What's Up, Doc? Calendars Can Be Confusing

By Randall Freeman, PhD

Our current calendar was created in February 1582 under the direction of then-Pope Gregory XIII. It had been discovered that the previous calendar, the Julian calendar, had a built-in error that resulted in a loss of one day every 128 years. (Most people at the time probably didn’t notice the error as they didn't live that long, but the calendar was flawed.)

In aligning the Gregorian calendar that allowed for astronomical events like equinoxes and solstices, it became necessary to eliminate several days. Ten days were eliminated in October 1582, jumping the calendar forward by that number of days. (The Gregorian calendar would not be adopted until much later in Great Britain and America. It wasn't until September 1752 that 11 days were dropped to switch to the Gregorian calendar.)

Even now, the calendar is not exact. Adjustments are made according to a formula. It was decided to add a "Leap Year" every 4 years. The rule for calculating Leap Years states that a year is a Leap Year if:

-- The year is evenly divisible by 4 (like 2016 & 2020).

-- The year can be evenly divided by 100.

It is NOT a Leap Year (1900 & 2100 did/do not include Leap Year days) unless; the year is also evenly divisible by 400 (like 2000 & 2400). Then it is a Leap Year.

All these corrections can easily give someone a headache. The Gregorian calendar is still inexact. It is off by about one day every 3,236 years. Meanwhile, the Julian calendar (for those still using it) is currently 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar because too many Leap Years have been included.

So, unless one is planning to be around for the next 3,300 years, what’s the big difference? According to my understanding, there are actually some that might matter to some people. Some theological debates want to revolve such issues as the actual date of Christ’s birth. Was it Dec. 25? Probably not, but it doesn't really matter to those who accept his divinity. Remember, the calendar is human-created. (Biblical scholars actually think that His actual birthday was in March, which makes sense to me.)

How about those who believe in attaching special importance to particular calendar dates? Calendars (whichever one you use) are basically flawed and so meaningless for these matters. It would be necessary to ignore our calendars and base beliefs on pure astrological means.

For now, we are in January 2015 … unless we use the Jewish calendar, or the Chinese calendar, or … never mind, I think I’m getting a headache.

Randall Freeman and his family have lived in Menifee since 1993. Randy teaches kindergarten in Perris and his wife Karen teaches first grade here in Menifee at Freedom Crest Elementary School. They are the parents of four daughters: Daniela, 17, and 13-year-old triplets Sarah, Holly, and Megan. Randy earned his PhD in early childhood education in 2011 and has served on the Menifee Union School Board since 2008. As he explains it, this makes him Karen's boss for the first and only time in the marriage. His column will appear here every other Tuesday.