The Church

Could the Mayan ancient calendar correlations provide evidence for one proposed birth date of Jesus Christ over other dates? A theory developed over 30 years by John Pratt, a Ph.D. in astronomy, proposes that it can. This and other studies also further erode the validity of the assumptions needed for the December 21, 2012 doomsday predictions. (Ronald P. Millett, “Why December 21, 2012 is Not the End of the World”, January 12, 2012)

The 20 glyphs in combination with the 13 day count make the Sacred Round portion of the Mayan calendar.

The 260 day Sacred Round on the Mayan calendar is like the seven day “week” calendar. Once the correspondence is set by a correlation theory, it is fixed for all of history.The following table shows how the glyphs and the trecena counts combine for 260 entries. (John P. Pratt, “The Sacred Round”, May 9, 2011

For example, 1 Reed (5th row, 1st column) is followed by 2 Jaguar (5th row, 2nd column) and preceded by 13 Grass (4th row, 13th column). (“The Sacred Round”)

The doomsday predictions for December 21, 2012 depend on the GMT (Goodman, Martinez and Thompson) compromise correlation of the Mayan calendar being correct. The possible birth dates for Jesus Christ can be tested by using the Mayan calendar correlations plus the related Venus and Mercury calendars. This process provides further evidence that the Pratt correlation is superior to the GMT correlation even though there is only one day difference between them.

(“Seven Sacred Calendars Testify of Christ”, April 9, 2003)
(“Celestial Witnesses of the Meridian of Time”, July 10, 2002)

Suppose you were considering whether the April 6, 1 BC traditional date favored by James E. Talmageor the April 6, 4 BC(Monte F. Shelley, “When was Jesus Born, Baptized and Buried? A Review of LDS and Non-LDS Educated Guesses”,Draft copy, November 18, 2009)date favored by Orson Pratt is the correct birthday. The calendar theory developed by John Pratt adds another method other than history or archeology to test one proposed date with another.

Let’s look at the 4 BC date and see if there are any indications from the ancient American calendars that might support that date as the Lord’s birthday. First we’ll include the traditional April 6, 1 BC date table then similarly evaluate the April 6, 4 BC date.

April 6, 1 BC Traditional Birth Date for Jesus Christ

Only the Pratt and the GMT correlations are holy days on the Mayan Sacred Round calendar. This date does not fit the Goodman, Martinez or Thompson correlations because holy day alignments are missing. The numbers 1 and 13 are holy, the first and the last days of the trecena. The GMT correlation has 13 Grass and 13 Lord as holy days, but the Pratt correlation goes further. “Reed” refers to the resurrection and “1 Reed” to the proclaimed birth day of Quetzalcoatl, the bearded white God of ancient America. 1 Creation on the Venus and Mercury calendars is a key starting point in their cycles, appropriate for the most important birth date in history. (“A Native American Easter: How the Ancient American Calendar Testifies of Christ”, March 28, 2001, See Section: 4. The Savior’s Birth: 1 Reed: “the sign CeAcatl [One Reed] was Quetzalcoatl’s [the Feathered Serpent’s] sign [birthday].”)

4 BC Dates for Jesus Christ’s Birthday

A quick glance and we see no correlations with holy days for the April 6, 4 BC date. Also problematic is that this date is not a possible Passover day. Now let’s look at the evening of Wednesday, 9 April, 4 BC, the beginning of a possible Passover day in 4 BC.

This date seems to be a better comparison. But holy days 1 Light and 1 Death on the Pratt correlation or 13 Flower and 13 Prime on the GMT correlation with nothing on the Venus calendar would not seem to fit this most important birthday.

Tipping the Analysis to Favor April 6, 1 BC

If we use the Pratt Mayan calendar correlation, the traditional evening before April 6, 1 BC birth date for the Savior amazingly correlates with a key figure inNative American traditions.As explained in Pratt’s “Native American Easter” article, “1 Reed” is the proclaimed birth day of Quetzalcoatl, the bearded white God of ancient America.

Christ descending to visit the Nephites after His resurrection

Thisresearchusing John Pratt’s ancient sacred calendar theory would favor the April 6, 1 BC date as the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the world. This study and many, many otherspublished mainly over the last 13 years in this magazine supportthe Pratt Mayan calendar correlation algorithmover the compromise GMT correlation. This result is problematic for the “end of times” predictions for December 21, 2012 that are dependent on the validity of the GMT correlation.

Ron Millett has worked in Artificial Intelligence software development for 40 years and enjoys researching the connection between science and the restored gospel.