Posted on 10/22/2004 7:22:56 AM PDT by Publius Valerius
Universe's 6,000th birthday ...
Tim Radford Friday October 22, 2004 The Guardian
Britain's geologists are about to celebrate the fact that the universe is exactly 6,000 years old.
At 6pm tonight at the Geological Society of London, scientists will raise their glasses to James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh (below), who in 1650 used the chronology of the Bible to calculate the precise date and moment of creation.
Working from the book of Genesis, and risking some speculation on the Hebrew calendar, he calculated that it began at 6pm on Saturday October 22, 4004 BC.
Actually, he put the date at October 23, and then pedantically realised that time must have begun the night before, because the Bible said that "the evening and the morning were the first day."
The geologists selected the anniversary for a day-long conference on some of the fakes, frauds and hoaxes that have plagued geological and palaeontological research for centuries. "It's not that we think Archbishop Ussher's date was a fraud," said Ted Nield, the society's communications officer. "It's just that it was spectacularly wrong."
Dr Nield conceded, too, that in toasting the archbishop's calculations the geologists were committing another error. More than 6,000 years have passed since 4004 BC. The symmetry is only apparent. The date is a mere numerological reflection. The real anniversary passed unnoticed, in 1997.
These idiots belittle other people's beliefs as scientific nonsense, sounding very much like they are high on a hill elitists high above everyone else...when they cannot figure out simple mathematics?
Good grief.
2.13.2 Was Jesus born in the year 0?
No.
There are two reasons for this:
There is no year 0.
Jesus was born before 4 BC.
The concept of a year ``zero'' is a modern myth (but a very popular one). Roman numerals do not have a figure designating zero, and treating zero as a number on an equal footing with other numbers was not common in the 6th century when our present year reckoning was established by Dionysius Exiguus (see section 2.13). Dionysius let the year AD 1 start one week after what he believed to be Jesus' birthday.
Therefore, AD 1 follows immediately after 1 BC with no intervening year zero. So a person who was born in 10 BC and died in AD 10, would have died at the age of 19, not 20.
Furthermore, Dionysius' calculations were wrong. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus was born under the reign of king Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC. It is likely that Jesus was actually born around 7 BC. The date of his birth is unknown; it may or may not be 25 December.
6,006 + the year from 1 BC to 1 AD = 6,007
In theory, but can it be proven as a matter of fact?
No so quick grasshopper. 6000 years is a significant event. For those that can remember a time when the fresh smell of a newly printed Bible didn't exist (like around the 400 A.D) and Theologians didn't yet have the clear cut list of cannonnical OT and NT books, a book that was reference quite often (and reference by Jude in Scripture) also speaks of 6 days as the time before the second coming. In biblical language 6 days can also mean 6,000 years. The seventh day, or 1,000 years comes next, and then the 8th day (8 being heavenly). Just a point to ponder.
I'll drink to that as well! And send prayers to God in thanks for the Universe, WHENEVER it was made.
who is to say that time has acted linearly
A fair point, but then the question becomes why, in the past 4000 years of history (the basic beginning of "recorded" history), why has time acted linearly? I'm not sure that "just 'cuz" is a satisfactory answer here.
Lets take up the discussion/argument after the election. :-)
This election is more important than a crevo debate now.
Actually, we are speaking of the visible universe (the distance light can travel at it present limit since the beginning). Estimates range from 12 to 15 billion years (but we won't know until Hubble, or the next Generation Space Telescopes, find the limit of visible light). The actual universe may be infinite in size, but unless we can see tachyons (which in theory travel faster than the speed of light), we will be limited to the visible universe.
If I remember my history, Sir Issac Newton said he found nothing wrong in Usser's dating.
But then, what did Newton know about it!
Time may be linear, but God does not have to start at zero and move foreward like His creatures do. We see time as moving in one direction, but we are limited creatures.
Time has been perceived linearly, but there's no telling that it has proceeded linearly. This is a big philosophical question and there are a lot of fascinating essays on it, both religious and secular.
I'll second that non-censoring statement.
Perhaps Theresa will lift a cold one in honor of the Universe's birthday?
I love Christ and humbly honor His sacrifice. So I can see your point. But that picture makes me smile and I hope it does Him, too.
I'm also just commenting, not disagreeing or seeking action.
So you are saying that, as a possibility, in the beginning, God created the past.
Eh.
Sorry.
I kinda like it for the same reason it was made in that movie. (Can't recall the name at the moment.) It was created to attract younger people to church.
I'll not post it any more if it offends.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.