Post by voltage on Nov 1, 2006 14:21:00 GMT -5
Bible's Uniqueness and Unity
Imagine a book written by more than forty authors, each with different levels of education, social position, and age. Then imagine that these authors used three different languages to write this book. Assume that at the time they wrote it, some of them were in a situation of war, some were at peace, some were imprisoned, some were living in splendor, others in poverty. In addition, imagine that the authors of this book lived at different times during a 1,500 year time span. What do you suppose the result of this writing would be? The Bible was written under these conditions. Its contents describe hundreds of controversial topics and are of a variety of literary types, yet there is a unity in the writing that binds it together: the theme of God's redemption of man. The Bible is philosophically consistent. The conditions of its writing and the resulting unity of the text speak of a supernatural direction, the Holy Spirit, directing chosen men who authored the Bible. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.(2 Timothy 3:16.)
The Bible is also unique in its content. The Bible's perspective of the universe, man's existence and man's origin is described from an external observation point outside of the created dimension, which is unique in religious works. John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17 and Hebrews 7:3 speak of God being above time and space. Job 26:7 speaks of God suspending the earth in space: "he suspends the earth over nothing", something that until modern times required an external viewpoint to comprehend. The Bible alone among religious works clearly states that time had a beginning. In Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Prophecies described in the Bible were accurately fulfilled centuries later. No other religious writings have such accuracy of prophecy fulfilled. Scientific facts in the Bible are accurate far beyond human knowledge of science at the time they were written. Scientific facts in other religious writings are no where near as accurate. The Bible is historically accurate as well. Archaeological discoveries substantiate Bible accounts.
We can state factually through logic that if multiple people affected by different variables would undoubtably result in different outcomes in their writings, the bible's untity is not possible through human means. The bible is also unique to say that God is outside of his creation, so screaming 'this is not possible because of science' is illogical since God is not under the laws of his own creation. The prophecies are also something which sets the bible apart from other religious documents, as I will illustrate.
UNMATCHED FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECIES
The Bible stands alone among literature. Prophecies written hundreds of years before an event have been fulfilled with 100% accuracy. There are approximately 2500 prophecies in the Bible, 2000 of which already have been completely fulfilled -- the remaining 500 speak of future events.
The chance of any one man fulfilling just eight prophecies has been calculated by Peter W. Stoner in Science Speaks at 1 in
100,000,000,000,000,000 -- yet 60 major Old Testament prophecies, having 270 ramifications were fulfilled by the life of Jesus. An example of the precisely fulfilled prophecies include the place of His birth, Bethlehem (prophesied in Micah 5:2, fulfilled in Luke 2:4-7); that He would be born of a virgin (prophesied in Isaiah 4:17, fulfilled in Luke 1:26-31); that He would be despised and rejected by Jews (prophesied in Isaiah 53:3, fulfilled in John 1:1, Luke 23:18); that He would be betrayed by a friend (Judas) for thirty pieces of silver cast on the floor of the Temple and used to buy a potter's field (prophesied in Zechariah 11:11-13, fulfilled in Matthew 27:3-10).
Fulfilled prophecy extends to the present day -- consider the people of Israel. In Genesis 12:2,3 and 13:13-15, God promised Abraham a great nation, a great name and a land that will belong to his descendants forever and through Abraham, that all families of the earth will be blessed. At the time, Abraham was 75 years old and his wife was barren. The prophecy was fulfilled when Abraham was 90 years old (Genesis 21:2) when his wife Sarah miraculously bore him a son. Over the next several hundred years, the nation promised to Abraham appeared (Exodus 1:7).
Later, through Moses (Deut. 28-33), God warned Israel that He will use other nations to remove them from their land if they are unfaithful to Him. He predicted that they would eventually be scattered across the whole earth and would find no rest. He also promised to bring them back to their land. Israel was unfaithful. King Nebuchadnezzar took people captive to Babylon, then burned the city and the Temple. God then allowed the Israelites to return to the land (Ezra 1). Later, in AD 70, Titus the Roman also destroyed the city of Jerusalem, scattering the people. In AD 1948, Israel became a nation and the people began to return to their homeland. They have since survived several conflicts. We think of the United States as having a long history, yet it has been in
existence for only 200 years. Israel has been a people for more than 4,000 years.
