teaches versus what he thinks it teaches. The 6,000-year-old earth idea originated with Bishop James Ussher (1581–1656), the Prelate of the Church of Ireland. Ussher postulated that God created the earth at nightfall preceding Sunday, October 23, 4004 B.C. Ussher was a well-educated man, not some guy making guesses. He arrived at this date by looking at the historical events in the Old Testament that we can reliably date and by going through the various genealogies in both the Old and New Testaments.