Siteadmin, Check users, Administrators
12,071
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: − + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
no edit summary
James Ussher was an [[Anglican]] archbishop. One of his most noted achievements was the calculation of the date and time of [[creation]] from [[exegesis]] of the [[Bible]].
[[James Ussher]] (b. 4 January 1581, fl. 1625, d. 21 March 1656) was [[Archbishop]] of [[Armagh]] and [[Primate]] of All [[Ireland]]. He is best known for his massive compendium of ancient history, ''[[The Annals of the World]],'' in which he attempted to calculate the number of years that had elapsed since [[creation]].
== Life and Career ==
Ussher was born in [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]]. He determined early to pursue a career with the [[Church of England]], a resolve quite similar to that of the [[Bible|Biblical]] Judge, [[Samuel]].
He entered Dublin University at the age of 18, and at 20 achieved ordination as a deacon and priest. At 26, he became Professor and Chairman of the Department of Divinity at Dublin University, and held his professorship from 1609 to 1621. In 1625, he became Archbishop of Armagh, an office he apparently held until his death. In 1628, King James made him a Privy Councillor.
He was considered well-read and well-versed in history, a subject that soon became his primary focus. He wrote several histories of the doings of the Irish and [[England|English]] churches dating back to [[Rome|Roman]] times. He also made himself an expert in [[Semitic]] languages, an expertise that informed his argument in favor of the [[Masoretic Text]] of the [[Bible]] in preference to the [[Septuagint]].
He died in 1656. [[Lord Protector]] [[Oliver Cromwell]] honored him with a State funeral and a burial in [[Westminster Abbey]]. His extensive library of manuscripts, many of them Middle Eastern originals, became part of the collection at Dublin University.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9074527/James-Ussher James Ussher in the Encylopedia Britannica online]</ref>
== Arguments for Biblical Chronology ==
As mentioned, Ussher is best known for his [[chronology]] of events in the Bible and other events recorded outside it. Ussher assumed, first of all, that the Bible was the most reliable, if not the only reliable, source for the events that it records. This included the lengths of the lives of [[Abraham]] and his ancestors, and of [[Isaac]], [[Jacob]], and the line of [[Judah]], including especially the [[House of David|Davidic]] dynasty of the [[Southern Kingdom]] of [[Israel]].
In deciding how to synchronize the [[Christian]] or ''[[Anno Domini]]'' era with an era using [[Creation]] itself as its [[epoch]], Ussher chose the death of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] as the anchor point and worked backward from that date through the Bible. Thus he calculated the date of Creation as 23 October, 4004 BC. So influential was Ussher that for centuries his chronology was included in every printed edition of the [[King James Version]] of the Bible.
=== Objections ===
The obvious objections that secular historians have against Ussher's chronology follow from their notion that the earth is 4.6 billion years old and not merely six thousand or so years old. That, however, is a purely philosophical objection--and indeed, [[young earth creationism|young earth creationists]] have by now assembled a powerful body of evidence that the earth indeed could not be much older than Ussher calculated it to be.
The Biblical objections are more serious, however. They turn on Ussher's interpretation of certain passages, such as {{BibleRef|book=Galatians|chap=3|verses=17|version=NASB}} and {{BibleRef|book=Ezekiel|chap=4|verses=5|version=NASB}}, that separate certain key events in Hebrew history. Happily, Ussher left copious notes detailing his methods and his arguments. Today [[Larry Pierce|Pierce, Larry]],<ref>[[Larry Pierce]], "The Forgotten Archbishop," Appendix B of James Ussher, ''[[The Annals of the World]],'' Larry and Marion Pierce, eds., Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003, pp. 891-2, ISBN 0890513600</ref> who undertook to translate the ''Annals'' into English from their original [[Latin]], has prepared vigorous defenses of Ussher and his work. While not all of Ussher's calculations might be able to stand (see [[Biblical chronology dispute]] for details), his notes at least inform modern readers of the basis of his calculations and enable them to construct a Biblical corrective.
==== The Divided Kingdoms: How Long Was Their History? ====
Centuries after Ussher died, [[Edwin R. Thiele]]<ref>[[Edwin R. Thiele|Thiele, Edwin R.]], ''The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings''</ref> attempted a revision of the chronology of the Divided Kingdoms [[Northern Kingdom|Northern]] and [[Southern Kingdom|Southern]] to make them comport to generally accepted dates from [[Assyrian chronology]]. The effect of Thiele's proposed corrective is to shorten the history of the Divided Kingdoms by forty-five years--but that figure is actually closer than at least two other disputed figures in Ussher's calculations. Moreover, it suggests that the [[Exodus]] from [[Egypt]] took place in 1446 BC--the "Early Date"--and not 1290 BC, the "Late Date" in current widespread [[Archaeology|archaeological]] favor. Ussher calculates the Exodus as occurring in 1491 BC.
Pierce, since 2003, has led a counterattack against Thiele and has argued for the primacy of Scripture over any archaeological find, no matter how allegedly strong the evidence might appear to be. His primary--indeed only--quarrel with Thiele concerns the history of the Northern Kingdom and alleged synchronies between Kings [[Ahab]] and [[Jehu]] of that kingdom and King [[Sennacherib III]] of [[Assyria]]--syncrhonies that Ussher did not mention, because the Bible did not mention them.
== References ==
<references/>
[[Category:Biography]]