2 Peter 1:20-21 describes how Bible prophecy can be so accurate: "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
Being a Hebrew prophet in ancient times was a serious and unenviable position. The prophet was purporting to speak for God and the penalty for any error was death. "But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." -- Deut. 18:20. Prophets had to be 100% accurate. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 gives a test to determine whether the prophet is speaking for God: "You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously."
SOME OF THE 2000 FULFILLED BIBLE PROPHECIES
Isaiah 44:28,54:1, 700 BC prophecy: Cyrus is the king who will give the command to rebuild the temple. When this prophecy was made Jerusalem was fully built and the temple was standing. In 586 BC the temple and city were destroyed by Babylon. Prophecy fulfilled 538-540 BC: After Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, it was conquered by the Persians in 539 BC. Shortly after, a Persian king Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple.
Daniel 2,7, c.605-530 BC prophecy: Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream to mean that four kingdoms were to be on the earth. Also, Daniel dreams of four beasts (four kingdoms) which will come upon the earth (c. 1000 BC). When this prophecy was made, the Babylonian kingdom (the first kingdom in the dreams) was in existence. Prophecy was fulfilled as the four kingdoms appeared as prophesied: 626 BC - Babylonian; 539 BC - Medo-Persia, 330 BC - Greece, 63 BC - Rome.
Daniel 9:24-27 530 BC prophecy: At the end of 69 weeks (69 7-year periods) after the decreed to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. When the prophecy was made, the temple had been destroyed in 586 BC. Prophecy was fulfilled as follows: Nisan 1, 44 BC - in Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah asks the king for an order to rebuild Jerusalem, which the king gives (this started the 69 7-year count). On Nisan 10, AD 33 Jesus entered into Jerusalem, exactly as prophesied, 483 years (173880 days) later. To calculate this, remember that the Hebrew calendar has 360-day years. 444 BC+33 AD=477-1=476 solar years (1 BC to
1 AD is 1 year, not 2). 476 * 365.24219879=173855 (from Nisan 1 (March 5) 444 BC to March 5 33 AD). 173880 days - 173855 days = 25 days needed to make 483 years. March 5 33 AD + 25 days = March 30 33 AD (which was Nisan 10 33 AD)
Zechariah 11:12-13 c. 500 BC prophecy: The Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave (30 pieces of silver) and this money would be used to buy a burial ground for poor foreigners. This prophecy was made five centuries before the Messiah was born. Prophecy fulfilled in AD 33: Matthew 27:3-10 (and also secular historians). Thirty pieces of silver were paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus and the money went to purchase a "potter's field" for the burial of poor foreigners.
Psalm 22, 34:20 c. 300 BC prophecy: Crucifixion method of death described, lots to be cast for His clothing. When this prophecy was made, the crucifixion death method was unknown (it was invented by the Romans). Prophecy fulfilled in AD 33: Matthew 27:32 Jesus was crucified in the manner described in Psalm 22, lots were cast for His clothing.
Luke 20:43,44 AD 33 prophecy: Jesus prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (not one stone upon another left). When this prophecy was made, the temple was standing. Prophecy fulfilled in AD 70: Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple; nothing was left but the foundation.
SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY UNEQUALED IN ANCIENT WRITINGS
The Bible, although not detailed in its scientific explanations, is in agreement with what we know today about life and our universe. It is far more accurate than any other ancient books and even many recent ones. For example, Hindu sacred writings say the following about creation: the moon is 50,000 leagues higher than the sun and shines by its own light, the earth is flat, triangular, composed of seven layers (including honey, sugar, butter, wine) and is held up by elephants, whose stumbling produces earthquakes.
In contrast, the Bible is so accurate that the Science Research Bureau has for years publicly offered a reward to any person who can prove the existence of a scientific blunder in the Bible. The offer was made in 27 countries and still remains uncollected.
Long before the time of Jesus, the Bible reported that the earth was round and was suspended in space. It accurately described the second law of thermodynamics (c. 1000 BC) in Psalms 102:26 "They[the earth and the heavens] will perish, but you[God] remain; they will all wear out like a garment." Table 2 shows examples of Scripture and the associated scientific discovery which supports its accuracy.
BIBLE IN SCIENTIFIC AGREEMENT WITH WHAT WE KNOW
TODAY:
(the following is a summary of Table 2; graphic not included here):Job 26:7 "He stretcheth out north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing." c. 2000 BC. Scientific interpretation: the earth is suspended in space. Until this century, space "ether" was believed to hold up the earth.
