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Scriptural
Chronology Introduction David Stewart, Jr. Archaeologists and
historians generally agree that recorded history began between 3000 BC and
3500 BC. This is remarkably consistent
with the scriptural account. It is
significant that there are no written records, for instance, from 10,000 or
20,000 years B.C. that would provide a clear chain of recorded history that
would falsify the scriptural timetable. Any dates before this time
cannot be documented by direct historical evidence. Rather, dating of presumably earlier
artifacts relies on indirect methods of calculation. Such methods rely upon assumptions which
are accepted dogmatically by the archaeology community, but are
unproven. For instance, carbon dating
methods of very old objects depend on the assumption that the radiation level
in the atmosphere has remained virtually unchanged throughout the entire
existence of the earth. Because the
date calculation is logarithmic, even a small difference in carbon-14 levels
can drastically alter the calculated date.
I have previously addressed some of the problems with DNA dating in
the debate here.
The site requires free registration to view the discussion. Suffice it
to say that we have good reason to believe geologic, DNA, and nuclear dating
methods within the course of recorded history are relatively accurate. However, calculations of dates in the
remote prehistoric past bear a high margin of error and rely on numerous
unproven assumptions that are typically not disclosed in public
pronouncements by experts claiming their calculated dates to represent
definitive fact. Anthropologists and
archaeologists claim that “As a species, Homo
sapiens has not changed significantly either mentally or physically, for
well over 100,000 years. We may have
moved from the Stone Age to the Internet Age but each human being is no
different today to their forebear 500 generations in the past.”[1] They claim that only “after 100,000 years
of what is assumed to be virtual stagnation, humans began a completely new
way of life in what is known as the Neolithic Revolution. It began approximately 12,000 years ago when
people across the Middle East, Europe, and Thoughtful persons should
immediately recognize several serious problems with the claims of
contemporary scholars. We are told
that the human brain has not changed significantly in over 100,000 years, yet
that there was no cultivation of land and that humans lived exclusively a
hunter-gatherer existence after 100,000 years of stagnation. Humans are resourceful. We have seen dramatic technological
innovation in just the past ten years, and the course of recorded history
demonstrates remarkable innovation even in the earliest antiquity. Yet we are to believe that ancient humans –
who shared the same brains and cognitive capacity that we do today – lived
exclusively as hunter-gatherers for over 100,000 years, for over 20 times the
length of entire recorded history, until the ideas of permanent settlements,
crop cultivation, and the domestication of animals ever occurred to
anyone? Such a claim is patently
ludicrous. It is made more ridiculous by the belief that permanent
settlements – which allegedly had never been made over the prior 100,000
years – suddenly, independently, and near-simultaneously came into being all
around the world. Such implausible
claims transcend the level of mere coincidence and invoke faith in consensus
dogma far beyond reason. The archaeological record
is too sparse to credibly document the existence of prehistoric humans over
the time frame claimed. The oldest sites of human habitation in Dates claimed by
archaeologists and anthropologists are also continually being revised. Only a decade ago, it was claimed that the Yet it is interesting
that, no matter how frequently or how substantially the accepted dates of
events and relics may change, there is rarely if ever any public admission of
error on the part of the scholarly community.
Those who grew up hearing one set of dates proclaimed as irrefutable
fact in school are often surprised to learn how drastically scholars have
changed those dates in the course of few intervening years. One would think that the frequent errors in
dating requiring dramatic revision would lead so-called dating experts to be
more cautious in qualifying their own claims and more respectful to those who
hold different views, but such an approach is the rare exception rather than
the rule. Recent research has also
demonstrated that the units of measurement used in so-called “Late Stone Age”
and Neolithic communities around the world, from There is increasing
support among linguists for the existence of a unifying “proto-language” from
which all human languages arose, with a date of convergence estimated by
qualified linguists at 15,000 BC.[6] We know that this date is still too early,
but even this date wreaks havoc with the claims of anthropologists and
archaeologists. For a universal
language to have existed around the world requires, at a minimum, contact
among early peoples that academic consensus views on prehistory currently do
not allow. In this point as well, scientific data supports scriptural history
while disputing evolutionary views: human languages were not invented
independently, but originated from a common source. The purpose of this
introduction is not to disparage those who accept the present dating
consensus, but only to object to the all too common characterization that
anyone who accepts scriptural chronologies at face value is ignorant or
uninformed. To the contrary,
examination of prehistoric dates accepted by the scientific establishment
demonstrates irreconcilable conflicts among different types of data, and
