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Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal
life: and they are they which testify of me - John 5:39.
THE WORD "Scriptures" in this passage refers to
the Old Testament. Christ is saying that in the Old Testament we will find the
prophecies referring to Himself. It is therefore in these prophecies, and their
fulfillment, that we may look if we wish to find evidence that Christ is the
Messiah, the Son of God, the saviour of mankind, and everything else which was
prophesied of Him, and which He claimed to be.
If we find these prophecies to be fulfilled in Christ, we
will establish not only that Christ is the Messiah predicted in the Old
Testament, but that those prophecies were given by God Himself. For if they
were not given by God, no man would have fulfilled any number of them, as will
be evident later in this chapter.
In order to evaluate our evidence we shall use the same
principle of probability which was stated and used in the preceding chapter.
In evaluating these prophecies, we shall have to answer this
question regarding each prophecy: One man in how many men has fulfilled this
prophecy? I realize that some will object to this question, saying that these
prophecies were made with respect to Christ, and no other man has, or even can,
fulfill them. This, of course, is true when you consider the mass of prophecies
regarding Christ, but it is not true of all individual prophecies. It was
prophesied, for example, that Christ would be born in Bethlehem; certainly
other persons have been born in Bethlehem. It was prophesied that Christ would
be crucified; other men have been crucified. I certainly am not trying to be
sacrilegious in asking these questions; but I am trying to look at the evidence
entirely unbiased, that I may the better give a clear argument.
The Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship at Pasadena City
College sponsored a class in Christian evidences. One section of the work of
this class was to consider the evidence produced by the fulfilled prophecies
referring to the first advent of Christ. The students were asked to be very
conservative in their probability estimates. They discussed each prophecy at
length, bringing out various conditions which might affect the probability of
any man fulfilling it. After discussion, the students agreed unanimously on a
definite estimate as being both reasonable and conservative. At the end of the
evaluations the students expressed their feelings thus: If any one were able to
enter into the discussions and help in placing the estimates, as they had done,
that person would certainly agree that the estimates were conservative. The
estimates used in this chapter are a combination of the estimates given by this
class on Christian evidences combined with estimates given me later by some
twelve different classes of college students, representing more than 600
students. I have carefully weighed the estimates and have changed some to make
them more conservative. If the reader does not agree with the estimates given,
he may make his own estimates and then carry them through to their logical
conclusions.
We considered the following eight prophecies:
1. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
This prophecy predicts that the Christ is to be born in
Bethlehem. Since this is the first prophecy to be considered there are no previously
set restrictions, so our question is: One man in how many, the world over, has
been born in Bethlehem?
The best estimate which we can make of this comes from the
attempt to find out the average population of Bethlehem, from Micah down to the
present time, and divide it by the average population of the earth during the
same period. One member of the class was an assistant in the library so he was
assigned to get this information. He reported at the next meeting that the best
determination of the ratio that he could determine was one to 280,000. Since
the probable population of the earth has averaged less than two billion, the
population of Bethlehem has averaged less than 7,150. Our answer may be
expressed in the form that one man in 7,150/2,000,000,000 or one man in 2.8 x
105 was born in Bethlehem.
2. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me" (Mal. 3:1).
Our question here is: Of the men who have been born in
Bethlehem, one man in how many has had a forerunner to prepare his way? John
the Baptist, of course, was the forerunner of Christ. But since there appears
to be no material difference between the people born in Bethlehem and those
born any other place in the world, the question can just as well be general:
One man in how many, the world over, has had a forerunner to prepare his way?
The students said that the prophecy apparently referred to a
special messenger of God, whose one duty was to prepare the way for the work of
Christ, so there is a further restriction added. The students finally agreed on
one in 1,000 as being extremely conservative. Most of the members thought the
estimate should be much larger. We will use the estimate as 1 in 103.
3. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and
having salvation: lowly, and riding upon ... a colt the foal of an ass"
(Zech. 9:9).
Our question then is: One man in how many, who was born in
Bethlehem and had a forerunner, did enter Jerusalem as a king riding on a colt
the foal of an ass? This becomes so restrictive that we should consider an
equivalent question: One man in how many, who has entered Jerusalem as a ruler,
has entered riding on a colt the foal of an ass?
The students said that this was a very hard thing to place
an estimate on. They knew of no one but Christ who had so entered. The students
thought that at least in more modern times any one entering Jerusalem as a king
would use a more dignified means of transportation. They agreed to place an
estimate of 1 in 104. We will use 1 in 102.
4. "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds
in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the
house of my friends"(Zech. 13:6).
Christ was betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples, causing
Him to be put to death, wounds being made in His hands.
There seems to be no relation between the fulfillment of
this prophecy and those which we have previously considered. We may then ask
the question: One man in how many, the world over, has been betrayed by a
friend, and that betrayal has resulted in his being wounded in his hands?
The students said that it was very rare to be betrayed by a
friend, and still rarer for the betrayal to involve wounding in the hands. One
in 1.000 was finally agreed upon, though most of the students would have
preferred a larger number. So we will use the 1 in 103.
5. "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my
price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver"
(Zech. 11:12).