Isaiah 40:22 "It is He that sitteth upon the circle ("sphericity" or "roundness") of the earth"... c. 680 BC. Scientific interpretation: The
earth is round. In 680 BC earth was thought to be flat. Many believed earth was flat until Magellan's circumnavigation in 1522AD.
Ecclesiastes 1:6 "The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. c.1000 BC. Scientific interpretation: Description of wind circulation, modeled in 1735AD by George Hadley.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from there they return again." c. 1000 BC. Scientific interpretation: Accurate description of the water cycle, depicted in 1931 AD by R. Horton.
Isaiah 40:31 "They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." c. 680 BC. Scientific interpretation: 1971 AD - discovery that aerodynamics of eagle's wings make them able to fly without becoming weary.
Jeremiah 33:22 "As countless as the stars of the sky..." c. 600 BC. Scientific interpretation: Scientists in the past regarded the number of stars as countable. Ptolemy said there were 1056, Kepler 1005, and Tycho Brahe 777. Modern science has shown there are "billions and billions" of stars -uncountably many.
Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of a creature is in the blood". c. 1440 BC. Scientific interpretation: Life depends on the supply of oxygen,
water and food to the cells of the body by the blood. Circulation discovered by W. Harvey in 1616 AD.
Psalm 102:25,26 "In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment..." c. 1000 BC. Scientific interpretation: Second law of thermodynamics (law of entrophy - c 1800AD). In any energy conversion, although the total amount of energy remains unchanged, the usefulness and availability of the energy is always decreased. Since all activities of nature involve such energy transfer, the energy supply for the universe as a whole must be decreasing The sun and stars will burn out eventually, the universe is growing old, wearing out, running down.
Now for those who have known the bible as "a book of metaphors" and others as "a book written by men" please remember this report, since it proves that not modern books or ancient writings compare to the unity, scientific evidence, archaelogical evidence, and spiritual evidence of the Bible makes it not jsut a book, but the word of God written over 1600 years by 40 different authors but still perfected as if written by one person, One God.
Imagine a book written by more than forty authors, each with different levels of education, social position, and age. Then imagine that these authors used three different languages to write this book. Assume that at the time they wrote it, some of them were in a situation of war, some were at peace, some were imprisoned, some were living in splendor, others in poverty. In addition, imagine that the authors of this book lived at different times during a 1,500 year time span. What do you suppose the result of this writing would be? The Bible was written under these conditions. Its contents describe hundreds of controversial topics and are of a variety of literary types, yet there is a unity in the writing that binds it together: the theme of God's redemption of man. The Bible is philosophically consistent. The conditions of its writing and the resulting unity of the text speak of a supernatural direction, the Holy Spirit, directing chosen men who authored the Bible. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.(2 Timothy 3:16.)
The Bible is also unique in its content. The Bible's perspective of the universe, man's existence and man's origin is described from an external observation point outside of the created dimension, which is unique in religious works. John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17 and Hebrews 7:3 speak of God being above time and space. Job 26:7 speaks of God suspending the earth in space: "he suspends the earth over nothing", something that until modern times required an external viewpoint to comprehend. The Bible alone among religious works clearly states that time had a beginning. In Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Prophecies described in the Bible were accurately fulfilled centuries later. No other religious writings have such accuracy of prophecy fulfilled. Scientific facts in the Bible are accurate far beyond human knowledge of science at the time they were written. Scientific facts in other religious writings are no where near as accurate. The Bible is historically accurate as well. Archaeological discoveries substantiate Bible accounts.
We can state factually through logic that if multiple people affected by different variables would undoubtably result in different outcomes in their writings, the bible's untity is not possible through human means. The bible is also unique to say that God is outside of his creation, so screaming 'this is not possible because of science' is illogical since God is not under the laws of his own creation. The prophecies are also something which sets the bible apart from other religious documents, as I will illustrate.
UNMATCHED FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECIES
The Bible stands alone among literature. Prophecies written hundreds of years before an event have been fulfilled with 100% accuracy. There are approximately 2500 prophecies in the Bible, 2000 of which already have been completely fulfilled -- the remaining 500 speak of future events.
