[sauron]

I find it impossible to read anything that uses “BCE.” It is an immediate giveaway that there is some defective thinking going on.

Me, too.

Just to annoy these so-called "historian-experts," I play dumb and ask 'em what does "BCE" stand for?

"Before the Common Era."

"Oh? Common to what? Oh...I notice the zero point for your measurement JUST HAPPENS to correspond to Christ's birth...do you mind if I call it 'Before the Christian Era'?"

Then sit back, relax, watch the apopleptic fit set in. ;)

[James C. Bennett]

Technically, Jesus wasn’t born in 1 AD, but several years before.

[John Valentine]

How about “GAL” and stop obsessing about trivia like abbreviations for brevity?

[stormer]

The concept of “Common Era” dates back to the 17th Century - it’s nothing new. The designation CE/CBE was originally developed by Jewish scholars in the 19th Century to secularize scientific writing - Anno Domini just doesn’t pass muster in some cultures. Considering the contributions of Jewish academics in Europe, it’s quite understandable.