Ussher – died

ON THIS DATE 

James Ussher died 3/21/1656 at Reigate, Surrey, England.  He was born 1/4/1581, Dublin, Ireland one of two sons of Arland & Margaret (Stanihurst) Ussher.  James (13) entered Trinity College (Dublin); after receiving his BA & being ordained by Henry Ussher (an uncle) & getting his MA, James became a  professor & twice vice-chancellor of the same university.  He married Phoebe (1614) daughter of Luke Challoner; they were blessed with one child, Elizabeth – later wife of Sir Timothy Tyrrell.

Ussher became primate (1^st ranking bishop) of Ireland. However he was in England (1641) when the Civil War broke (never returned to Ireland) & held various teaching/preaching positions there. Politically, he was royallist, able to counsel Charles I, yet his genuineness showned so that Cromwell accepted him, ordered his burial to be in Westminster Abbey, & paid the funeral expenses (thought to be the only Anglican funeral service read in the Abbey during the Commonwealth period). The Puritans also respected Ussher.

Some shallow men & evolutionary men reject Ussher’s dates, perhaps ignorant of Ussher’s grasp of Semitic languages, or who haven’t read his Annals of the World or are men influenced by the Roman Catholic system he opposed. “The religion of the papists is superstitious & idolatrous; their faith & doctrine erroneous & heretical…to give them therefore a toleration, or to consent that they may freely exercise their religion, & profess their faith & doctrine, is a grievous sin.”

A stone erected in his memory at Trinity U. (1904) claims him to be,

“…most learned among the holy, most holy among the learned…” 

What a compliment from those who knew him better than modern critics!

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James Ussher (Bishop) – birth, Jan. 4, 1581

Since both those great lights stopped and started together, the astronomical account of this is not invalidated by this event.  Even as music, the harmony is not broken, nor do the voices clash if they all rest at the same time and then begin again, each man playing his part until the end of the piece.

– James Ussher, The Annals of the World, (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003), 50.

 

So the Lydians, a people who were famous for hard work, power and chivalry, grew soft from luxury and lost their courage and virtue.

– James Ussher, The Annals of the World, (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003), 115.

 

The Lacedemonians sued for peace, a plea which was opposed by those who made a living from war.

– James Ussher, The Annals of the World, (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003), 168.

Bishop James Ussher was born this date (1/4/1581) in Dublin, Ireland.  This book was origianlly printed in Ireland and London MDCLVIII (1658).  The modern text (quoted above) has 960 pages, approx. 8.5 x 11. 

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