The chance of any one man fulfilling just eight prophecies has been calculated by Peter W. Stoner in Science Speaks at 1 in
100,000,000,000,000,000 -- yet 60 major Old Testament prophecies, having 270 ramifications were fulfilled by the life of Jesus. An example of the precisely fulfilled prophecies include the place of His birth, Bethlehem (prophesied in Micah 5:2, fulfilled in Luke 2:4-7); that He would be born of a virgin (prophesied in Isaiah 4:17, fulfilled in Luke 1:26-31); that He would be despised and rejected by Jews (prophesied in Isaiah 53:3, fulfilled in John 1:1, Luke 23:18); that He would be betrayed by a friend (Judas) for thirty pieces of silver cast on the floor of the Temple and used to buy a potter's field (prophesied in Zechariah 11:11-13, fulfilled in Matthew 27:3-10).
Fulfilled prophecy extends to the present day -- consider the people of Israel. In Genesis 12:2,3 and 13:13-15, God promised Abraham a great nation, a great name and a land that will belong to his descendants forever and through Abraham, that all families of the earth will be blessed. At the time, Abraham was 75 years old and his wife was barren. The prophecy was fulfilled when Abraham was 90 years old (Genesis 21:2) when his wife Sarah miraculously bore him a son. Over the next several hundred years, the nation promised to Abraham appeared (Exodus 1:7).
Later, through Moses (Deut. 28-33), God warned Israel that He will use other nations to remove them from their land if they are unfaithful to Him. He predicted that they would eventually be scattered across the whole earth and would find no rest. He also promised to bring them back to their land. Israel was unfaithful. King Nebuchadnezzar took people captive to Babylon, then burned the city and the Temple. God then allowed the Israelites to return to the land (Ezra 1). Later, in AD 70, Titus the Roman also destroyed the city of Jerusalem, scattering the people. In AD 1948, Israel became a nation and the people began to return to their homeland. They have since survived several conflicts. We think of the United States as having a long history, yet it has been in
existence for only 200 years. Israel has been a people for more than 4,000 years.
2 Peter 1:20-21 describes how Bible prophecy can be so accurate: "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
Being a Hebrew prophet in ancient times was a serious and unenviable position. The prophet was purporting to speak for God and the penalty for any error was death. "But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." -- Deut. 18:20. Prophets had to be 100% accurate. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 gives a test to determine whether the prophet is speaking for God: "You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously."
SOME OF THE 2000 FULFILLED BIBLE PROPHECIES
Isaiah 44:28,54:1, 700 BC prophecy: Cyrus is the king who will give the command to rebuild the temple. When this prophecy was made Jerusalem was fully built and the temple was standing. In 586 BC the temple and city were destroyed by Babylon. Prophecy fulfilled 538-540 BC: After Jerusalem was taken by the Babylonians, it was conquered by the Persians in 539 BC. Shortly after, a Persian king Cyrus gave the decree to rebuild the temple.
Daniel 2,7, c.605-530 BC prophecy: Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar's dream to mean that four kingdoms were to be on the earth. Also, Daniel dreams of four beasts (four kingdoms) which will come upon the earth (c. 1000 BC). When this prophecy was made, the Babylonian kingdom (the first kingdom in the dreams) was in existence. Prophecy was fulfilled as the four kingdoms appeared as prophesied: 626 BC - Babylonian; 539 BC - Medo-Persia, 330 BC - Greece, 63 BC - Rome.
Daniel 9:24-27 530 BC prophecy: At the end of 69 weeks (69 7-year periods) after the decreed to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, the Messiah will come to Jerusalem. When the prophecy was made, the temple had been destroyed in 586 BC. Prophecy was fulfilled as follows: Nisan 1, 44 BC - in Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah asks the king for an order to rebuild Jerusalem, which the king gives (this started the 69 7-year count). On Nisan 10, AD 33 Jesus entered into Jerusalem, exactly as prophesied, 483 years (173880 days) later. To calculate this, remember that the Hebrew calendar has 360-day years. 444 BC+33 AD=477-1=476 solar years (1 BC to
1 AD is 1 year, not 2). 476 * 365.24219879=173855 (from Nisan 1 (March 5) 444 BC to March 5 33 AD). 173880 days - 173855 days = 25 days needed to make 483 years. March 5 33 AD + 25 days = March 30 33 AD (which was Nisan 10 33 AD)
Zechariah 11:12-13 c. 500 BC prophecy: The Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave (30 pieces of silver) and this money would be used to buy a burial ground for poor foreigners. This prophecy was made five centuries before the Messiah was born. Prophecy fulfilled in AD 33: Matthew 27:3-10 (and also secular historians). Thirty pieces of silver were paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus and the money went to purchase a "potter's field" for the burial of poor foreigners.
