How does the manner of reckoning time in the age in which Moses lived compare with the chronological methods now in use, and if there is any difference would it not account for the great age of Methuselah as given in the Scriptures?

August 01st 2014 | 39305 views 

The Jewish method of reckoning time which was in use in the days of Moses, was a combination of solar and lunar time. It was a simple, automatic self-adjusting system, which, so far as the final results were concerned, was as accurate as the present methods in use. The Jewish months were thirty days in length corresponding to the lunations of the moon. Ordinarily twelve of these made up the year of three hundred and sixty days. The discrepancies resulting from this method were rectified by the unique arrangement of starting the new year with the new moon nearest the vernal equinox. Some years by this method contained thirteen months instead of twelve. The length of years, therefore, in Moses' time was in the aggregate the same as today. The extreme old age of the antediluvians can reasonably be accounted for by considering the Bible narrative to the effect that originally the human race was perfect, and because of death entering into the world as the result of sin, the race began to deteriorate. In its more perfect state, the average length of life of the race would be far more than it is today after the past six thousand years of degeneration. This of course is in opposition to the theory of evolution, which maintains that the condition of the human race is gradually improving. However, no one has ever been able to advance a single proof in evidence of the truth of this theory, and those most advanced in scientific knowledge are now rejecting it.

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