Monday, October 26, 2015

Per Bishop Ussher, the earth was created on this date in 4004 B.C. at 9AM

I assume that's 9AM Greenwich Mean Time, since Bishop Ussher (wiki) was in Ireland, so that'd be 4AM here on the right coast of the U.S.

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth, which beginning of time, according to this chronology, occurred at the beginning of the night which preceded the 23rd of October in the year 710 of the Julian period.

~ Bishop James Ussher  (The Annals of the World

The greatest blunders, like the thickest ropes, are often composed of multitude of strands. Take the rope apart, separate it into the small threads that compose it, and you can break them one by one. You think, "That is all there is?" But twist them all together and you have something tremendous. 

~ Victor Hugo (1802-1885) (Les Misérables, Pt. 2, Bk. 3, Ch. 10) 

There is no arguing with pretenders to divine knowledge and to a divine mission. They are possessed with the sin of pride; they have yielded to the perennial temptation.

~ Walter Lippman* (1889-1974) (The Public Philosophy, Ch. 7, Sct. 5) 

Allowing for a combination of subsequent calendar adjustments, October 26 is - according to Bishop James Ussher (wiki) (1581-1656) - the anniversary of the creation of the earth at 9 A.M. on 26 October 4004 B.C. (although I've seen other accounts which claim it's October 23). Ussher, the Anglican bishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland after 1625, based his calculation in 1650 on a close reading of Holy Writ - Ussher's calculations are broken down here. Here is another example of his clever theological insight:
"The religion of the papists is superstitious and idolatrous; their faith and doctrine erroneous and heretical; their church in respect of both, apostatical; to give them therefore a toleration, or to consent that they may freely exercise their religion, and profess their faith and doctrine is a grievous sin."
* N.B. Walter Lippman was an American political commentator during the middle years of the 20th century. 

1 comment:

  1. 9am Greenwich Time or 9am Israel Standard Time which is 2 hours earlier? The Bible, which the good Bishop used for calculations was written in and around Palestine.

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