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The Biblical Date for Creation
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Pasted
from http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_date.htm |
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Bishop James
Ussher was able to use the ages of famous pre-flood personages in the Bible to estimate the number of years between creation
and the flood. In 1650 CE, he published his book "Annales veteris testamenti, a prima mundi origine deducti" ("Annals
of the Old Testament, deduced from the first origins of the world.") He calculated that God had created the Earth in 4004
BCE. A decade earlier, Dr. John Lightfoot, (1602 - 1675), an Anglican clergyman, rabbinical scholar, and Vice-Chancellor of
the University of Cambridge had already arrived at an estimate of 4004-OCT-23 BCE, at 9 AM. (We assume that
this was either Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Jerusalem time). Unfortunately,
Ussher gets most of the credit; Lightfoot's contribution is rarely cited. This would make
the time interval between the creation of the world and a common estimate of the birth of Christ at precisely 4000 years.
Some people believe that Ussher fudged the data to make it come out this neatly. This date found general acceptance among
many Christians; "...his dates were inserted in the margins of the authorized version of the English Bible and were soon
practically regarded as equally inspired with the sacred text itself..." Most contemporary
historians establish a base date of Saul's accession to the throne of Israel to have happened 1020 BCE. However, Bishop James
Ussher, a 17th century Irish archbishop from Armagh, Ireland, estimated this date as 1095 BCE in his work: Annales
Veteris et Novi Testamenti Work backwards
through the Book of Judges. Ussher computed 330 years for the duration of the rule of Judges. He based this on the intervals
specified in the Hebrew Scriptures. Modern theologians believe that the "Judges" did not rule over all of Israel in a regular
sequence. Instead, each Judge controlled separate tribe(s), so that their interval of rule overlapped. A modern estimate for
the duration of time covered by the Book of Judges is perhaps 180 years. Problems with the Bible history: Most contemporary
historians establish a base date of Saul's accession to the throne of Israel to have happened 1020 BCE. However, Bishop James
Ussher, a 17th century Irish archbishop from Armagh, Ireland, estimated this date as 1095 BCE in his work: Annales
Veteris et Novi Testamenti Work backwards
through the Book of Judges. Ussher computed 330 years for the duration of the rule of Judges. He based this on the intervals
specified in the Hebrew Scriptures. Modern theologians believe that the "Judges" did not rule over all of Israel in a regular
sequence. Instead, each Judge controlled separate tribe(s), so that their interval of rule overlapped. A modern estimate for
the duration of time covered by the Book of Judges is perhaps 180 years. If Joshua's conquest
of Canaan happened, it would have occurred circa in the 13th century BCE which was a time when Egypt's influence over the
area was at a low ebb. Bishop Ussher estimated that it began in 1451 BCE; that is unlikely because Egyptian power was at its
peak at that time and completely dominated the area. In reality, if it did happen, it probably occurred in about 1237 BCE
under Pharaoh Rameses II, a time when Egypt was in steady decline. Ussher dated
the arrival of Abraham in Canaan to 2126 BCE and the Noahic flood at 2349 BCE. The latter is unlikely, because historical
records in China and Egypt continued without disruption through that date, and contain no record of a massive world-wide flood
that would have wiped out their civilizations. There are two inherent and unavoidable sources of error that are often overlooked in these calculations: The calculation must rely on numerous passages which state that a person was born when his father was of a
certain age. But if a 30 year-old man has a son, the birth might have occurred at any time between the father's 30th birthday,
and one day before his 31st birthday. Thus, on average, an error of six months is introduced with each father-son passage. Some theologians have pointed out that there may be missing generations in Bible chronologies. The entire
family tree may not be fully listed. Some "sons" are actually grandsons. "In Exodus 6:16-20, we find only four generations listed between Levi and Moses. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
