as the year of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ from an examination of that prophecy. His calculation used March 14, 445 B.C. as the date of the decree by Artaxerxes Longimus to rebuild Jerusalem. It served as the start date for the fulfillment of Daniel 9:24-27 (Anderson 1895). His work received concurrences (McClain 1969; Missler 1999). Their works yielded April 6, 32 AD as the date of the Triumphal Entry. Recent corrective analyses by Rickard, the Bible Studies of The Moorings web site, yielded 33 A.D.[1]

Crucifixion eclipse models

Total solar eclipse

Attempts to attribute the crucifixion eclipse to a solar eclipse have been unsuccessful. Several astrophysical features contradict the recorded characteristics of the solar blackout.

Solar eclipses are too brief to account for the crucifixion darkness. The length of the crucifixion darkness described by biblical and extra-biblical sources was more than a full order of magnitude for the totality of solar eclipses. Seven minutes and thirty-one seconds has been the established maximum limit of solar eclipse totality (Brewer, 1991, p. 62). The maximum duration of the total eclipse of November 3, 31 AD, was only one minute and four seconds. The maximum duration of the total eclipse of March 19, 33 AD, was only four minutes six seconds. Neither one had paths of totality passing near Jerusalem. Eclipses lasting at least six minutes, that were close to the crucifixion year, occurred on July 22, 27 AD, for a maximum duration of six minutes and thirty-one seconds and on August 1, 45 AD, for a maximum duration of six minutes and thirty seconds. None of them could satisfy the three-hour criterion.[original research?]

Mark Kidger (1999), an astronomer, compared the Apocryphal Gospel of Peter passage with historical eclipses. He indicated the total eclipse of November 24, 29 AD had the greatest geographical proximity to the site of the crucifixion. He determined its path of totality had passed slightly north of Jerusalem at 11:05 AM (see the NASA diagram of the path of totality for that eclipse [2]). Kidger indicated the maximum level of darkness at totality was just 95% for the eclipsed over Jerusalem. His research indicated that level of darkness would have been unnoticeable for people outdoors. His calculations indicated the eclipse had been total in Nazareth and Galilee for one minute and forty-nine seconds. Kidger (1999, p.71-72) concluded the population in Jerusalem lacked the necessity and the time to light their lamps for that total solar eclipse. Their behavior, as recorded in the Apocryphal Gospel of Peter, had been caused by a considerably longer period of darkness.

Another indicator of greatness of an eclipse is its width of totality. The shadow of the Moon cast by the Sun onto the Earth can reach a maximum North to South width of 230 miles (Brewer, 1991, p. 64). The general path of totality sweeps along a curve from West to East. Phlegon’s account states the great eclipse was witnessed by the city of Nicea in the Roman province of Bithynia. The observers in Jerusalem and Nicea were separated by a north north-west distance that exceeded 600 miles. That was approximately three times wider than the maximum width of totality.[original research?]

Finally, as many other scholars and astronomers had reported,[who?] the crucifixion was at the time of Passover which is always celebrated during full moon. Solar eclipses can only occur at new moon, so it is questionable to attribute the three hours of darkness to a solar eclipse.

Lunar eclipse

Some speculation had been put forth to explain the crucifixion eclipse in terms of heavy cloud cover. Humphreys and Waddington (1983) suggested a meteorological darkening followed by a lunar eclipse could have been interpreted as fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. Subsequently, they set the date of the crucifixion to be April 3, 33 AD. Schaefer’s (1990) calculations indicated that lunar eclipse could not have been seen from Jerusalem. Gaskel (1993) had argued a lunar eclipse during the day of the crucifixion could have received significant attention. Neither biblical nor secular sources have provided accounts of bad weather and/or volcanic clouds that could satisfy the features of that darkness.[original research?]

Notes

  1. ^ George Syncellus, Chronography 391.
  2. ^ Chronicle, Olympiad 202, trans. Carrier (1999).
  3. ^ Gospel of Nicodemus 11.1–2.
  4. ^ Gospel of Peter 5.15–19.
  5. ^ Pseudo-Dionysius, Letter 7.
  6. ^ Mack, Burton L. (1988). A Myth of Innocence: Mark and Christian origins. Fortress Press. p. 296. ISBN 0800625498. This is the earliest account there is about the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a Markan fabrication
  7. ^ Carrier (1999).

References

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See also

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