The question here is very simple: Of the people who have
been betrayed, one in how many has been betrayed for exactly thirty pieces of
silver?
The students thought this would be extremely rare and set
their estimate as one in 10,000, or 1 in 104. We will us 1 in 103.
6. "And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter:
a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of
silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord" (Zech.
11:13).
This is extremely specific. All thirty pieces of silver are
not to be returned. They are to be cast down in the house of the Lord, and they
are to go to the potter. You will recall that Judas in remorse tried to return
the thirty pieces of silver, cut the chief priest would not accept them. So
Judas threw them down on the floor of the temple and went and hanged himself.
The chief priest then took the money and bought a field of the potter to bury
strangers in. Our question is: One man in how many, after receiving a bribe for
the betrayal of a friend, had returned the money, had it refused, had thrown it
on the floor in the house of the Lord, and then had it used to purchase a field
from the potter?
The students said they doubted if there has ever been
another incident involving all of these items, but they agreed on an estimate
of one in 100,000. They were very sure that this was conservative. So we use
the estimate as 1 in 105.
7. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).
One man in how many, after fulfilling the above prophecies,
when he is oppressed and afflicted and is on trial for his life, though
innocent, will make no defense for himself?
Again my students said they did not know that this had ever
happened in any case other than Christ's. At least it is extremely rare, so
they placed their estimate as one in 10,000 or 1 in 104. We will use 1 in 103.
8. "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the
wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet"(Ps. 22:16).
The Jews are still looking for the coming of Christ; in
fact, He might have come any time after these prophecies were written up to the
present time, or even on into the future. So our question is: One man in how
many, from the time of David on, has been crucified?
After studying the methods of execution down through the
ages and their frequency, the students agreed to estimate this probability at
one in 10,000 or 1 in 104, which we will use.
If these estimates are considered fair, one man in how many
men, the world over, will fulfill all eight prophecies? This question can be
answered by applying our principles of probability. In other words, by
multiplying all of our estimates together, or 1 in 2.8 x 105 x 103 x 102 x 103 x 103
x 105 x 103 x 104. This gives 1 in 2.8 x 1028, where 28 means that we have 28
ciphers following the 2.8. Let us simplify and reduce the number by calling it
1 in 1028. Written out this number is 1 in
10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
This is the answer to the question: One man in how many men
has fulfilled these eight prophecies? But we are really concerned with the
answer to the question: What is the chance that any man might have lived from
the day of these prophecies down to the present time and have fulfilled all of
the eight prophecies? We can answer this question by dividing our 1028 by the
total number of people who have lived since the time of these prophecies. The
best information available indicates the number to be about 88 billion or 8.8 x
1010.
To simplify the computation let us call the number 1011. By
dividing these two numbers we find that the chance that any man might have
lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in
1017.
Editor's note: It is probable that 88 billion or 8.8 x
1010
assumes a growth rate for the earth's population which is much too
small -
that most of the people who have ever lived are still alive today -
suggesting
that this number may be too large by a factor of ten. If so, this will
affect
the final result by the same factor of ten; ten times fewer total
people who might have fulfilled these prophecies means only one tenth
the chance that one of them might have done it by accident. Our number
would become 1018 instead of 1017. The number used in this book is very conservative.
Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten
tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and
then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket
is one in ten. Suppose that we take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the
face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of
these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.
Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far s he wishes, but he must
pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would
he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would
have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any
one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their
own wisdom.
Now these prophecies were either given by inspiration of God
or the prophets just wrote them as they thought they should be. In such a case
the prophets had just one chance in 1017 of having them come true in any man,
but they all came true in Christ.
This means that the fulfillment of these eight prophecies
alone proves that God inspired the writing of those prophecies to a
definiteness which lacks only one change in 1017 of being absolute.
Sometimes we weigh our chances in the business world, and
say if an investment has nine chances in ten of being profitable, and only one
chance in ten of being a failure, it is safe enough for us to make the
investment. Whoever heard of an investment that had only one chance in 1017 of
failure? The business world has no conception of such an investment. Yet we are
offered this investment by God. By the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior
we know, from only these eight prophecies which lack only 1 chance in 1017 of
being an absolute proof, that that investment will yield the wonderful dividend
of eternal life with Christ. Can anyone be so unreasonable as to reject Jesus
Christ and pin his hope of eternal life on such a slim chance as finding the
right silver dollar among this great mass, covering the whole state of Texas
two feet deep? It does not seem possible, yet every man who rejects Christ is
doing just that.
More than three hundred prophecies from the Old Testament which deal with the
first advent of Christ have been listed. Every one of them was completely
fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Let us see what happens when we take more than eight
prophecies.
Suppose we add eight more prophecies to our list, and assume
that their chance of fulfillment is the same as the eight just considered. The
chance that one man would fulfill all sixteen is 1 x 1028 x 1017 or 1 in 1045.
