Astronomers from the Astronomic Observatory Institute in Cluj, Romania, claim to have pinpointed the exact hour that Christ died, and the hour that he
rose again.
Very interestingly, they say the date of death was
3pm on Friday, April 3, 33 AD...
I'll paste the whole story, as I can't link to the exact page (sorry mods!). It's from the Scottish broadsheet, The Herald.
(
www.theherald.co.uk...)
Star-gazers pinpoint the hour Jesus died
DAVID MONTGOMERY
THEORIES on the exact date of Christ's death have been debated for centuries, but now two astronomers claim to have pinpointed it to the exact
hour.
Liviu Mircea and Tiberiu Oproiu from the Astronomic Observatory Institute in Cluj, Romania, said yesterday that research carried out using a computer
program checked against bible references showed that Christ died at 3pm on Friday, April 3, 33 AD, and rose again on Sunday, April 5 at 4am.
The starting point for the pair's calculations was the New Testament's noting that Jesus died on the day after the first night with a full moon
following the vernal equinox.
Using data gathered on the stars between 26 and 35 AD they established that in those nine years, the first full moon after the vernal equinox was
registered twice: Friday April 7, 30 AD and April 3, 33 AD.
The astronomers said they had been convinced that the date of the crucifixion had been 33 AD and not 30 AD, because records showed a solar eclipse, as
depicted in the bible at the time of Jesus' crucifixion, occurred in Jerusalem in that year.
There have been many previous attempts to date the events in Christ's life by reference to astronomical phenomena.
While experts do not doubt the existence of Jesus, almost everything known about him comes from the New Testament. However, the Bible does not give a
precise answer as to when he died or was born.
Since he was certainly born before the death of Herod the Great, much has been made of historian Josephus's statement that Herod died shortly after
an eclipse of the moon visible from Jericho. Most chronologists, following the lead of Johann Kepler, the German astronomer, have assumed that the
relevant eclipse was that of March 13, of the year 4 BC. Kepler suggested in 1605 that the Star of Bethlehem, or the "Christmas Star", was a
conjunction, or close approach, of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.
Last year, it was claimed an ancient burial artefact in Israel might be the earliest archeological reference to Jesus ever discovered.
The limestone burial box for bones - an ossuary - bears an inscription reading "James, son of Joseph, brother of
Jesus" in the Aramaic language.
Andre Lemaire, a French specialist in ancient inscriptions, said the style put the find squarely within the time of Jesus and James.