The Easter Computus and the Origins of the Christian Era

This meticulous historical investigation tackles one of Christianity's most enduring chronological puzzles: the origin of the AD dating system. Alden A. Mosshammer dissects the work of sixth-century scholar Dionysius Exiguus, who created the 95-year Easter table that established the Year of the Lord 1, and confronts the central mystery of why that specific year was chosen as the anchor point for the Christian era. The book rigorously examines the scriptural evidence from the Gospel of Luke, which places Jesus's baptism in the 15th year of Tiberius, and the complex calculations of the Easter computus that shaped early Christian chronology.

Mosshammer's work stands out by cutting through centuries of speculation with a forensic analysis of late antique scholarship and calendrical science. Readers with a serious interest in historical theology, the development of the liturgical calendar, or the intersection of faith and science will find this a compelling and authoritative resource. The book ultimately provides a sophisticated and deeply researched argument that clarifies a foundational element of Western historical timekeeping, making the distant calculations of a sixth-century monk accessible and profoundly significant to our modern understanding of history.