Let us try to visualize this as we did before. Take this
number of silver dollars. If you make these into a solid ball, you will have a
great sphere with a center at the earth, and extending in all directions more
than 30 times as far as from the earth to the sun. (If a train had started from
the earth at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed, and had
traveled steadily toward the sun at the rate of sixty miles per hour, day and
night, it would be about reaching its destination today. But remember that our
ball of silver dollars extends thirty times that far in all directions.) If you
can imagine the marking of one silver dollar, and then thoroughly stirring it
into this great ball, and blindfolding a man and telling him to pick out one
dollar, and expect it to be the marked one, you have somewhat of a picture of
how absolutely the fulfillment of sixteen prophecies referring to Jesus Christ
proves both that He is the Son of God and that our Bible is inspired. Certainly
God directed the writing of His Word.
In order to extend this consideration beyond all bounds of
human comprehension, let us consider forty-eight prophecies, similar in their
human chance of fulfillment to the eight which we originally considered, using
a much more conservative number, 1 in 1021. Applying the same principle of
probability used so far, we find the chance that any one man fulfilled all
forty-eight prophecies to be 1 in 10157.
This is really a large number and it represents an extremely
small chance. Let us try to visualize it. The silver dollar, which we have been
using, is entirely too large. We must select a smaller object. The electron is
about as small an object as we know of. It is so small that it will take 2.5 x
1015 of them laid side by side to make a line, single file, one inch long. If
we were going to count the electrons in this line one inch long, and counted
250 each minute, and if we counted day and night, it would take us 19,000,000
years to count just the one-inch line of electrons. If we had a cubic inch of
these electrons and we tried to count them, it would take us 1.2 x 1038 years
(2 x 1028 times the 6 billion years back to the creation of the solar system).
With this introduction, let us go back to our chance of 1 in
10157. Let us suppose that we are taking this number of electrons, marking one,
and thoroughly stirring it into the whole mass, then blindfolding a man and
letting him try to find the right one. What chance has he of finding the right
one? What kind of a pile will this number of electrons make? They make an
inconceivably large volume.
The distance from our system of stars, or galaxy, to the
next nearest one is nearly 1,500,000 light-years; that is the distance that
light will travel in 1,500,000 years going 186,000 miles each and every second.
This distance is so great that if every man, woman and child in the United
States, 200,000,000 of them, had a library of 65,000 volumes, and you collected
every book in all of these libraries and them started on this journey of
1,500,000 light-years, and decided to place one letter from one of the books on
each mile (e.g., if "the" was the first word in the first book you
would put "t" on the first mile, "h" on the second mile,
and "e" on the third mile; then leave a mile blank without a letter
and start the next word in the same manner, etc.), before you complete your
journey you will use up every letter in every book of every one of the libraries
and have to call for more.
Space, by some authorities, is supposed to extend in all
directions to the distance, not of 1,500,000 light-years. but more than 4,000
times that far or 6,000,000,000 light-years. Let us make a solid ball of
electrons, extending in all directions from the earth to the distance of six
billion light-years. Have we used up our 10157 electrons? No, we have made such
a small hole in the mass that we cannot see it. We can make this solid ball of
electrons, extending in all directions to the distance of six billion
light-years 6 x 1028 times.
Suppose again that we had this great amount of electrons,
10157 of them, and we were able to make 500 of these tremendous balls, six
billion light-years in radius, each minute. If we worked day and night it would
take us 1010 times the 6 billion years back to creation to use up our supply of
electrons. Now, one of these electrons was marked and thoroughly stirred into
the whole mass; blindfold your man and ask him to find the marked electron.
No man could in any way look over this mass of electrons,
blindfolded or not blindfolded, and pick out any one electron, let alone the
one that had been marked. (The electron, in fact, is so small that it cannot be
seen with powerful microscope.)
To the extent, then, that we know this blindfolded man
cannot pick out the marked electron, we know that the Bible is inspired. This
is not merely evidence. It is proof of the Bible's inspiration by God--proof so
definite that the universe is not large enough to hold the evidence. Some will
say that our estimates of the probability of the fulfillment of these
prophecies are too large and the numbers should be reduced. Ask a man to submit
his own estimates, and if they are smaller than these we have used, we shall add
a few more prophecies to be evaluated and this same number will be
reestablished or perhaps exceeded.
Our Bible students claim that there are more than three
hundred prophecies dealing with Christ's first advent. If this number is
correct, and it no doubt is, you could set your estimates ridiculously low on
the whole three hundred prophecies and still obtain tremendous evidence of
inspiration.
For example you may place all of your estimates at one in
four. You may say that one man in four has been born in Bethlehem: that one of
these children in four was taken to Egypt, to avoid slaughter; that one in four
of these came back and made his home in Nazareth; that one in four of these was
a carpenter; that one in four of these was betrayed for thirty pieces of
silver; that one in four of these has been crucified on a cross; that one in
four was then buried in a rich man's tomb; yes, even that one in four rose from
the dead on the third day; and so on for all of the three hundred prophecies
and from them I will build a number much larger than the one we obtained from
the forty-eight prophecies.
Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a
fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.
THREE CHAPTERS have been submitted, each giving a different
type of evidence of the authenticity of the Bible. Chapter 1 dealt primarily
with Genesis 1, and showed how recent developments in science prove that the
account of God's formation of this universe is accurate, and that some of this
evidence has come about by development in science within the last few years.
