I understand what each one means. As well as BCE and CE. But I’m wondering why did we feel the need the number the years according to Jesus’ supposed birthday. And if it was so flawed (nobody even knows if Jesus was real, let alone when his birthday was) why did we keep it going? Could you imagine what year we could be in right now if we counted them normally?
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That’s not exactly true. Every serious historian agrees that Jesus was a real person, and that he lived and preached in Judea in the first century, and was crucified by Pontius Pilate around 30 AD. His birthday, while not conclusively ascertained, is agreed to be between 4 BC and 6 AD. Remarkably accurate for 6th century scribes.
The trouble with other calendars is that there isn’t a universal standard. Before the AD calendar, people just counted the years based on who was in charge. “I was born during the consulship of Caesar and Antonius” or “Me and my wife got married during the fifth year of the reign of King Jimmybob”. Since regnal chronology isn’t exactly standardized, and it certainly wasn’t 3000 years ago, it can get really hard to say exactly when an event happened. Not to mention having to convert dates between calendars should you ever need to coordinate an event cross-borders. Having one universal calendar, even if inaccurately named, just simplifies things.
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