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FALSE PROPS

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · March 25, 1880

FromThe Review and Herald, Vol. 55, No. 13

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FALSE PROPS.

It is surprising to notice what pretended arguments people will resort to in support of the Sunday institution. A brother writes from Bennington, Kansas, stating that an individual there is making quite a stir over an argument to prove that Sunday is the true seventh day, which he presents as follows:—
“Add 1880 to 4004, which would give the age of the world in years. Reduce the years to days by multiplying by 365¼, and the days to weeks by dividing by 7. This would give 307,068 full weeks and 5 days over. The present year ends on Friday, and of course if Friday is the fifth day, Sunday is the seventh.”
It is surprising that any man should be either so brazen or so obtuse as to present in sober earnest such an argument. It is not less surprising that it should make any impression upon those who hear it.
In the first place, who knows that just 4004 years elapsed before Christ? To be sure, Usher’s chronology gives that figure, but Paul, in Acts 13:20, convicts Usher of an error of 150 years in the time of the Judges. There are six main systems of chronology, all of which differ in regard to the time from creation to Christ; and the supposition that the age of the world can be given in days, weeks, or even years, is as preposterous an idea as it is possible for a man to advance.
Again he says, “Multiply by 365¼;” but there are not 365¼ days in a year. The exact length of the year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 49 seconds, which is 11 minutes and 11 seconds short of 365¼ days. What this would amount to since the creation, we leave it for our friend to tell; and any one can imagine whether the product would be correct or not when there is such an error in the multiplier.
These rash assumptions have greatly multiplied since Mr. Acres ridiculously assumed that he could tell the age of the world to the very day. But we dismiss them all as unworthy of any further notice.