The Abbreviations BCE and BC

From Christian Resource Institute FAQ. "The designations BCE and CE are simply a different way to write the traditional BC and AD. The basis of our modern calendar was developed by Christian monks in the Middle Ages who decided to begin numbering years with the birth of Christ, and designate that year "0" (most historians agree that they miscalculated the year and the actual date of the birth of Christ was between 6 BC and 4 BC by the present calendar). Years following year 0 were designated AD, for the Latin anno Domini, "in the year of the Lord. Years counting backward before year 0 came to be designated BC, before Christ."