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From: arndt@lymph.DEC
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re. Bishop Ussher and the age of the earth,etc.
Message-ID: <1041@decwrl.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 11-Mar-85 09:49:58 EST
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Posted: Mon Mar 11 09:49:58 1985
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Please.  Talk about being dishonest!  Let's let poor ole Bishop Ussher
rest in peace.  

No one is helped by dragging him out of his grave and propping him up as if
he had anything to say today.  Why not bring back those who opposed Pasteur?
Or some other such from the history of science.

The good Bishop made an attempt, in line with the best scientific and 
theological thinking of his day to determine the age of the world from the
histories of families given in the Old Testament.  So he came up with a date
of 4004BC.  Since then, not only has science moved on but historiography has
shown that the Hebrews, like the rest of the civilizations in the area (Egypt,
Babylon, etc.) didn't list generations one after the other giving EVERY single
family in the line!!!  Rather they counted generations the same way we might
if asked to highlight the Presidents.  Perhaps there are a few Christians aroundwho haven't heard (The Schofield notes ?) the news, but please don't make fools
of yourselves talking about Bishop Ussher as if he is taken seriously.  It only
show your lack of knowledge and ability to deal with Christian claims.

The same sort of bosh is put forward by no less (he should know better!) than
Ethan Vishniac when he asks if Christians wish to defend a flat earth and a
geocentric universe because HE says that a literal reading of the bible leads
to those ideas.  Please.  Spare me, Ethan.  Perhaps, your lack of liberal arts
training is showing, perhaps you are being flip, perhaps you really believe
Christians believe those things, perhaps you are silly.  But 'literal' reading
MEANS reading the document through the eyes of writer and his times!!!!!!
At the time the Old Testament was written the earth appeared flat to a great
manny people.  And geocentric too.  Just how would you EXPECT someone from the
tenth century BC to describe the earth????  And if God gave an ACCURATE 
scientific description of things, who would understand them?????  Tenth
century people, us, in the future????  The point is of course that as Calvin
(of Geneva, not Klein) said "God lisps" when talking to man.  Otherwise we
wouldn't know what he was talking about, eh?  The bible is not a scientific
explanation of the world.  But it does describe accurately what men saw and
heard.  We do the same today.  Talk about things in not a strickly 'accurate'
way.  One MUST be less than entirely accurate to communicate!  Now, I'm not
jumping on you Ethan, really, I respect your mind and views and have enjoyed
your postings to net.physics.

Regards,

Ken Arndt