states: 'It seems quite clear that some generations were omitted in the compilation' (rev. ed., s.v. 'Genealogy'). In Matthew
1:1-17, the Gospel writer deliberately omits three kings to illustrate the theological point he is making, a point that depends
upon a generational pattern." 6 Up to 58000
BCE: Dr. Hugh Ross and Kathy
Ross of Reasons to Believe are old-earth creationists. They estimate that Adam and Eve were created from six to sixty
thousand years ago. They also estimate the date of creation of the universe on the order of ten billion years ago. 9 11013 BCE: Harold Camping of Family
Radio computed that God created humanity during this year. The remaining five days of creation would have probably
occurred during the same year. This number conflicts by over 2,000 years with the estimates of almost all young-earth creation
scientists; they believe the world is less than 10,000 years old. He also believes that the great flood happened on 4990-4989
BCE, and that the Exodus happened on 1447 BCE. His other main prediction, that the end of the world would happen in 1994 CE, did not materialize. 10,11 8000 BCE: As noted above, most creation scientists believe that the earth is less than 10,000 years
old. This would put the earliest possible date of creation at about 8000 BCE. 6984 BCE: Estimated by Alfonso X in Spain during the 1200s. 12 6984 BCE: A second estimate by Alfonso X. 12 6204 BCE: An estimate from India according to Gentil, a 18th century French astronomer. 12 6174 BCE: A second estimate from India, based on Arab records. 12 6158 BCE: A Babylonian date, according to John Silvain, an 18th century French astronomer. 12 6157 BCE: A Chinese date reported by Bailly. 12 6138 BCE: A date computed by Diogenes Laertius, a 3rd century CE Greek philosopher. 12 6081 BCE: An Egyptian date reported by Bailly. 12 6000
BCE: Early church commentators (Clement of Alexander, Origen, Eusebius,
Lactantius, Theophilus, etc.) believed that since Adam was created on the 6th day, that Jesus would come into the world in
its 6,000th year. 4 5586 BCE: This date appeared in the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testament) produced in Egypt in the 3rd century BCE. 12 5555 BCE: A data produced by Josephus, a Jew from the 1st century CE. 12 5508
BCE: The year of creation adopted in the 7th century CE in "Constantinople
and used by the Eastern Orthodox church until the 18th century CE." 13 5507 BCE: A Persian date reported by Bailly. 12 5500 BCE: An Abyssinian date from the Chronicle of Axum. Reported by Bruce in the 1700s. 12 5493 BCE: This is the date used by the Ethiopian Church. 14 5490
BCE: The date of the year of creation used by the Syrian Christians.
13 5481 BCE: A second date estimated by Josephus in the 1st century CE. 12 5369 BCE: An Indian date reported by Megasthenes, a Greek historian (circa 340 to 282 BCE). 12 5311 BCE: Dr. William Hales (1778 - 1821), author of "New System of Chronology" based his
estimates on Egyptian records. He said that the flood of Noah occurred in 3155 BCE. 5 5200 BCE: This approximate date was used by the Anglo-Saxons and the early Britons. 19 5199
BCE: This date was mentioned in the Roman Martyrology,
which was published by the authority of Pope Gregory XIII in 1580. It was later confirmed in 1640 CE under Pope Urban
VIII 4713-JAN-1
BCE: A French classical scholar, Joseph Scaliger (1540-1609),
estimated this date in his book De emendatione temporum [on the correction of chronology] He based it on the convergence
of the 28 year Solar Cycle, the 19 year Metonic Cycle and the 15 year Roman Indiction cycle -- three ancient methods of measuring
time. 6 4456
BCE: Still another estimate is based upon both the Biblical account
and modern archeology. 20 This uses the date of 2800 BCE for a massive flood which covered the
plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. All of the towns in the area were buried under thick layers of mud. If we assume
that this is the Noahic flood which is recorded in the Bible as occurring when Noah was 600 years old, then the earlier date
can be calculated. 20 4305 BCE: Dean Coombs estimates on his "Bible Numbers: The Pattern of Prophecy" web site
that the date of creation must be on or after the autumn of 4305 BCE. 16 4245 BCE: This is an additional creation date listed by Dean Coombs. 17 4175 BCE:
Bert Thompson estimates the date of creation at approximately 4175 BCE.