Chapter 2 dealt with the fulfillment of geographical prophecies, and used some
events which have happened in recent years to complete the fulfillment of many
of the prophecies quoted. The evidence in this chapter depends on historic
facts, or recent occurrences, the truth of which no man doubts whether he be
Christian or non-Christian. Chapter 3 dealt with the fulfillment of prophecies
regarding Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of which is recorded in the Bible and
to a great extent in profane history. We even date all events today from the
birth of Christ (A.D.)
In each chapter the definiteness of the evidence has been
stated as a probability. If you wish to know the definiteness for the evidence
in the three chapters combined, you will have to multiply all of the individual
probabilities together. The result is an astonishingly large number, 1 in 1.5 x
10239 representing evidence so overwhelming that no human mind can make any start at comprehending the definiteness of it.
We have not by any means exhausted the evidence in the
Bible. We have only briefly introduced the scientific evidence, there being
many references through-out the Bible which give accurate scientific
information, written thousands of years before science knew anything about it.
We have dealt with only a few of the prophecies regarding geographical places.
Many times the number which we have considered could be cited. The studies
could all be greatly enlarged, and our numbers representing probabilities could
all be tremendously expanded. Neither have we exhausted the types of evidence
available. Other chapters could be written dealing with such items as
prophecies regarding the Jewish people; the present fulfillment of prophecies
heralding Christ's return; evidence of the historical accuracy of the Bible as
revealed by archaeological expeditions; changes wrought in the lives of men who
were deep in sin, and have accepted Christ as their Savior, and indeed have
become new men. When these probabilities were evaluated, they would all have to
be multiplied by the probabilities already developed. So the evidence mounts
and mounts until we believe it must be accepted by every man who gives it serious consideration.
We have shown that by very recent developments of science
Genesis 1 agrees perfectly with all of the sciences concerned. There does not
appear to be a contradiction of any magnitude still remaining. There is,
however, this extremely strong argument, or proof, for the Bible's truth.
We have shown that prophecies made in various places in the
Old Testament have been fulfilled in recent times, often thousands of years
after their writing, with such exactness that we must believe that the prophecies
were given by God Himself. No human being has ever made predictions which hold
any comparison to those we have considered, and had them accurately come true.
The span of time between the writing of these prophecies and their fulfillment
is so great that the most severe critic cannot claim that the predictions were
made after the events happened.
With the prophetic accuracy of the Old Testament
established, we have studied its prophecies with respect to Christ and found that
Jesus Christ fulfilled every one of them to the last minute detail. We have
shown numerical evidence that this fulfillment proved Jesus Christ to be the
Son of God, the promised Savior.
We do not believe that the strength of the argument has been
overdrawn in any case, but that in most cases it has been understated. We
consider, therefore, that we have produced not only evidence of the inspiration
of the Bible but proof of its inspiration.
Since the Bible is true, as we have proved it to be, the
Christian must take his Bible seriously. It is the guide to the Christian for
his daily conduct, and tells of his responsibility to God and his fellowmen. He
should follow its teachings.
God teaches us most emphatically that we have a
responsibility to win men to Him. As Christ was going from the Last Supper,
over the brook Kidron and up to the Garden of Gethsemane, He was praying, and
said: "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them into
the world" (John 17:18). Just as the salvation of mankind depends on the
finished work of Jesus Christ, so the salvation of the world depends on the
Christian carrying the gospel to it. If Christ had failed, there would be no
salvation. If we fail to carry the message of salvation to the world, it will
have no salvation.
On the evening of the day of His resurrection, Christ met
His disciples and said: "Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me,
even so send I you. ... Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto
them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they re retained" (John 20:21,23).
Christ is telling His disciples that if they go out and win a man he is saved,
and if they do not win that man he will be lost. The responsibility for the
salvation of the men and women around us lies on our shoulders.
Again, shortly before His ascension, Christ said to His
disciples: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world" (Matt. 28 18-20). Christ, in this last command to the
disciples, strengthens His two earlier statements, telling them again to go, but
also telling them that He has all power and that He will go with them. Why
should a missionary fear to go to the foreign field when Christ, with all
power, is going along? That is much better than if he were accompanied by all
the fleets of the world. Why should any man hesitate or fear to speak to his
companion, friend or neighbor when Christ goes with him?
Thus Christ's instruction to win men to him was given three
times--just before He was taken from His disciples to be crucified; at His
first meeting with them after His resurrection; and again just before His
ascension. The last instructions you give a friend before leaving, and the
first things you tell him when you return are always the things which are
uppermost in your mind and of the greatest importance. Likewise, the things
which Christ told His disciples just before His death, the first thing after
His resurrection and the last thing before His ascension must have been the
items of greatest importance to Him. Especially is this true since on these three
occasions He gave His disciples the same message. Their job was to win men. Can
we not then, as Christians and as the church of Christ, realize that this above
all other things is what Christ desires of us? If your church and my church are
to be the kind of churches that Christ intended, we must make it our first job
to win people to Christ.