ultimately invokes faith in evolutionary theory far beyond reason. Whatever challenges or minor discrepancies
scripture-based dates may face, such dates have generally corresponded
closely to historical evidence in both the Old World and the New, and there
are good reasons to believe that they are fairly accurate – especially when
we compare them to the wildly fluctuating chronologies promulgated by the
academic community over even the past fifty years. The chronologies below
deal exclusively with the history of the earth from the time of Adam and Eve
down to the present, but do not address earlier issues of time. The earth’s creation involved the
organization of existing matter, and not creatio ex nihilo. The elements – subatomic particles, not
chemical elements – are eternal (D&C 93:33). Joseph
Smith taught: “Anything created cannot be eternal; and earth, water, etc.,
had their existence in an elementary state, from eternity.”[7] The state of organization the earth’s
matter was in before the creation is not declared in scripture. While there are scholarly reasons noted here
that demonstrate that consensus prehistoric geologic dates are dubious and
cannot be supported by rigid scientific standards, there is also nothing in
claims that matter is “millions and millions” of years old that would
fundamentally undermine scriptural chronology. To the contrary, the recognition that matter
is eternal leads us to believe that the building-blocks of the earth are very
old indeed. Book of
Ancient Scripture David Grant Stewart, Sr. In this list I have listed
the books which are listed in the Old Testament, but not present there, plus
books which are not mentioned, but which I know exist and I have cited them
accordingly. All of the earlier dates are entirely my own. For some of the
later dates, about 1000 B.C. onward, I am indebted to the Bible Dictionary as
published by the LDS church, which should be taken as approximately accurate
until better information proves otherwise. I have made corrections to the
extent possible with the time available to me. Book Approx. Date Written Approx. Dates Covered Language Notes The Sorrows of Eve 3500 BC Language of
Adam Written in the language
of Adam, transcribed 1500 years later into Egyptian Hieroglyphic on the
Metternich Stele, but not translated correctly Adam’s general
conference talk 6 April 2926 B.C Recorded on two pillars,
one of brick and one of stone, language of Adam The Book of Enoch 2850 BC Language of
Adam The shorter Book of
Abraham 1830 BC Egyptian
hieratic The longer Book of
Abraham 1800 BC Egyptian hieroglyphic Known today as The Book
of the Dead but not translated correctly The account of Joseph in
1600 BC Egyptian
hieratic Called “The Tale of the
Two Brothers”, but not transcribed nor translated correctly The Book of Joseph 1560 BC Egyptian
hieroglyphic The Book of Job 1550 BC 1600-1550 BC Hebrew The Book of Zenos 1500 BC Egyptian
hieroglyphic Zenos was murdered and
buried at Sakkarah. The Book of Zenock 1450 BC Egyptian
hieroglyphic Zenock was murdered and
buried at Sakkarah. The Book of the Wars of
the Lord 1380 BC Hebrew Genesis 1370 BC 3853-1598 BC Hebrew Genesis was a compilation
and abridgment of records from Egyptian, Akkadian cuneiform, and the
language of Adam. Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, Deuteronomy 1370 BC 1480-1360 BC Hebrew Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy were all written in Hebrew and were eyewitness accounts,
not translations. The Book of Jasher 1320 BC Hebrew The manuscript is
supposed to be in the Book of Joshua 1310 BC 1360-1300 BC Hebrew I Judges 1150 BC 1300 BC-1100 BC Hebrew II Judges 1100 BC 1300 BC-1100 BC Hebrew Ruth 1050 BC 1185-1085 BC Hebrew Book of Nathan the
Prophet 1040 BC Book of Gad the Seer 1030 BC II Samuel 1030 BC 1170-1015 BC Psalms 1030 BC 1063-1020 BC Hebrew,
late square Song of Solomon 1000 BC 1000-975 BC Hebrew Proverbs 990 BC 1015-975 BC Hebrew Ecclesiastes 980 BC 1000-975 BC Hebrew I Chronicles 960 BC Hebrew Visions of Iddo the Seer 950 BC Hebrew There are two Iddos,
about 400 years apart. The first was a seer; the second was a prophet, the
grandfather of Zechariah. Book of Ahijah the
Shilonite 950 BC Hebrew Book of Shemaiah the
Prophet 950 BC Hebrew Book of Oded, 930 BC,
Hebrew. 930 BC Hebrew Book of Azariah, 930 BC,
Hebrew. 930 BC Hebrew Book of Jehu ben Hanani 920 BC Hebrew Book of the Acts of
Solomon 900 BC Hebrew Ezias 900 BC Hebrew I Kings 890 BC 1015- 540 BC Hebrew Joel 860 BC 850 B.C Hebrew II Kings 850 BC 1015- 540 BC Hebrew Hosea 790 BC 790 BC Hebrew Amos 790 BC 792 BC Hebrew Jonah 790 BC 785 BC Babylonian
cuneiform Isaiah 730 BC 740-720 BC Hebrew Micah 720 BC 722 BC Hebrew Nahum, also spelled Neum
("The Book of the Vision of Nahum the Elkoshite") 640 BC 642 BC Hebrew Zephaniah 630 BC 620 BC Hebrew Obadiah 610 BC 610 BC Hebrew Ezekiel 600 BC 570 BC Hebrew Habakkuk 600 BC 570 BC Hebrew Jeremiah 587 BC** 628-570 BC Hebrew Lamentations 580 BC 588-570 BC Hebrew Daniel 580 BC 588-570 BC Chaldaic The Book of Iddo the
Prophet* 580 BC Hebrew I Samuel (“Book of
Samuel the Seer”) 560 BC 1170-1015 BC II Chronicles 540 BC Hebrew Haggai 520 BC 519 BC Hebrew Zechariah 520 BC 519 BC Hebrew Ezra 460 BC 518-500 BC Hebrew Nehemiah 430 BC 445-433 BC Hebrew Malachi 430 BC 432 BC Hebrew Esther 408 BC 483-465 BC Persian cuneiform Book of the Chronicles
of the Kings of Media and 320 BC Persian
cuneiform **From this time forward,
there are no seers in For the most part, I have
dated the books according to the latest piece of information in them, or the
last entry in them, as we have them today. This explains why the Book of
Samuel, for example, was actually finished hundreds of years after his death.
