He argued that, although scripture itself only tended to take notice of entire years, the Holy Spirit provided clues allowing critics to establish a precise chronology of its events by applying to the text the results of astronomical calculations and its comparison with the dates of pagan history. In the Annals, Ussher developed the chronological work of many earlier scholars, particularly Joseph Justus Scaliger (who had pioneered the use of the Julian period in calendrical calculations) to provide a framework for dating the whole Bible historically.

The book was the fruit of many years of labor as early as the summer of 1640, Ussher was reported 'spending constantly all the afternoones' in the Bodleian working at it (Constantine Adams to Hartlib, Hartlib Papers, 15/8/3A-4B). Ussher calculated this timing in his Annals, a work of biblical chronology published in Latin in 1650 (Hartlib noted its progress through the press with great interest) and translated it into English in 1658. A staunch defender of episcopacy, he respected all sides during religious upheavals of the 1640s and 1650s, regarded as the person able to achieve an accommodation between the Presbyterians and the 'Church of England.' As such, he was valued by Hartlib and Dury, both of whom helped him at times with his scholarly work and looked to him as a potential patron for their schemes.ĭespite his success as a churchman, Ussher is perhaps most famous for dating the start of the creation to the evening before 23rd October, 4004 B.C.

James Ussher, archbishop of Armagh, was the pre-eminent figure in the contemporary Church of Ireland, and a leading patron of scholarship at Trinity College, Dublin. After his death, his extensive and valuable library formed the great library of Trinity College, Dublin. He traveled widely in Britain and Europe in his enduring search for knowledge, seeking the earliest available manuscripts, buying those he could, and copying others. James Ussher was one of the most outstanding scholars and theologians of his time.

The Annals of the World by James Ussher