The Man Who Suggested That The Earth Might Be Older Than Adam and Eve

And how this idea went on to found modern science

(Public domain)

In the 18th century, the prevailing view of the time was that the Earth was just 5,700 years old. This belief was cemented by the work of Archbishop James Ussher who meticulously calculated the age of the Earth using all manner of ancient Hebrew texts. Ussher concluded that the Earth was created on October 22nd, 4004 BCE. This belief circulated through both learned and religious circles. People at the time discovered fossils and saw The Flood. The stars in the sky were hand placed there by God, as were the mountains and the seas. There was no real evidence to question these presumptions, so most people took them at face value.

The foundation of the belief that the Earth was just 5,700 years old was not rattled until one unassuming gentleman by the name of James Hutton began to spend more and more time staring at rocks.

James Hutton was born in 1726 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and spent most of his early life farming. Hutton received schooling at both the University of Edinburgh and the University of Paris, where he studied medicine and chemistry. However, in 1750, Hutton decided to return to his family farmsteads and took up farming and animal husbandry in earnest (while also continuing some…