the bible

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TheBibleCode

AValleyBibleChurchPositionPaper

WhatistheBibleCode?

TheBibleCodeisthetheorythatGodhasplacedhiddeninformationwithinthe

BiblethatcanonlybefoundthroughatechniquecalledEquidistantLetter

Sequencing(ELS).ELSinvolvesremovingallthespacesbetweenthewordsofthe

HebrewTextandcheckingforwordsthatmightappeariftheletterswerereadat

mple,lectingevery12thletterorevery50thletter

startingfromagivenpointinthetext.

WhoareadvocatesoftheBibleCode?

AmongJewishadvocates:MichaelDrosnin(AuthorofTheBibleCode,1997),

EliyahuRips,DoronWitztum,YoavRonberg.

AmongChristianadvocates:PaulCrouch,GrantJeffrey,HalLindy.

IstheBibleCodereal?

TheBibleCodeisrealinthenthatwordsmaybefoundbytakinglettersatt

nificanceofthisis

whatisindebate.

IstheBibleCodefromGod?

reveralreasonstoconcludethattheBibleCode

isnothingmorethanarandomphenomenonwhichcouldbefoundinanylongtext.

elihoodofintentionallyhiddenBibleCodes

Atleastfifty-threeofthetopmathematiciansintheworld,thevastmajoritywith

doctoratesinmathematics,efoundat

/code/.

Wearemakingthisstatementconcerningwhathavebeencalled‘Biblecodes’or

‘Torahcodes.’Werecognizethatmanysincerepeopletakethisphenomenonriously,

whichcompelsustospeakoutonthebasisofwhatourmathematicaltrainingtells

usabouttheevidenceclaimedforthisallegedphenomenon.

Thereisacommonbeliefinthegeneralcommunitytotheeffectthatmany

mathematicians,statisticians,andotherscientistsconsidertheclaimstobecredible.

ontrary,thealmostunanimousopinionofthoin

thescientificworldwhohavestudiedthequestionisthatthetheoryiswithout

natoriestothisletterhavethemlvexaminedtheevidenceand

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founditentirelyunconvincing.

WereferinparticulartothepaperEquidistantLetterSequencesintheBookof

Genesis,perimentsuffersfrommajor

problem

withouttheconcerns,wewouldnottakesuchextraordinaryclaimsriously

investigation

hasbeencarriedout,

addition,wordclusterssuchasmentionedinWitztum’sandDrosnin’sbooksandthe

socalledmessianiccodesareanuncontrolledphenomenonandsimilarclusterswill

imsofincredibleprobabilitiesforsuch

clustersarebogus,sincetheyarecomputedcontrarytostandardrulesofprobability

andstatistics.

Amo

enoconflictbetweenthatbeliefandtheopinionwehaveexpresdabove.

blemofnegativecodes

IfGodhashiddencodesintheBible,thenweshouldnotexpecttofindderogatory

phrasassociatedwithJesusorGod.

However,rice,ProfessorofHebrewandOldTestamentatTemple

BaptistSeminaryinChattanooga,Tennese,hasidentifiedmanysuch‘hidden

codes.’ObviouslyGoddidnothideblasphemouscodesintheBibleandthixerci

.

Price’/trinity/.

Furthermore,thecodeisbeingudbysomerabbistoprovethatJesuswasafal

Messiahsincethewords‘Jesus,’‘sorcerer’and‘falprophet’arefoundusingELSin

theTorah,yvehiclethatsome

argueprovesthattheBibleisfromGodisudtoprovetheJesusisafalprophet!

blemoftheHebrewText

ThetextbeingudfortheBibleCodeistheMasoreticHebrewTextoftheOld

Testament,

textisnottheoriginalHebrewtext,remanyother

Hebrewtexts,Testament

usuallyquotesfromtheSeptuagint,

theDeadSeaScrollsandtheSeptuagintoftendifferfromMasoretictext.

Whiletherearenosignificantdifferencesthataffectthemeaningofthetext,

,everyknown

etteris

missingthisthrowstheentirequenceoff.

Becauwedonothavetheoriginaltext,becaueveryexistingtextdiffersslightly

andbecautheELSsystemisgreatlyaffectedbytheabnceofoneletter,the

reliabilityofquencingisdestroyed.

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itationoftheBibleCode

avebeenmuchharderin

plewhofirstadvocatedtheuofELSwere

ianshaveahardtime

becau,unliketheGreekNew

Testament,elsareassumed

LShasnocontext,the

freedomtointerpretwhatawordreallyiswithoutthevowelsisgreat.

IfGodhadreallyhiddenapropheticcodeintheBible,whydidheonlydosointhe

OldTestament?

methodoftheBibleCodeproducessimilarresultswithotherliterature.

BrendanMcKayhastakenupMichaelDrosnin’schallengeinNewsweekmagazine:

‘Whenmycriticsfindamessageabouttheassassinationofaprimeminister

encryptedinMobyDick,I’llbelievethem.’McKayhasfound13predicted

assassinationsofpublicfiguresfromthetextofMobyDick,includingIndira

Gandhi,LutherKing,LeonTrotskyandPrincessDiana(includingthe

nameofherboyfriendandchauffeur).Formoreinformatione

/~bdm/dilugim/rewtranslationofWarand

Peacehasproducedmorethan50‘Chanukah-related’wordncodedinthetext.

MuslimshaveudELStoattempttoprovethatAllahisGodandMohammedis

hisprophet.

isonwithOldTestamentprophecy

UnlikemostoftheOldTestamentpropheticstatements,theBibleCodeisnot

rtoutheBibleCode,youhavetoknowwhatyouare

meofitproponents,suchasGrantJeffrey,admitithasno

verydifferentfromtherealdatathatGodputintheBible

thereisnobiblicalevidencewhatsoevertosupport

Biblecodes.

offaldataandimaginativeinterpretations

Manyofthecodesthatareclaimedareunabletoberepeatedbythowhoattempt

theclaimsofstatisticalsignificancearedeceptiveintheir

aitlfisofa

sub

muchhasbeenwrittenontheproblems,eCalTechprofessorBarrySimon’s

/biblecodes/.

WhatistheproblemwithusingtheBibleCode?

Whileanythingthatisnottrueshouldnotbeud,therearesomeadditional

specificconquencesthatcomefromthowhoadvocateaBibleCode.

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leCodedetractsfromrealandmeaningfulChristianapologetics,most

importantly,theResurrectionofChristandtheMessianicProphecies.

sthedoorforthesamemethodologytobeudtoattackChristianity.

minisheswhatGod

reallyhasgivenus.

Conclusion

Clearly,thereasonsshouldcauustoconcludethatGodhasnotencodedany

informationintheBiblethatcanbeaccesdthroughEquidistantLetter

suchaclaimismorethaninvalid,itdetracts

fromtheWordofGoditlf.

Completed:August2000