Paul takes up the same theme in II Corinthians 5: 18-20:
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit,
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we
pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Notice that God reconciled us to Himself and gave to us the
ministry of reconciliation. These both occur in the same verse, in the same
sentence. We do not have to choose, we do not have the right to choose. God
have us this ministry in the same hour that we accepted Him. We are ambassadors
for Christ. What an honor that is! It would be an honor to be an ambassador of
the United States to some foreign country, but it is an infinitely greater
honor to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ. We should not be embarrassed when we
speak to a man about Christ. We should feel highly honored to have the
opportunity of representing our Lord and Savior. An ambassador must deliver
messages from his home country to the country to which he is an ambassador. He
should interpret those messages, but he dare not change them. How unfaithful an
ambassador would a man be considered, if he received a communication from his
home country to be delivered to some official in the country where he had his
ambassadorship, and them was too busy with the business or social affairs of
that country to deliver it until later! How unfaithful then must God consider
us when we have a message from heaven to be delivered to a lost man here on
earth, and we say that we are too busy with things of this world and put it
off! Our first job must be to fulfill our ambassadorship to God; things of this
world must come later.
Paul also tells us that when we speak to a man about Christ,
we are doing it in Christ's stead. Christ wishes to speak to this man about his
salvation, but He asks us to do it for Him. We ought then to go to that man
with all the love with which Christ would have gone, love enough to die for
him. We should not give up if the message is rejected the first time; we should
pray for him, and go again and again. (Christ prayed all night.) We should
yearn to win this one to Christ. (Christ wept over lost men.)
Paul gives us another picture of our duty to Christ in II
Corinthians 3:2-3: "Ye are our epistles written in our hearts, known and
read of all men: forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of
Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the
living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart."
We are the epistles of Christ known and read of all men. We
could give a man one of the epistles written by Paul, and he might read it and
lay it aside. He might tire of it very quickly. But the Christian is read of
all men, continuously and untiringly. The majority of all the people of the
world know Christ, not through the Bible, but by reading the Christian as his
epistle. You never heard of a man tiring of reading a Christian. He may not
like the story written by a certain man's life but he continues to read it--to
read his life, his every act and word. How it behooves us as Christians to live
lives that will show Christ in His true light, to say and to do things which
will make others want to accept Christ as their savior!
As a boy, I knew a man in our neighborhood who always held
some office in the church, but the men in the neighborhood said that B-------
P------- did not live a Christian life. They said he smoked, occasionally got
mad and swore, and they thought he went to town and got drunk. I do not know if
any of these things were true. I do know, however, that large numbers of the
young men in that vicinity said they would never go to church as long as
B------ P------ was a member. Yes, he was an epistle of Christ; he was read
untiringly by all who knew him, but the epistle did not tell a story of the
redeeming grace of Jesus Christ. It turned people away from Christ instead of
drawing them to Him. B------ P------ had a mother, a saint whom everybody
loved. She fell and broke her hip and was confined to bed for the rest of her
life. During this time the church was unable to support a pastor. Everyone
loved Grandma P------ and many called on her regularly, Christian and
non-Christian alike. For those three years she made it her habit to give her
testimony to everyone who called on her; to read to them from her Bible and
pray with them. They went away feeling that they had been close to God. Thus
for those three years, Grandma P------- kept up the religious life of a whole community
and kept the church alive. Perhaps that church did have a pastor. Yes, Grandma
P------ was also an epistle of Christ, and what a glorious message everyone
read in her life! What a powerful message a saint of God gives through his life
and testimony! I would that the church were full of them.
Since we know that the Bible is God's message to man, every
man will be wise to take note of its teachings. When it gives a definite plan
of salvation, all men must recognize it and not try to make one of their own
and pin their hopes of eternal life to it.
John 5:24 gives us the plan of salvation in a very positive
simple way: "Verily, verily, I say unto you He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." Over and over again the
plan of salvation is given, and always it is the same--faith in Jesus Christ.
We are not saved because of the righteous life that we live or the good that we
do. Ephesians 2:8-9 reads: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man
should boast."
This seems to be a hard teaching to many. They say that God
is a God of love, and as such they do not believe that God will condemn a man
to hell if he is a good man and honest. There is one of two places where we may
spend the future eternity: one is heaven and the other hell. Christ is
preparing a place for us, wishing us to be with him in heaven. Hell was created
for the devil and his angels. If a man accepts Christ he will spend eternity
with Him in heaven. If he rejects Christ and thus associates himself with
Satan, he will certainly share Satan's future abode in hell.
No, do not accuse God of condemning men to hell, after He
has sent Christ into the world and has shown His great love for men by giving
Christ to die on the cross for their sins. If you must accuse someone, accuse
your pastor; perhaps he has not done all that he could to reach those that are
lost. Accuse me, for I know that I have not done all I could. Should you not
face the problem honestly and say that you, by your own will, accept Christ and
heaven or condemn yourself to hell by rejecting Him? "For the wages of sin
is death; but the gift of God is eternal life" (Rom. 6:23).
