Editing Timeline of the Bible (section)

== OLD TESTAMENT ==

=== Genesis ===
{| class="wikitable"
!Biblical Period
!Theoretical 
Historical Period
!Dating of Scriptural Writing 
!Notes
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| rowspan="5" |Creation
|13 billion years ago
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|Theory: God's Creation is the Big Bang. Note that the Catholic Church does not adhere to any particular theory or timeline of Creation. See the [https://www.usccb.org/sites/default/files/flipbooks/catechism/74/ CCC 282] for "Catechesis on Creation")
|-
|11,000-4,000 BC
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|Various calculations have been made, especially by fundamentalist Protestant Christians, of the "Young Earth" creation date of from 4,000 to 12,000 years BC

* these are based on literal readings of time from the Old Testament
* but may use different calculations of lifespans and what, exactly, constitutes a day during Creation
|-
|approx 5,500 BC
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|calculated by early Christians using the Septuagint Bible 

* the Byzantine calendar marks the date of Creation at September 1, 5509 BC
|-
|approx. 4000 BC
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|Counting the week of creation as six days, this creationist dating based on the literal reading of years and lifespans in the Old Testament by ; 

* 17th century Irish Bishop James Ussher said that the universe was created on October 22, 4004 BC (others agreed it was created during the Autumnal equinox but disagreed on the year)
* the 8th century monk Saint Bede had calculated Creation at 3952 BC
* Isaac Newton estimated it at 4,000 BC
|-
|3,761 BC
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|1 Ano Mundi (AM<ref>A 2nd century AD rabbi came up with the year 3761 BC. A 12th century AD rabbi formalized the dating system of Anno Mundi (AM).  Ancient Jews counted by reference, as was typically done in the ancient world ("regnal years"), by the year of a king (the tenth year of Kind David"), noting every 50 years for Jubilees, or "Sabbatical years" of seven years.

To calculate the Julian (modern) calendar year using the Hebrew calendar, add 3,760 to the current year before the Jewish new year in September (Rosh Hashanah takes place, depending on the year, somewhere between September 11 and October 4) or 3,761 after the Jewish new year (up to the Jewish new year).</ref>) is the Hebrew year of creation, and its dating is based upon a similarly literal counting of lifespans and time periods as reported in the Old Testament 
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|God Creates Adam & Eve
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|The Flood
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|5th Century BC
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* literal readings of the Bible place the Flood at around 4,990 BC, which nearly  corresponds with theories of the Black Sea Deluge dating to 5,600 BC (some put the date at 6800 BC), when the ice-melt fed freshwater Black Sea broke over the land barrier and into the Mediterranean Sea, creating the Bosporus Strait; the Black Sea had been expanding rapidly since the end of the Ice Age as ice melt fed rivers which fed into the Sea.
* another hypothesis holds that a tremendous flood between 15,000-12,000 BC, near the end of the Ice Age, caused the Black Sea and other 

* the oldest existing Sumerian flood narrative dates from 1600 BC, and is likely a copy of far older texts, going back to 3,000 BC
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|Birth of Abraham
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|1948
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=== Historical Books ===
Sources

[https://www.biblegateway.com/learn/bible-101/about-the-bible/when-was-the-bible-written/ When Was Each Book of the Bible Written? | Bible Gateway News & Knowledge]
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Biblical Period
!Theoretical 
Historical Period
!Dating of Scriptural Writing 
!Notes
|-
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|Joshua
|1400-1370 BC
|written late 600s BC
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|-
|Judges
|1045-1000 BC
|written late 600s BC
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|-
|Ruth
|11011-931 BC 
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|likely time period of King David
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|Books of Samuel
|930-722 BC
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|written during reign of Josiah
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|Books of Kings
|560-540 BC
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|Chronicles
|450-425 BC
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|Ezra
|440-430 BC
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|Nehemiah
|430-400 BC
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|Esther
|c. 400 BC
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|}
[[Category:Bible]]