New theory on date of Last Supper

ONE of the most famous meals in history is commemorated a day late, a new book by a Cambridge University physicist claims.

Professor Sir Colin Humphreys, who was knighted last year for his contribution to science, argues that the last supper Jesus Christ shared with his disciples occurred on Wednesday, April 1, AD33, rather than on a Thursday as traditionally celebrated in most Christian churches.

The theory would explain the apparent inconsistencies between the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke - which say the Last Supper was a Passover meal - and that of John, which says Jesus was tried and executed before the Jewish festival. It would explain another puzzle: why the Bible has not allowed enough time for all events recorded between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.
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Sir Colin's book, The Mystery of the Last Supper, out this week, uses astronomy to re-create calendars, plus detail drawn from texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls to propose a timeline for Jesus's final days.

''The claim I make is that we're misinterpreting some parts of the Gospels because we don't understand sufficiently life in the first century AD,'' he said.

Sir Colin argues that Jesus celebrated Passover early using the pre-exilic calendar, which the Jews used before their exile in Babylon. It would have been understood by early Christians as operating alongside the official Jewish calendar, he said.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke of a similar theory in 2007, when he said Jesus probably celebrated the meal with his disciples according to the Qumran calendar, at least a day before mainstream observances.

But Sir Colin said astronomy showed the Pope's theory, although arriving at the same conclusion, was incorrect: the Qumran calendar puts Passover at least a week after the likely date of the Crucifixion.

The prominent British academic, who reconstructs ancient historical events using modern science as ''a hobby'', has co-authored an article in the science journal Nature, which determined April 3, AD33 to be the likely date of the Crucifixion.

''Biblical scholars don't tend to be very mathematical. ''So if I can bring an understanding of ancient calendars to them, they're usually very pleased.''

Dorothy Lee, a New Testament scholar and dean of the theological school at Trinity College, the University of Melbourne, welcomed a stronger grounding of the history of the Gospels, but said their differences were often for theological reasons. ''Therefore [it's] really important not to try and tone them down or artificially harmonise,'' the Reverend Dr Lee said.

The theory could be controversial as it questioned traditional beliefs but Sir Colin said the key revelation was of tolerance. ''I think Jesus is really reaching out to all sorts of people when he chooses not to use this official Jewish calendar,'' he said.

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