The problem with trusting the eschatology of Irenaeus is stuff like this. It sounds nice and clean, but is it so?
- For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason the Scripture says: Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works. Genesis 2:2 This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; 2 Peter 3:8 and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year.
– Book 5, chapter 28, Against Heresies
So where are we according to the Biblical calculations and genealogies? If Martin Luther is correct: 3961 BC was the starting point. It’s 2024 today. Add those two numbers together and take away from 6,000 to see how many years this universe has left. Exciting, huh?
Or maybe:
Ecclesiastes 1:4, “A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.”