The determination of the dates of the Nativity and Passion of our Lord, is a question of considerable difficulty, and of great importance in the true system of chronology; but much has been written upon it to very little purpose. We agree, however, with Mr. Cuninghame, in the conclusion to which he has arrived, after a very laborious and complete investigation, in his “Fulness of the Times,” part i. pp. 60–107, and part ii. pp. 1–27, and in his “Season of the End,” pp. 73–90, where he refutes the opinions of Newton, Hales, Gresswell and others, and demonstrates that the Passion of Christ took place in the _thirty-fifth_ year of his age, that is, according to the vulgar reckoning in A. D. 33: and, that consequently, the true date of his Nativity was B. C. 3. The Scriptural evidence for this conclusion recommends itself to the mind, both by its simplicity and sufficiency. It appears from Luke iii. 23, that Christ was baptized when he was _thirty_ years of age; and from Luke iv. 16–24, that soon after that period, he began his public ministry. Moreover, from the whole of the Gospel history, particularly that of John, it appears that he was present at _four_, if not _five_, public celebrations of the Passover; and consequently, that his _thirty-fifth_ year was coincident with the date of the Crucifixion. Hence, it clearly follows, that the _epoch of the birth of Christ_ was coincident with the 455th year of the prophetic period of _seventy_ weeks, this being the difference between 35 and 490 years. Again, the intervals of _thirteen_ years between the commissions of Ezra and Nehemiah, and of _twelve_ between that of the latter and his return to the court of Artaxerxes,—amounting to _twenty-five_ years in all,—being deducted from the 455 years, gives the last interval of 430 years to the Nativity. Thus, we perceive a singular coincidence in the period of the pilgrimage and afflictions of the Hebrews in Canaan and Egypt, till the time of Moses; and that of the persecution and sufferings of the Jews in Syria and Egypt, till the Advent of the Messiah! The following table exhibits, according to the two systems, the extent of the _six ages_ of the world:— TABLE XVI. AGES OF THE WORLD. HEBREW. SEPTUAGINT. Years. Years. First Five Ages 3416 4891 Sixth Age 583 585 ———— ———— THE SIX AGES 3999 5476