Note 1 — SECOND STUDY

The chronology of the Bible is not a matter of the divine revelation, and scholars are not agreed with respect to the dates of early Scripture history. The system of chronology commonly found in reference Bibles is that of Archbishop Usher, who lived 1580-1656, long before the modern period of investigation in Bible lands. According to this chronology A´dam was created B. C. 4004, the flood took place B. C. 2348, and the call of A´bra-ham was B. C. 1928. But it is now an attested and recognized fact that kingdoms were established in the Eu-phra´tes valley and beside the Nile more than 4000 years before Christ. All of Usher's dates earlier than the captivity of the Jews in Bab´y-lon are now discarded by scholars. We give in these lessons no dates earlier than the call of A´bra-ham, which is doubtfully placed at B. C. 2280, and regard none as certain before B. C. 1000.