Usshering in the Beginning: The Real "Facts of History"

  An article entitled "Apologetics...for discussion..." appeared in Shoreacres News & Views, the January/February 2018 issue. Several points made by the unidentified author deserve a response---in particular, the question of the date of Creation, and the implication that Noah could not have lived contemporaneously with Abraham.

     There is a regrettable, damaging belief, common even in evangelical Christian circles, that the early record of Genesis is somehow foggy, indecipherable, and that all we can really conclude is what the author concludes here: "in fact, the Bible itself gives no indication of when the earth or the universe were created".

       Scripture disagrees. We can know, within reasonable margins, when God created "the heavens and the earth" in six normal 24-hour days. The historical account and chronogenealogies contained in the first eleven chapters of Genesis are foundational to every main doctrine of our faith. It is as important for us, as disciples of Christ, to study and understand them as any chapters in the New Testament.

     According to the biblical record, God created Adam on the sixth day from Creation and he was the first of twenty generations detailed in these chapters—ten before the flood, and ten after. We can see the clear historical linking of these generations by comparing Genesis 5:32 and 11:10. Note that Genesis 5 and 11 do not give us merely a list of names, but the birth, age of procreation and life span for everyone in the twenty generations.This is history.

     The generations of Genesis 5 and 11 are consistent with 1 Chronicles 1:1-4, 24-27, and Luke 3, with the exception of Cainan (see footnote).

     The groups of generations in Matthew 1 are set out to show the key figures in the history of redemption, and are not an exhaustive list of all the generations: hence, the three divisions of fourteens.

     Biblical and science scholar Dr. Jonathan Sarfati, in his technical paper "Biblical Chronogenealogies" (Journal of Creation 17(3): 14-18) wrote:

     A straightforward reading of the biblical genealogies from the reliable Masoretic Text shows that Adam was created about 4000 BC and that the flood occurred around 2500 BC. Contextual, linguistic and historical analyses of the book of Genesis confirm that the chronogenealogies are a complete record with no gaps. Creationists who wish to push back the date of the Flood and Creation to fit their geological or archaeological theories have no grounds to do this based on the biblical record.

     In his paper, Sarfati quotes James Barr, then regius professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, who wrote in 1984 that, as far as he knew, there was no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who did not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1-11 intended to convey that the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the biblical story. "Barr," wrote Sarfati, "consistent with his neo-orthodox views, does not believe Genesis, but he understood what the Hebrew so clearly taught."

     Now, what about the date of Creation? Any uncertainty stems from the dating of Abraham, which depends upon the date of the Exodus. It is possible from 1 Kings 6:1 and 2 Chronicles 3:1-2 to establish the Exodus at 1446 BC. Comparing Genesis 21:5, 26; 47:9, and Exodus 12:41 shows us that by adding Abraham's birth to Jacob's migration to Egypt, and the year of the Exodus,1446, we obtain Abraham's birth at 2166 BC. As he was born 1948 years after Adam, Creation was approximately 4114 BC.

Another authority that Sarfati quotes is the late Dr. Gerhard Hasel, formerly professor of Old Testament and Biblical Theology at St. Andrews University, who "rightly assumed that there were no gaps in the genealogies" and calculated a creation date of 4178 BC.

     According to the genealogies, Methuselah lived with Enoch 300 years and with Noah 600 years. Noah lived with Abraham until the latter was 58 years old.

     Bishop Ussher's Creation date has been mocked, as the writer of "Apologetics... For Discussion" notes. But that is more a reflection of the ignorance of the mockers than a sober appraisal. Ussher was a tremendous historian and Hebrew scholar; given the manuscript resources he had at the time, his conclusion was not only reasonable, but in line with dates calculated by other intellectual luminaries. Johannes Kepler, famous for formulating the laws of planetary motion, came up with a date of 3992 BC. And Sir Isaac Newton—generally considered the greatest scientist of all time, though he wrote more about theology than science—calculated a Creation date of around 4000 BC. So, while there may always of necessity be some uncertainty about the exact date of Creation, we can know it approximately, within very narrow limits. This matters because the historicity of the physical lines of descent, from the first Adam to the last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, is fundamental to redemptive history. Without it, we have no kinsman Redeemer, no substitutionary Atonement, no Saviour.

     Our brother Ussher deserves our respect. And our Scriptures deserve our study.

Notes:

     Safarti's article can be found on Creation Ministries International's website https://creation.com:

https://creation.com/biblical-chronogenealogies, along with many other papers by various authors, and Q&A articles related to the subject.

     Sarfati has written a valuable commentary on Genesis 1-11, The Genesis Account, essential to any serious Christian's library. Available in digital and print versions.

     A colourful chart of the Genesis genealogies is available from CMI, a useful tool for Sunday School students of all ages. 

     Footnote: It is possible that Cainan was a twin and received the birthright over his brother. Also, the earliest known Septuagint manuscript does not contain Cainan. It is very likely a rare copyist error.

Arthur C. Dixon

September 23, 2018