Question
My question is not really about the Orthodox Faith, but about a glaring error on the OCA website ...
Why does the OCA home page refer to the year 2000 as the millennium?
In our current calendar system whether it be Old Style Julian or New Style Gregorian, there is no year 0. Therefore, the first millennium was 1-1000 AD, thesecond millennium 1001-2000 AD, with the third millennium not starting until 2001 AD
Answer
We are all well aware of the error in calling 2000 the millennium. We would fail to see the point, however, of ignoring the fact that everyone else has somehow “standardized” this error, and we would also fail to see the point in trying to convince people otherwise.
What is of utmost importance for Orthodox Christians is that Jesus Christ should be born in our lives and souls every day, every hour, and every moment, regardless of when He was born.
If we really attempt to be precise, the “correct” moment for the Millennium should probably be “March 25”, not “January 1” (i.e., The Feast of the Annunciation rather than the first Day of January—only the first day of the year for the last few hundred years), and probably about 1996 AD using our current numbering system.