But you say you are talking about the moral man. Certainly
hell cannot be his wages; he has done nothing to deserve it. Let us try to
think this thing through. In the sight of our own laws, the man deserving the
greatest punishment is the one who has broken the greatest law. Should not the
same be true with God? The man who breaks His greatest commandment is the worst
sinner.
A man once came to Jesus and asked the question:
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus answered:
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind" (Matt. 22:36-37). Does the moral man who
rejects God, love God with all his heart, mind and soul? Certainly not. Then he
has broken the greatest law of God and stands before God as the greatest sinner
of all. God's reaction to this man is given in John 3:17-18: "For God sent
not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that
believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of
the only begotten Son of God." The moral man is not condemned because of
any immoral act, any crime or vice that he is guilty of, but because he has not
believed on Christ and has broken the greatest commandment.
Let me tell you a story which has greatly helped me to see
this thing clearly. On the night before I left to do graduate work in the
University of California, my father and mother and I were sitting around a
table reading. My father found an item which he read aloud. As near as I can
remember, it was this: Four years earlier in a different part of the country
there was another family whose son was ready to go to college; but there was no
money available for a college education. The father and mother talked the
matter over and said, "Our son has been a very good boy. He has always
done well in school and he should have a good education, but how can we send
him to college?" They decided that there was only one possible way and
that was to sell half of the farm and raise the money. This they did and sent
the son to college. The son was a brilliant student, and the college was
extremely well pleased with his work. At the end of four years, he completed
his course and was ready to graduate with the highest honors, and the highest
academic record ever made in that college. The father and mother again held a
conference, and felt that it did not seem right for the son to b e graduating
so far from home without at least one of his parents with him. They sold part
of the remaining stock and raised enough money so that a railway ticket was
bought for the father to be with his son. But there was not enough money for a
new suit of clothes. The father arrived on the campus and, seeing his son with
a group of students, rushed up to him and greeted him. The son stared back
coldly and said, "No, there is some mistake here. You are not my father, I
do not know you."
When my father finished reading, he turned to me and said
"Peter, is that what you are going to do when you finish college?" I
can never forget that story. But what do you think of that young man? He
certainly stooped the lowest that it is possible for a son to stoop in his
relation to his father. It would have been better for him to have stolen the
money for his education, or to have done anything except to take all that his
parents could give, through great sacrifice, and then disown them. What must
that father do, if he is a just father? Can he say to that son, "Well,
son, that is all right. I will continue to send you your monthly check and the
estate will be yours as it always has been"? No, that father must say to
the son, "Son, as long as you disown me, I must disown you, but I will
ever be looking forward to your coming back and again owning me as your father.
Then I will be glad to own you as my son."
As the years have passed, this story has taken on a very
different meaning for me. In the place of the son, I see the moral man, the man
who has not broken a single law of the land. He has no bad habits, his morals
are above reproach, he is looked up to by all of his associates. Then I look at
the non-christian country and see its lack of morals, its impossible code of
ethics, the treatment of the wives and children, and I realize that my moral
man obtained his morality, his code of ethics, his uprightness, his courtesy to
the members of his family and his honesty, from Christianity, or from Christ
and God. Then I see the non-christian moral man looking up into the face of God
and saying. "This is my code of ethics: this is my own standard of
morality; this is my own standard of treatment of my family; it is my own
standard of honesty in my business dealings. You have had nothing to do with my
life. I will have nothing to do with Christ as my Savior or You as my
God." I marvel that God does not answer with fire from heaven and devour
that man. Certainly God cannot take him to heaven to dwell with Him eternally.
Satan himself has not done worse.
If you are this nonchristian man or woman may I entreat you
to accept Christ as your personal savior now? Confess to Him your sin of
rejection, recognize Him as your Creator, your God. See Christ upon the cross
as a sacrifice for your own sin. See in that sacrifice the great love of God,
who gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish
but have eternal life. See the love of Christ when He refused to come down from
the cross but said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they
do."
You must either accept Christ as your personal savior or
reject Him. There is no middle ground. You are either saved, with your name
written down in heaven where you will spend eternity, or you are lost and will
spend eternity in hell with Satan and all that is evil.
When the children of Israel strayed from God and began to
worship idols, Joshua went out before then and said:
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you
this day whom ye will serve ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the
Lord, to serve other gods; for the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up
and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which
did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we
went, and among all the people through whom we passed.
Will you not say with Joshua: "As for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord"?
consider the two following statements as contracts between
yourself and God. One of these contracts is in effect as you finish reading
this book. Which one do you now choose?
1. I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and accept Him as my
personal Savior. By this act my sins are all blotted out and I become a son of
God, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. I now have eternal life and shall spend
eternity in heaven with Christ.
Signed.............................
Dated .............................
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? -
Hebrews 2:3
2. I will not accept Jesus Christ as my savior. I realize
that this is the greatest sin against God that any man can commit and in so
doing I affiliate myself with Satan. I shall live a life in sin against God,
and for this decision I shall spend eternity in hell with Satan.
Signed.............................
Dated .............................
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord - Romans 6:23
If you have not signed number 1, do not deceive yourself.
