End of the world is not nigh

Jehovah's Witnesses may breathe a sigh of relief this week. For the end of the world failed to take place for the second time in 20 years.

A growing number of Christian academics believe that Christ was born in 4BC, making 1996, 2,000 years after his birth, the real millennial milestone. But those who agree with Archbishop James Usher, a 17th-century archbishop, who believed the world would endure for only 6,000 years, would probably have spent this Christmas cashing in their life insurance policies.

"Archbishop Usher used the Anno Mundi calendar, which was a popular way to mark time. According to this, Christ's birth was widely considered to have taken place in year 4000 of the world, which meant that it would have ended on Wednesday [1 January] at the latest," said Marina Benjamin, whose book on the social significance of millennia and other endings is published later this year. Jojo Moyes Leading article, Page 17