Old Testament Chronology - Intro

For whatever reason, the bug of biblical chronology has bitten me.  I'm hooked.  I am interested in trying to figure out when and where everything within the Old Testament took place ... as closely as possible.  To me this understanding helps bring the scriptures to life in a way it hasn't been for me before.  It's just cool.

I looked to see if I could find any books on this subject and to my surprise, there are a bunch of people that take this stuff really seriously and have written scholorly papers and books.  You can go back in time to Isaac Newton, or Archbishop Ussher, or even pull some chronology from the margins in the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.  There are Master's Thesis written on this and probably a doctorate or two.  There are web sites dedicated to this where people defend their own personal feelings on where the chronology should be rooted.  There are logical arguments on the pivot points in the chronology that can go multiple ways depending upon how you personally feel.  My point:  This is not a subject that is lacking for viewpoints or subject matter explanation.

It's just wild.  I didn't realize what kind of environment I was getting myself into when I looked into this.  I thought it would be fairly straight-forward, and most everyone would agree; and then, within a few days I could have the chronology all mapped out ... BINGO!  Boy was I ever wrong.  Because there are so many differing opinions and arguments, I had to give time to each of them to review and understand their argument before making a decision.  This obviously falls well short of being perfect or quick.  I guess this means it's my turn to put up my information on the subject, with an LDS point of view.

I'll see if I can get the blog to work for me and put a table in for different time periods, e.g., Adam to Noah (the flood), the flood to the Exodus from Egypt, etc.  I have the chronology fairly well mapped out from Adam through the death of King Solomon.  I'll see what I can get up here and make look fairly decent with colors and references, etc.  If you know anything about biblical chronology, then it will be obvious that explanations are needed for a few dates (How old was Jacob was when #1, #2, #3 ... Joshua-Judges / How long Israel was in Egypt, etc.), and I'll try and give a brief explanation .

More to come later ...