You must choose this very moment. Look again at number 2, for in the sight of
God your name is signed there, even in the rejected blood of His Son, Jesus
Christ. It is dated this very moment.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved -
Acts 16:31.
Editor's Note: Science Speaks was originally published in
1944, by Moody Press, under the title, From Science to Souls. The original
edition contains the following explanation of how the book came to be written:
By Peter W. Stoner
More than 25 years ago
(that is, more than twenty-five years before 1944 - Ed.),
there were Chinese government students in
the University of California at Berkeley. Twelve of these students went to Dr.
McAfee, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and asked that they be given a
special Sunday school class so that they might obtain information about the
Christian religion. These students were sent to this country to become
engineers, doctors, etc., and to take this training back to China for the
improvement of their country. They said that they considered that the religion
of any country had much to do with its development, so they wished to learn
what our religion was in order to interpret its effect on our culture.
Dr. McAfee came to me and asked me to take the class. I did
not realize what was involved until I had started the work. Then I realized
that they had no foundation whatsoever in our religion, nor had they any faith
in our God or Jesus Christ.
After much prayer, I felt led to start the study of the
Bible from its scientific connections, later to take enough prophecy to show
the Bible's accuracy, and finally, to present Christ.
We spent the first winter studying the Bible's relation to
science. The students took references to the University library and reported on
them as faithfully as they would have, had it been a university course.
When We had Completed the scientific part of the plan, the
whole group went to the pastor and told him that they were convinced that our
religion was the true religion, for no other religion had such proof of its
having God as its author. They all accepted Christ as their Savior and joined
the Church.
I have carefully followed the development of science and its
relation to the Bible in the years since that time. Today, developments of science
have greatly increased the evidence of the inspiration of the Bible. I have
attempted to set forth this evidence.
The references given in this chapter are only those that
happen to be on my desk or the most easily accessible to me. The reader can find
equivalent material in a very great number of different books. These or
corresponding references should certainly be read in order to obtain a
satisfactory understanding of the subject under consideration.
In Part III of Chapter One (in From Science to Souls but not in Science
Speaks) we examine a few of the theories given by the Church long ago, and
which are still in general use. These have tended to open the door to the
destruction of the faith of our young people, when they have learned that
scientific facts drastically disagree with their earlier teaching in the
Church.
It should be clearly understood that Chapter One deals with
the correlation between Genesis and science, as science stands today (1944).
Tomorrow science may discover new facts and this chapter may need revision.
Every development of science in recent years has shown more clearly the truth
of the Bible. We may be confident that future developments in science will only
add to the evidence here produced.
Editor's Note: At the time of the writing of this
preface, the universe was believed to be about 2,000,000,000 years old. In
later editions of Science Speaks, this measurement was corrected upwards as
measurements improved. Present estimates are typically in excess of
10,000,000,000 years and sometimes as high as 20,000,000,000 years.
By Peter W. Stoner
Let us consider the explanation which places all of the geological ages
between the first and second verses, declares that the earth was created
perfect and was wrecked by the casting of Satan down to earth, and claims
that the days of Genesis involved only the reformation of the earth and
the recreation of the life upon it in days 24 hours long, covering a total
length of time of one week.
I think God did create the earth perfect, but perfect for
His own immediate
purpose, not necessarily perfect in the meaning which I would attach to
the word. No two of us would likely agree as to what a perfect earth
would be. Let us be careful in our interpretations. Not so long ago men
were persecuted because they announced that the orbits of the planets
were elliptical instead of circular. People then thought that the
circle was the perfect curve and therefore God created the planets to
move in perfect circles. Today we know that the planets all move in
elliptical orbits and we also recognize the ellipse is just as perfect
a curve as the circle. Let us be careful about reading into the Bible
something that is not there, but which we think ought to be there. Our
thoughts are not God's thoughts. We are extremely likely to be wrong.
Our Bible does not say that God created the earth perfect. Therefore,
we dare not teach children so.
What do we know about an early destruction of the earth by
the fall of Satan? Nothing. That is also read into the biblical
account. The only effect on this earth caused by the casting of Satan
out of heaven seems to be still future. (See Rev. 12:7-12 and Rev.
20:1-3.) These will certainly occur in the Great Tribulation period.
Other references which are usually cited are Jer. 4:23-26; Isa.
24:1,5,21-23; Isa. 45:18; Ezek. 28:11-19 and Isa.14:1,4,9-17. A careful
study of all of these passages will show that they have nothing to say
about a prehistoric time but refer to the Revelation passage, the
casting of Satan out of heaven during the Great Tribulation period or
to judgments against Jerusalem. In fact, we are clearly taught that
Satan still has access to heaven and is our accuser there.
Yes, there is one passage which is not as clear as the
others, that is Luke 10:17,18. Here, after the disciples report that
the devils are subject to them, Christ says that he saw Satan fall from
heaven like a star. The past tense is used, but so is the past tense
used in many of the prophecies throughout the Bible. (In Isaiah 53 you
will find several prophecies referring to Christ. Some of these are in
the future tense, some in the present but most of them are in the past
tense. This passage alone quite conclusively shows that the tense used
in prophecies does not necessarily indicate the time when the event
will happen or whether it has happened in the past. The number of such
prophecies is great but I will mention two more: Ps. 22:18 fulfilled in
John 19:23,24; Ps. 34:20 fulfilled in John 19:32-36.) I think this is
most likely prophetic, referring to the same event recorded in
Revelation. We are told that Satan lost his position as the covering
cherub, but we are not told that he was cast down to the earth or that
anything on the earth was destroyed at that time.