The records I have seen so
far do not justify dates of any greater precision than those given above.
There may be mistakes, and of course there are inaccuracies, but I think my
list above is the most comprehensive one done on the subject to date. Of
course, I will continue to learn from the ancient records and continue to
share my findings All the books included in
the Bible as we have it are quite arbitrary. There are a great many more
books which could have been included - many of which existed in earlier
versions, and many did not. Josephus, for example, had a great many more
books in his version of the Old Testament than we have, and even the books we
have had more information in them at the time of Josephus, which has since
been removed. For example, in the Old Testament we see Moses’ sister chiding
him about marrying an Ethiopian woman, but no explanation as to when, where,
how, why, or if this really happened. Josephus supplies all of this from his
more complete record. Chronology
of the Scriptures (c) 2007 David Grant
Stewart, Sr. 3913 Physical creation of the
world is completed. 3853 Adam is born. 3723 Adam was 130 when Seth
was born. 3618 Seth was 105 when Enos
was born. 3528 Enos was 90 when Cainan
was born. 3458 Cainan was 70 when
Mahalaleel was born. 3393 Mahalaleel was 65 when
Jared was born. 3231 Jared was 162 when Enoch
was born. 3166 Enoch was 65 when
Methuselah was born. Enoch founds a city called by his name, teaching his
people “that law by which they may be sanctified and see the face” of
Deity. 3166-2801 2979 Methuselah was 187 when
Lamech was born. 2926 Adam at 927 years gave a
speech at a conference and prophesied two great Floods: The Flood of Water
in the early days of the world, and the Flood of Fire in the latter days of
the world. Josephus records that the text of this speech was recorded on
two pillars, one of brick and one of stone, to withstand the respective
floods. 2923 Adam dies at 930. 2811 Seth dies at 912. 2801 Enoch and his city is
translated at 430, giving rise to the saying “ 2797 Lamech is 182 when Noah
is born. 2713 Enos dies at 905. 2618 Cainan dies at 910. 2563 Mahalaleel dies at 895. 2431 Jared dies at 962. 2347 Noah is 450 when Japheth
is born. 2317 Noah is told about the
flood 120 years before it happens. This is recorded on Sumerian tablets, in
particular the one which starts out “UD BA ZI UD SU DU LU GAL AM …” [And it
came to pass that Noah, who was the king …] 2305 Noah is 492 when Shem is
born. 2297 Noah is 500 when Ham is
born. 2202 Lamech dies at 777. 2197 Methuselah dies at 969. 2197 Noah enters the ark on
10 May when he is 600. 2197 Noah is 600 when the
flood comes on 17 May. 2197 It rains until 26 June. 2197 The ark comes to rest on
17 October. 2197 Water covers everything
until 23 November. 2196 The tops of the
mountains were seen on 1 January. 2196 Noah removed the
covering from the ark on 1 April when he was 601 years old. 2196 The earth was dried on
27 May when Noah was 601 years old. 2195 Shem was 110 when
Arphaxad was born, 2 years after the flood. 2160 Arphaxad was 35 when
Salah was born. 2130 Salah was 30 when Eber
was born. 2096 Eber was 34 when Peleg
was born. 2066 Peleg was 30 when Reu
was born. 2034 Reu was 32 when Serug
was born. 2004 Serug was 30 when Nahor
was born. Gen. 11:22 1975 Nahor was 29 when Terah
was born. 1905 Terah was 70 when Abram
was born. 1895 Sarah is born - she was
10 years younger than Abraham 1895-1843 Abraham is given the
Urim and Thummin while in 1857 Peleg died at 239. 1857 Nahor died at 148. 1847 Noah dies at 950. 1843 Abraham left 1833 Abraham takes Hagar as a
concubine after he had been in 1830 Abraham enters 1827 Reu dies at 239. 1819 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||