USSHER’S CHRONOLOGY, Sylvester Hassell In 1650 James Ussher, the Archbishop of Armagh, published his claim that the world was created at noon on October 23, 4004 B.C. He did not arrive at that figure by adding up the ages and lineages of the Old Testament, as is usually imagined. That cannot be done with any accuracy. In his day it was usually believed that the world was created four thousand years before the birth of Christ, and that it would last for another two thousand years after his birth. That would make six thousand years corresponding to the six days of creation. Also, Herod was generally agreed to have died in 4 B.C.
Ussher simply added the two figures and arrived at 4004 B.C. The Jewish year began in the autumn, and the Roman calendar, which was in use at the time of Christ, placed the autumnal equinox in October. Ussher chose the first Sunday after the autumnal equinox, and he placed the creation at what he thought was the creation of light, which he thought was at noon.
About the same time John Lightfoot calculated that the creation took place on October 23, 4004 B.C. at nine o’clock in the morning. In the eighth century the Venerable Bede, the British historian, chose 3952 B.C. The Jewish calendar names 3761 B.C.