Could the real millennium begin this month?

By WND Staff

Millennium-watchers are three years off in their plans, according to a study of New Testament events which claims Jesus of Nazareth was actually born 2,000 years ago this Sept. 26.

A group of Australians is so certain of their calculations, based on a comparison of New Testament sources, the historical writings of Josephus and the Roman, Hebrew and Julian calendars, that it is encouraging people around the world to celebrate Jesus’ 2,000th birthday later this month.

The occasion is not a religious ceremony,” says event organizer Vynette McKenzie of Queensland, Australia. “The party is a celebration and involves no ‘mystical’ elements.”

The secret to the new calculations is a study of biblical events surrounding the birth and life of John the Baptist, son of Elizabeth, who was pregnant at the same time as Jesus’ mother Mary.

Both John the Baptist and Jesus had to have been born before the death of “Herod the Great,” who ordered the slaughter of Jewish male babies in an attempt to prevent the coming of a Jewish messiah. Since the date of Herod’s death has been calculated to have fallen on Jan. 18, 3 BC and John’s birth on the 11th or 12th of April 4 BC, the year 2000 seems to be out of the question as a legitimate measurement of time based on Jesus’ birth.

The new study sets Jesus’ actual birth date at Sept. 28, 4 BC, 24 weeks after John’s birth.

“Hold your own genuine millennium party while the opportunity exists,” urges McKenzie. “It is not expected that there will be any challenge whatsoever to the date that has been nominated, nor to the celebration of a genuine millennium party on that date,” she says optimistically.

The organizers of “Millennium Party 1997” have prepared a web site offering the complete chronological sequence of events and a comparison of the three calendars at http://www.gil.com.au/~vynette/millpart.html.