He worked backwards from 853 to 852 BCE, the date of the death of Ahab, obtained by "Combining information from the Assyrian
Eponym Lists and the Black Obelisk...." He computes the date of the great flood at about 2519 BCE. 15 4122 BCE: The Baha'i World Faith dates Adam and the Garden of Eden to 4122 BCE. 4115 BCE: This is an additional creation date listed by Dean Coombs. 17 4090 BCE: This is an additional creation date listed by Dean Coombs. 17 4046
BCE: The Reformation Online web site is dedicated to attacking
the Roman Catholic church. They calculate 4046 BCE as the year of creation, based on the ages of the patriarchs at their death.
15 4030 BCE: This is an additional creation date listed by Dean Coombs. 17 4026
BCE: The Jehovah's Witnesses estimates that Adam was created at this time 16 4002 BCE: Augustin Calmet (1672-1757) corrected some of the errors in Ussher. He computed 2344
BCE as the year of the flood of Noah. 8 3993 BCE: Estimated by the astronomer Kepler, (1571 - 1630). 12 3984 BCE: Estimated by Petavius, a Frenchman, (1583 - 1652). 12 3963
BCE: Melanchthon computed this date at the time of the Reformation. 3961 BCE: Estimated by the theologian Martin Luther in the 16th century. 12 3960 BCE: This is an additional creation date listed by Dean Coombs. 17 3952 BCE:
Venerable Bede (circa 672 to 735), an English monk. 22 3950 BCE:
Julius Caesar Scalinger (1484 - 1558), a humanist scholar from Verona,
Italy. 22 3900 BCE: Dean Coombs estimates that the date of creation must be on or before this date. 18 3761
BCE: Ancient Jewish scholars placed creation
at this date; this became the basis of the Jewish Calendar. 3641-FEB-10: This is the date of creation used by the Mayans. 3616 BCE: Estimated by the Jewish Rabbi Lipman (1579 - 1654). 12 In 1738, De Vignolles
stated that he had accumulated no fewer than 200 computations of the date of creation, all based upon the Bible Most conservative groups within Christianity still follow Ussher's date. Some
believe that since the world was created in 6 days, that it will last exactly 6 thousand years. Thus, the present age should
have come to an end circa 1,996 CE. It didn't. Many end-of-the-world dates have been forecast. None have come true yet, to our knowledge. 3. Bert Thompson, "The Bible and the age of the Earth, Part 1," Reason & Revelation, 1999-AUG, Vol.
19, #8, Pages 57-63. Online at: http://www.apologeticspress.org/ 6. "Does Genesis tell us how old the world is?," Plain Truth Ministries, at: http://www.ptm.org/BibleAnswer4.htm |
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James Ussher Encyclopędia Britannica
Article Anglo-Irish prelate of
the Anglican church who was memorable for his activity in religious politics and for his work on patristic texts, especially
the chronology of the Old Testament. Ordained priest in 1601, Ussher
became professor (1607–21) and twice vice-chancellor (1614, 1617) at the university where he had received his B.A.,
Trinity College, Dublin. He was made bishop of Meath in 1621 and archbishop of Armagh in 1625. Ussher became primate of all Ireland
in 1634. He was in England in 1642, when the Civil War broke out, and he never returned to Ireland. Having earned the respect
of both Anglicans and Puritans, he proposed in 1641 a method for combining the episcopal and presbyterian forms of church
government in the Church of England. A Royalist, he vainly counseled Charles I against assenting to the execution in 1641
of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, to appease Parliament. Ussher was briefly bishop of Carlisle in 1642 before moving
to Oxford. Declining an invitation to join the Westminster Assembly of Divines (1643–49), he preached against its legality.
From 1647 to 1654 he was preacher at Lincoln's Inn, London. Ussher wrote widely on
Christianity in Asia Minor, on episcopacy, and against Roman Catholicism. An expert in Semitic languages, he argued for the
reliability of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and employed an agent in the Middle East to collect biblical and other
manuscripts for him. Scholars still respect him for his correct distinction between the genuine and the spurious epistles
of the 2nd-century St. Ignatius of Antioch, on which he published works in 1644 and 1647. The general public may find Bibles
perpetuating his chronological researches (published in the 1650s), which dated the creation of the universe at 4004 BC. This date was widely accepted in the Western world until the 19th century. Ussher had a fine
library, which is now in the University of Dublin. |