UK Edition
To BCE or not to BCE? Common era of BC and AD appears to be over
Schools across England are swapping BC and AD with BCE and CE over fears the terms could offend Christians, it has been claimed.
A number of authorities have already adopted the policy, while several more are reported to be considering making the switch from the traditional to the more politically-correct chronological form compulsory.
Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education (SACREs) from Brighton & Hove and East Sussex are among those which have recently recommended BC and AD should be removed from Religious Education classes in order to avoid offending those of other, non-Christian, faiths.
Schools in Essex already follow a syllabus which states, “BCE and CE are now used in order to show sensitivity to those who are not Christians”.
East Sussex’s 2017 RE syllabus states: “BCE (before the Common Era) and CE (the Common Era) were first brought into use in the sixth century and are now used in order to show sensitivity to those who are not Christians.
“Many Christians perceive BCE and CE to be an affront to Christianity. [However] BCE/CE is becoming an industry standard among historians. Pupils have to be able to recognise these terms when they come across them.”
Despite taking the birth of Christ as its reference point, for centuries BC/AD played second fiddle even among Christian to local conventions such as the foundation of Rome in 753 BC or Emperor Diocletian’s reforms of 284 AD.
The venerable Northumbrian monk Bede did much to popularise the counting backwards for dates ‘Before Christ’, though the idea took almost a millennium to gain general currency.
Anno aerae nostrae vulgaris - a phrase broadly consistent with ‘common era’ - appears in an astronomical table devised by the German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1615.
SACREs were established in 1988 to advise local authorities’ Children’s Services in their statutory obligation to provide religious education in schools.
They are composed a four committees, representing the Church of England, other religious groups, teacher organisations and the local authority, and are responsible for reviewing the syllabus every five years.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey told The Mail on Sunday, ‘I have never met a Muslim or Jewish leader who is offended by the Gregorian calendar’ while leading Imam Ibrahim Mogra said: “I don’t believe it causes Muslims offence.”
Their remarks were echoed by a spokesman for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who said: “I don’t think anyone would mind if in mainstream schools they use BC and AD.”
National Association of Standing Advisory Councils on Religious Education chair Paul Smalley said: "Individual SACREs and schools can make a judgment over which form of dating is appropriate.
"NASACRE has no evidence that the use of BCE/CE has dramatically altered over several decades".