Psalm 22, 34:20 c. 300 BC prophecy: Crucifixion method of death described, lots to be cast for His clothing. When this prophecy was made, the crucifixion death method was unknown (it was invented by the Romans). Prophecy fulfilled in AD 33: Matthew 27:32 Jesus was crucified in the manner described in Psalm 22, lots were cast for His clothing.
Luke 20:43,44 AD 33 prophecy: Jesus prophesies the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (not one stone upon another left). When this prophecy was made, the temple was standing. Prophecy fulfilled in AD 70: Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the temple; nothing was left but the foundation.
SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY UNEQUALED IN ANCIENT WRITINGS
The Bible, although not detailed in its scientific explanations, is in agreement with what we know today about life and our universe. It is far more accurate than any other ancient books and even many recent ones. For example, Hindu sacred writings say the following about creation: the moon is 50,000 leagues higher than the sun and shines by its own light, the earth is flat, triangular, composed of seven layers (including honey, sugar, butter, wine) and is held up by elephants, whose stumbling produces earthquakes.
In contrast, the Bible is so accurate that the Science Research Bureau has for years publicly offered a reward to any person who can prove the existence of a scientific blunder in the Bible. The offer was made in 27 countries and still remains uncollected.
Long before the time of Jesus, the Bible reported that the earth was round and was suspended in space. It accurately described the second law of thermodynamics (c. 1000 BC) in Psalms 102:26 "They[the earth and the heavens] will perish, but you[God] remain; they will all wear out like a garment." Table 2 shows examples of Scripture and the associated scientific discovery which supports its accuracy.
BIBLE IN SCIENTIFIC AGREEMENT WITH WHAT WE KNOW
TODAY:
(the following is a summary of Table 2; graphic not included here):Job 26:7 "He stretcheth out north over the empty place and hangeth the earth upon nothing." c. 2000 BC. Scientific interpretation: the earth is suspended in space. Until this century, space "ether" was believed to hold up the earth.
Isaiah 40:22 "It is He that sitteth upon the circle ("sphericity" or "roundness") of the earth"... c. 680 BC. Scientific interpretation: The
earth is round. In 680 BC earth was thought to be flat. Many believed earth was flat until Magellan's circumnavigation in 1522AD.
Ecclesiastes 1:6 "The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. c.1000 BC. Scientific interpretation: Description of wind circulation, modeled in 1735AD by George Hadley.
Ecclesiastes 1:7 All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from there they return again." c. 1000 BC. Scientific interpretation: Accurate description of the water cycle, depicted in 1931 AD by R. Horton.
Isaiah 40:31 "They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." c. 680 BC. Scientific interpretation: 1971 AD - discovery that aerodynamics of eagle's wings make them able to fly without becoming weary.
Jeremiah 33:22 "As countless as the stars of the sky..." c. 600 BC. Scientific interpretation: Scientists in the past regarded the number of stars as countable. Ptolemy said there were 1056, Kepler 1005, and Tycho Brahe 777. Modern science has shown there are "billions and billions" of stars -uncountably many.
Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of a creature is in the blood". c. 1440 BC. Scientific interpretation: Life depends on the supply of oxygen,
water and food to the cells of the body by the blood. Circulation discovered by W. Harvey in 1616 AD.
Psalm 102:25,26 "In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment..." c. 1000 BC. Scientific interpretation: Second law of thermodynamics (law of entrophy - c 1800AD). In any energy conversion, although the total amount of energy remains unchanged, the usefulness and availability of the energy is always decreased. Since all activities of nature involve such energy transfer, the energy supply for the universe as a whole must be decreasing The sun and stars will burn out eventually, the universe is growing old, wearing out, running down.
Now for those who have known the bible as "a book of metaphors" and others as "a book written by men" please remember this report, since it proves that not modern books or ancient writings compare to the unity, scientific evidence, archaelogical evidence, and spiritual evidence of the Bible makes it not jsut a book, but the word of God written over 1600 years by 40 different authors but still perfected as if written by one person, One God.