Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: chl@cs.man.ac.uk (Charles Lindsey) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Wednesday Passovers (was Re: Day Jesus Christ Died) Message-ID: Date: 3 Jun 91 05:25:36 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Dept. Of Comp Sci, Univ. of Manchester, UK. Lines: 33 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In wales@cs.ucla.edu (Rich Wales) writes: >Here's a complete list of the most likely Passover dates from AD 26-37. >(Hopefully I didn't make any errors transcribing from my notes.) > AD 26: Sat Mar 23 (maybe Fri Mar 22) > AD 27: Fri Apr 11 (maybe Thu Apr 10) > AD 28: Tue Mar 30 > AD 29: Mon Apr 18 > AD 30: Fri Apr 7 > AD 31: Tue Mar 27 > AD 32: Mon Apr 14 > AD 33: Fri Apr 3 > AD 34: Wed Mar 24 > AD 35: Tue Apr 12 > AD 36: Sat Mar 31 (maybe Sun Apr 1) > AD 37: Fri Apr 19 (maybe Thu Mar 21) The interesting thing about this list is that there is no Thursday in it (apart from a couple of 'maybes'). Not only does this remove the possibility of a Thursday crucifixtion (slightly more probable than the Wednesday theory IMHO), but it has a considerable bearing on the traditional Friday view. John's gospel seems to imply that the date of crucifixion was the preparation for the Passover (and also for the normal Sabath if it was a Friday). The synoptic gospels suggest (without making it entirely clear, as some posters claim) that the Last Supper was the Passover meal. But in that case the Last Supper was on a Thursday, and the table above shows that it could not have been so. Therefore the table gives strong evidence for St John's view of events. Perhaps someone else had better check the calculations carefully.