From Archbishop Ussher to George Bush: Geological Discrepancies of Biblical Proportions

As learned brethren will tell you, James Ussher (January 4, 1581- March 21, 1656), Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, was highly regarded in his day as a theologian and as a scholar.

Of his seventeen works, his chronology of creation, Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti, based on a combination of astronomical cycles, historical accounts, and several sources of biblical chronology, was incorporated into an authorized version of the Bible printed in 1701, and thus came to be regarded with almost as much unquestioning reverence as the Bible itself. Having established the first day of creation as Sunday 23 October 4004 BC, by the arguments set forth in the passage below, Ussher calculated the dates of other biblical events, concluding, for example, that Adam and Eve were driven from Paradise on Monday 10 November 4004 BC, and that the ark touched down on Mt Ararat on 5 May 1491 BC 'on a Wednesday'.

In case your calendar doesn't list important dates, write that one down. It's the birthday of the Universe tomorrow...6,000 years young!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNIVERSE!

Now that we have that out of the way, why does all this debunked bad science still matter today? Look what our President is up to...

According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER):

The Bush Administration has decided that it will stand by its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah�s flood rather than by geologic forces, according to internal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). [10/14/04]

Despite telling members of Congress and the public that the legality and appropriateness of the National Park Service offering a creationist book for sale at Grand Canyon museums and bookstores was �under review at the national level by several offices,� no such review took place, according to materials obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act. Instead, the real agency position was expressed by NPS spokesperson Elaine Sevy as quoted in the Baptist Press News:

�Now that the book has become quite popular, we don�t want to remove it.�

In other words, now that MORE people think Noah's Flood made the Grand Canyon via Bush approved and Federally sold publications, the Bush Administration doesn't want to dispell that notion. :shk:

If you care, the Universe of course is a tad older than 6,000 years and the Grand Canyon (though quite young geologically speaking) is still quite a few million years older than Noah.

So in summary, Bush (albeit a very pious man) is retarded.