How long have human beings existed on Earth according to the Bible?

Answer 1

The Bible does not say exactly when Man was created. Various dates of Creation have been calculated, ranging from 4004BC (Bishop Usshur) to 5760BC (Barry Setterfield). Adding 2008 years makes it from 6012 to 7768 years that man has been on earth.

"Ussher's proposed date of 4004 BC differed little from other Biblically-based estimates, such as those of Bede (3952 BC), Ussher's near-contemporary, Scaliger (3949 BC), Johannes Kepler (3992 BC) or Sir Isaac newton (c. 4000 BC)."

see link "Ussher Chronology"

I'm not sure the bible is attempting to identify the duration of man's presence on earth. Scripture tells us that one day is as a thousand years to the Lord, and vice versa, so it is difficult if not impossible to determine a formula for such a calculation. In which instances does God intend to be taken literally, and in which ones not so literally.

The bible has lists or chronologies, timelines, including who followed who and so forth. But in these chronologies not everyone in the line is included. Quite often those listed are there to make a point rather than to show precision in years. Women are almost never mentioned in the chronologies, which might have made a difference.

My personal opinion is that the bible cannot be used to determine how old man is.

The Bible itself makes it clear when figurative language is being used such as 'a thousand years are as one day', the word 'as' being the determinative factor here. Also if the day is literally a thousand years then each sabbath, also a day must be a 1000 years. Clearly a difficulty.

The chronologies worked out by Usher and others are the best efforts of men to arrive at a date given the information provided. It is quite clear that the information on which they rely is literal ordinary days, months and years and not figurative as the data is contained within historical and genealogical narratives which are clearly literal.

Thus, as it stands at the present day around 6012 years is the close approximation, if one uses Usher's date.

Answer 2

By simply adding up the ages of the biblical patriarchs of Genesis yields a date of about 6,000 years ago for the first human parents, Adam and Eve, formed by God at the end of six days of creation. This 'renewal' of the face of the Earth found already existing in darkness and under water and the creation of man on the 6th day of Creation week, effectively begins the 'reign of man' - distinct from the 'reign of dinosaurs' which the Scripture merely alludes to.

As the famous paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson once remarked: "The most puzzling event in the history of life on the earth is the change from the Mesozoic Age of Reptiles, to the . . . Age of Mammals. It is as if the curtain were rung down suddenly on a stage where all the leading roles were taken by reptiles, especially dinosaurs, in great numbers and bewildering variety, and rose again immediately to reveal the same setting but an entirely new cast, a cast in which the dinosaurs do not appear at all, other reptiles are supernumeraries and the leading parts are all played by mammals of sorts barely hinted at in the previous acts" ( Life Before Man, 1972, p. 42).

Answer 3

There are two creation stories in the Book of Genesis. It is the second of these (Genesis 2:4b-20) that indirectly tells us how long humans have lived on Earth according to the Bible. The genealogies that follow, and which were written down by the same author as the second creation story, indicate that Adam was created around 4000 BCE, so that for this author humans have lived on Earth for approximately 6000 years.

The first creation story (Genesis 1:1-2:4a), by the Priestly source, says that the world was created in six days, but does not tell us how long ago. Leon R. Kass (The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis) says that we should recognise the independence of the two creation stories and adopt a critical principle of reading if we mean to understand each story on its own terms. We must scrupulously avoid reading into the second story any facts or notions taken from the first, and vice versa. Thus, any notions we find in the second story about how long humans have lived on earth must not be assumed in the first story.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation

Answer 4

According to Jewish tradition, the world was created 5775 years ago (as of 2015). See also:

Archaeology

Debunking Biblical-criticism

Answer 5

Not all people believe the Bible but some who do, say that life began around 6,000 years ago.