Right now we are in the year 2026 A.D. That means it’s been approximately 2,026 years since Jesus Christ was born. Anno Domini is short for the Year of our Lord. As far as I know, the whole world uses the same year structure. Isn’t that incredible? We all agree that it is the year 2026, and that year is tied to the birth of Christ.
So here’s my question. What would cause the current year to reset to 0?
How Long Will This Age Continue?
Think of all the things that have happened in the last 2,026 years that didn’t reset the calendar. There was the fall of the Roman Empire, the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the beginning of the Renaissance, the founding of the United States of America, and the end of World War I and World War II.
All of those events had dramatic effects on the world, but they weren’t reflected in the way the calendar is handled. The years continued to go up and be counted not from the beginning of a new age but as part of an age that started long before any of us were born.
How long will that continue? Is there anything that could be so significant that it would deserve a replacement of the current age? Here are some ideas I can think of that might warrant that kind of earth-shattering change to the way things are.
The Beginning of a Utopia
What if world peace were achieved and all problems were eliminated? The end of war, and the beginning of some peaceful order. Might that cause everyone to agree that we should celebrate it with a whole new way of measuring time? Here are three scenarios I could imagine in this category.
The Second Coming of Christ
This is probably the most obvious idea. When Jesus Christ makes His triumphal return, the world as we know it will cease to exist. Everything will change. We’ll enter into a Millennial period where the Earth is restored to its Paradisiacal glory in preparation for its ultimate destiny. Wouldn’t that be worth resetting the calendar for? And it would be poetic for the replacement of the current age to revolve around the same Being.
The Return of the Lost 10 Tribes
This is part of the Second Coming. I find it interesting that Jeremiah 23:7-8 says:
“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
“But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.”
That sounds a little bit like a new time reckoning to me. The return of the lost 10 Tribes of Israel will be something so dramatic that it will become known as God’s greatest miracle. Even more inspiring than when Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground. That’s really saying something.
The End of Individual Nations
There was once a group of people who lived in the Ancient Americas who first measured time from when they left Jerusalem, then when they formed a representative form of government, and finally by the birth of Jesus Christ. The second one is interesting because it represented the formation of a new government free of kings.
In the United States, we don’t say it is the 250th year of the reign of the Constitution, except as a tribute to our country’s founding. That’s not the way we count the official year. It’s still 2026. That ancient group’s third way of measuring time is interesting because not long after it, the government was destroyed and replaced by a new government that spanned every people on the face of the land. It was a Zion people, having all things in common. Not Communist, but Zion, of one heart and one mind in the Lord.
They went through a terrible catastrophe to reach that amazing utopian society. And that leads into the next category I can imagine resetting the calendar for.
A Great Catastrophe
The flip side of the beginning of a utopia is a terrible tragedy. Think of an asteroid hitting the Earth or a terrible worldwide earthquake. The coming together of all the continents. Some sort of cataclysmic event that is totally unprecedented and that changes life forever for the survivors.
The Start of World War III
Thank goodness we live in a world that has not had all-out nuclear war. The aftermath of such an event would destroy most of the lifeforms on this planet. Anyone who survived would certainly have a lot more challenges than how to measure time. But still, I think that this would be one event that might just inspire a rethinking of the calendar. It’s almost too horrifying to think of, though.
The Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life
For good or bad, discovering that we are not alone in the universe would be a significant event. In Independence Day, that led to the destruction all of the Earth’s greatest monuments and major cities. As a result, the whole world united in a desperate fight to survive. I never saw the sequel to Independence Day, but I could imagine the people would start counting the years from the time when the alien threat was defeated.
Even if alien life was friendly or at least not too hostile, like in The Day the Earth Stood Still, nothing would be the same after we made contact with it. It would raise all sorts of questions and usher in a new period of either subjugation or technological advancement. Which leads me to one last category.
One More Category That Might Fit in Both: The Creation of a New Technology
What if we were to create Artificial General Intelligence or Artificial Super Intelligence? Something that could take over thinking for most jobs and end the need for human labor. Life would change dramatically for everyone in the world. We could end up in a utopia or dystopia. Star Trek or Logan’s Run. Wall-E or The Matrix.
In fact, the people in Star Trek and Wall-E tend to count time based on how long they’ve been a star-faring society: Stardate and septuacentennial, respectively. However, the actual year in the calendar we use is still acknowledged by both of them. If we’re not careful, time could lose meaning once we no longer measure human accomplishments and just passively exist on the benefits of technology.
Our Days Are Numbered
Doesn’t it feel like the current calendar’s days are numbered? I wonder if some powerful event is right around the corner that will have such a consequential impact on the whole world that it will fundamentally transform the way we count the year we are in. It’s wonderful to live in a world where every year points to Christ. I don’t really want that to change. That’s why I hope that if the calendar changes it will be one of the three things I mentioned at the beginning.
Is there something I overlooked that could change our calendar system? Feel free to share what you think of all this.
This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.
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