Through the centuries much of the chronological information of the New Testament has been lost or at least obscured. Fortunately, the reckoning of time in the Bible was based on the observation of the sun and the moon rather than some manmade approximate calendar (see Genesis 1:14). Each month of the first century Jewish calendar began on the day that the first thin sliver of the new moon was observed by two creditable witnesses (see Numbers 29:1-6 RSV or NASB). Using computer generated times for the new moons, the observational calendars used by the Jewish community during New Testament times were constructed and related to the Gregorian calendar that we now use. Using these calendars for the Years 10 B.C. through 70 A.D., which are included in the book, and the information contained in the New Testament, Dr. Johnson was able to date every verse in the four Gospels and the book of Acts. Dr. Johnson also determined the date of composition of each book in the New Testament.

Supplementing the information contained in the New Testament, information from archaeology, astronomy, numismatics, geography, and a number of ancient literary sources were used. Among the extra-Biblical ancient literary sources, three works were of particular importance: the Mishnah, the Talmud and the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus. The Mishnah is a compilation and commentary on the Jewish oral law. Rabbi Akiba (c. A.D. 110-135) or possibly an earlier scholar made a comprehensive collection of the traditional oral law and then Judah Prince of Galilee in c. A.D. 200 produced the final written form of the Mishnah. After the completion of the Mishnah, two major schools of rabbinical studies developed, one in Palestine and one in Babylon. Each of these schools produced a Talmud and these Talmuds were called the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. The Talmud contains the Mishnah, the oral law, and the Gemara, comments of Jewish rabbis on the Mishnah. References in this book to the Talmud will be to the Babylonian Talmud which is more complete and is generally considered to be more authoritative. Finally, Josephus was a Jewish historian, priest and general who wrote during the second half of the first century A.D. Although extra-Biblical sources were used in this book, if there are any conflicts between the Bible and the extra-Biblical sources, precedence was always given to the Bible.

Why is it important to know the true date of occurrence of the events of the New Testament ? First, because these dates show the marvelous hand of God unfolding His plan for the salvation of the human race. Secondly, knowing when the events of the New Testament actually occurred helps us understand the prophecies of the end times which are rapidly approaching.

My first published work was as a second year high school student when my solution to an algebra problem was published in School Science and Mathematics. As an engineer and physical scientist I published many technical reports concerning the evaluation of the performance and reliability of military systems. My primary interest has always been in problem solving and my writing merely served as a means of communicating the results of my research. Similarly, the research for this book was not undertaken to write a book, but to answer my own questions concerning the events recorded in the New Testament. However, when this research began to reveal many interesting and surprising results, I decided to share this information through a book.

I first became interested in New Testament chronology after reading Ernest L. Martin's book,The Birth of Christ Recalculated. Through this book I became aware of the fact that the Jewish community during Bible times used an observational lunar calendars. Since dates of the phases of the moon during Bible times can be calculated today using astronomical computer programs, it became apparent that many of the events of the Bible that occurred on or near a Jewish feast day could be exactly dated. This was the beginning of the research that has led to the writing of this book. The task was not an easy one and the road took many surprising twists and turns, however, whenever the way seemed to be completely blocked some new information seemed to turn up that would allow the journey to continue. Many references, both modern and ancient were used, but of course the Bible itself was the primary reference. Jack Finegan's Handbook of Biblical Chronology was a particularly valuable resource.

The idea of actually be able to date the events of the Bible in terms of our present calendar seems incredible because of the time that has elapsed since their occurrence and because they don't seem to be dated in the Bible itself. However, in At the Right Time, I have been able to date every event recorded in the four Gospels and the book of Acts. I have also determined the date of composition of each book in the New Testament. Obviously all of these events can not be dated with the same precision; therefore each date is assigned a level of confidence: either Level I, which indicates the date is highly probable, or Level II, which indicates the date given is the probable date of occurrence of the event.

Having completed the study of the chronology of the New Testament, I have now undertaken an investigation of the chronology of the Old Testament. This, of course, is even a more challenging problem than the chronology of the New Testament. However, it appears that God intended to preserve the dates of occurrence of these events within the Biblical record and again in these dates we can see the marvelous hand of God at work. In the Old Testament we have events stretching back to the very dawn of creation. This chronology involves many centuries, but seems to span a much shorter time than the godless humanist would have us believe. Preliminary results indicate a date for creation of 5664 B.C. and this date may be confirmed in Job 38:7 which, speaking of creation, says, "When the morning stars sang together." On the indicated date for creation, the planets Mercury. Venus, Jupiter and Saturn all appear in a line in the morning sky.