Publications

This paper examines the ancient accounts (including eyewitness testimony?) relevant to the total solar eclipse of 24 November A.D. 29, and suggests that it served an important double purpose for the author of The Gospel of Luke, who probably experienced its effect.

One purpose occurs at Luke 3:1-2: a means of identifying the specific year during which John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries. The second occurs at Luke 23: 44-45: a “cosmic model” serving as an explanation for the Christian tradition of darkness at noon during Jesus’ execution.

Three later solar eclipses – those of 20 May, A.D. 49 (annular) 30 April, A.D. 59 (total), and 10 March A.D. 80 (annular) may have reinforced the memory of the 29 eclipse during the creation and/or redaction of The Gospel of Luke. This reflects a common literary predilection throughout antiquity to associate celestial phenomena (eclipses, comets, etc.) with the death of notable people.

All four eclipses were visible throughout the eastern portion of the Mediterranean, particularly in the city of Syrian Antioch. The total eclipses of 29 and 59 were either noted by eyewitnesses or referred to by later sources with access to eyewitness accounts. The annular eclipses of 49 and 80 are unrecorded, but their exact duration, intensity and geographic paths can be calculated.

The paper also suggests that the exact chronological datum in The Gospel of John 2:20 is directly linked to the date of Luke 3:1-2, which strengthens the argument for the date of Jesus’ execution being 7 April A.D. 30 and not 3 April A.D. 33.