The Anno Mundi

IAUA God's Sacred Calendar
IAUA End Time Ministry
Preparing for the End of Time
(Book Contents) Home

Chapter Contents

Anno Mundi (Latin: "in the year of the world") abbreviated as AM or A.M., refers to a Calendar era counting from the Biblical creation of the world. Usually this designation is used by Jewish sources, which date creation to 3761 BCE. Many researchers point to errors in this calculation.

The date I use is based on the well-known chronology of James Ussher (1654) who dated creation to September 21, 4004 BC. I am not saying I am certain this date is correct. I am using it as a reasonable reference point.

Ussher admitted he arbitrarily added 4 years to his calculation to make the birth of the Messiah be exactly 4,000 years after Creation. For this reason, the Masons use 4,000 BC as the date of creation. I suspect this might be more accurate. I doubt we will be able to say with any certainty.

I am very uncomfortable with those who believe in exact dates in a year more than a thousand years ago based on astronomy. This is especially true for dates before the known change in the earth's movement, which occurred when the sundial moved back in II Kings 20:11 about 651 BC as well as other known changes in the earth's movement. There are so many documented uncertainties in astronomy, which discredit precise prediction. Even when astronomers claim to be very precise, they admit large variability.

Additional Online Research Materials

The following links are examples of fascinating reading for those interested in advanced study on this topic.

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/SpringPhenom.php

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/crescent.php

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/calendars.php

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/easter.php

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/passover.php

I suspect it is true creation occurred in the fall of the year. I suspect it was at Tabernacles. I do not know why God specified the year begins in spring when creation probably occurred in fall. I am sure we will learn the reasons for these things very soon.

Here is how I calculate the year AM dates. Starting with year 1 AM in 4004 BC makes 1 AD the year 4005 AM. 2007 AD + 4004 = 6011 AM. The entrance of sin occurred in the year 8 AM according to the Book of Jubilees.

If, as I suspect, the year 6012 AM (2008) is a Sabbath year, and we calculate all the way back to creation, then the year 6 AM would have been a Sabbath year. The year 14 AM would have been a Jubilee. I do not know if there is any significance to this information. There is so much uncertainty it borders on meaninglessness.

The term Anno Mundi is sometimes associated with Jewish reckoning. Some have suggested "Anno Homini" is a better term to refer to the year since creation. Some material on my web site, which I obtained from another source, uses this terminology. A simple web search will reveal while there are some who use this term, the term "Anno Mundi" is the same thing and is far more widely used and known.

Patriarch Chronology

This is a chronology of the patriarchs based on information in the Bible. This chronology assumes the average of rounding errors in the Biblical dates does not cause the year to be in error. All dates are Anno Mundi. Subtract the AM date from 4004 to determine the BC date.

Name Birth Year (AM) Age at Birth of Son Age at Death Death Year (AM) Source Birth of Son Source Age at Death
Adam 0 130 930 930 Genesis 5:3 Genesis 5:5
- FALL - 8§       Jubilees 3:17  
Seth 130 105 912 1042 Genesis 5:6 Genesis 5:8
Enos 235 90 905 1140 Genesis 5:9 Genesis 5:11
Cainan 325 70 910 1235 Genesis 5:12 Genesis 5:14
Mahalaleel 395 65 895 1290 Genesis 5:15 Genesis 5:17
Jared 460 162 962 1422 Genesis 5:18 Genesis 5:20
Enoch 622 65 365 987 Genesis 5:21 Genesis 5:23
Methuselah 687 187 969 1656 Genesis 5:25 Genesis 5:27
Lamech 874 182 777 1651 Genesis 5:28 Genesis 5:31
Noah 1056 502 950 2006 Note 1 Genesis 9:29
Shem 1558 100 600 2158 Genesis 11:10 Genesis 11:11
- FLOOD - 1656§          
Arphaxad 1658 35 438 2096 Genesis 11:12 Genesis 11:13
Salah 1693 30 433 2126 Genesis 11:14 Genesis 11:15
Eber 1723 34 464 2187 Genesis 11:16 Genesis 11:17
Peleg 1757 30 239 1996 Genesis 11:18 Genesis 11:19
Reu 1787 32 239 2026 Genesis 11:20 Genesis 11:21
Serug 1819 30 230 2049 Genesis 11:22 Genesis 11:23
Nahor 1849 29 148 1997 Genesis 11:24 Genesis 11:25
Terah 1878 130 205 2083 Note 2 Genesis 11:32
Abra(ha)m 2008 100 175 2183 Genesis 21:5 Genesis 25:7
Isaac 2108 60 180 2288 Genesis 25:26 Genesis 35:28
Jacob(Israel) 2168 74 147 2315 Note 3 Genesis 47:28
Joseph 2242   110 2352   Genesis 50:22

Notes:

(1) The age of Noah at the birth of Shem requires a calculation of 600+2-100=502. This is necessary because Genesis 5:32 lists all three of Noah's children for the same year of Noah - 500 years old. You can take the age of Noah at the flood (Genesis 7:6), plus the two years after the flood when Shem's son was born (Genesis 11:10), minus the age of Shem at his son's birth (Genesis 11:10), to obtain Noah's true age when Shem was born.

(2) The age of Terah at the birth of Abram requires a calculation of 205-75=130. This is necessary because Genesis 11:26 lists all three of Terah's children for the same year of Terah - 70 years old. You can presume Abram left Haran upon the death of his father (Acts 7:4, PP127) and take the age of Terah at his death (Genesis 11:32), minus the age of Abram when his father died (Genesis 12:4), to obtain Terah's true age when Abram was born.

(3) The age of Jacob at the birth of Joseph requires a calculation of 130-2-7-30-17=74. This is necessary because the Bible does not explicitly tell the age of Jacob when Joseph was born. You can take the age of Jacob when he stood before pharaoh (Genesis 47:9). Subtract the number of years of famine before Jacob came to Egypt (Genesis 45:6). Subtract the number of years of plenty (Genesis 41:53), minus the number of years before Joseph interpreted the pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41:46. Subtract the number of years before which God first called Joseph by giving him a dream of his future (Genesis 37:2). This formula will obtain Jacob's true age when Joseph was born.

§ Rather than the Father's Birth Year, these two numbers represent the year these events occurred.

Millennium Anniversaries

It is interesting to note Abraham's birth appears to be exactly 2000 years after the entrance of sin. Other chronologies appear to indicate the 3000-year anniversary was the building of the temple by Solomon and the 4000-year anniversary was the appearance of the child Messiah in the temple at 12 years of age as described in Luke 2:42. The year 2008 appears to be the 6000-year anniversary of sin and a Sabbath year.

Additional Online Research Materials

Original Source

MS Excel Chart on the Generations of the Patriarchs.

(Book Contents) Next: Astronomical Data

Revised 2015-08-16