I shall not further pursue this evidence, for in reality
it has little to do with the subject at hand. Even if the earth had
been wrecked by the fall of Satan between the first and second verses,
there is an abundance of scientific evidence which shows that it could
have no relation to the Genesis account.
For sake of argument, let us ignore the evidence just
cited and see what happens if we place the geological ages between the
first two verses. Verse 2 says that the earth was without form, void and dark. Translate it became
if you prefer. In either case, it perfectly describes a dark nebula:
the physical condition of a nebula is that it contains no particle
larger than the smallest particle of dust and its main composition is
separate atoms with many electrons stripped off. Now suppose the
geological layers were laid down between these two verses and then the
earth was reduced to isolated atoms and reassembled again, would there
be any fossils remaining? Not the slightest trace of one. No, according
to this translation, the geological ages can not be placed between the
first and second verses. Everything on this earth, in rock layers,
fossils or anything else, happened after the second verse. Again,
suppose that the second verse is changed in its translation so that it
does not mean a separation of particles as described above. Let us see
what is involved.
This explanation of Genesis is always given to make the
Days of Genesis 24-hour days. This then places all of the acts of God,
described after the second verse as happening in recent times,
approximately, say, in the last 6,000 years, certainly in the last
geological period. This introduces several insurmountable difficulties.
1. This would make light first to appear on this planet
6000 years ago. We could not convince any geologist that light first
appeared either 6,000 years ago or 60,000,000 years ago. This
explanation would make the verses 3 to 5 definitely contradict known
facts of science.
2. Verses 6 and 7 would tell us that the earth was
completely covered with clouds and there were no oceans until 6,000
years ago. Again, this dramatically contradicts known information of
science, as the covering of the earth solidly with clouds pre-dates
nearly all geological eras and periods of time.
3. Verse 9 describes the earth as being completely covered
with water, and according to this theory no continent rose from the
water before some 6,000 years ago. Any geologist can produce definite
evidence that it was hundreds of millions of years ago when our
continents were formed. So this explanation becomes absurd. Geology has
very reliable means of setting approximate dates for many of its
periods, best of which is the rate of change of Uranium to lead. This
rate cannot be altered by any known means; the percentage of Uranium
that changes to lead in a century is well known. In any layer where
Uranium is found, the per cent which has changed to lead gives an
authentic date to that deposit.
4. Verses 14-18 would, according to this explanation, tell
us that the sun never shone thwough the heavy clouds until 6,000 years
ago. This is quite as false as any of the other results above
mentioned. (Note: the 6,000 years above mentioned is the time usually
taught. Any other comparable age would give the same difficulty.)
I trust I have made it clear that this attempt to explain
the first chapter of Genesis contradicts science at many points. These
may easily be verified by referring to any available historical
geology. We cannot hope to teach our young people this theory and then
expect that their faith will not be shaken when they study science.
We accuse the colleges of destroying the faith of our
young people. It is often true, but too often it is true because we
have given our young people false teachings which are sure to lead them
into dangers. Let us make sure that what we teach our children is true
to the best information obtainable both from science and from the
Bible, then we will not have them slipping away from the faith.
The canopy theory, as often thought [taught? -Ed], would
place spherical shells of various kinds of material around the earth,
then have the shells, one after the other, break down and fall upon the
earth, forming different layers of the earth, and the breaking down of
the ice layer cause the flood and the ice age.
So far as I know this theory was never accepted by
science. I have not been able to find it or any reference to it, in any
science text or encyclopedia. Generations ago it was known to be
contrary to the laws of force which act throuout the physical universe.
The rings of Saturn have supplied a field for research which has a
definite relation to the canopy theory. As early as 1750 the principles
involved in a canopy over the earth were quite well understood and by
1850, such a canopy was well known to be impossible. (See Young's General Astronomy,
pp. 390-395, for a brief discussion of these principles.) I can think
of nothing more dangerous than to try to teach such a theory to our
younger generation.
May Bible students become more scientific and scientists
become better Bible students; then we will be able to overcome the
wrecking of the faith of our young people in the colleges.
A Challenge to Critics of Chapter 3
Critics of my grandfather's book have suggested many
possible errors. Among these, that the estimates may be too high, or that the
events are statistically connected - so that fulfilling one prophecy will
virtually guarantee fulfillment of another. Although my grandfather repeatedly
invited critics to supply their own estimates and see what happens, I have
found that most critics are content to skip the exercise; so, I have included
this chapter as an example of what sort of numbers a person playing the devil's
advocate might obtain. Every attempt has been made to keep these estimates conservative
beyond any reasonable challenge:
1. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that
is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from
everlasting" (Micah 5:2).
This prophecy predicts that the Christ will come out of
Bethlehem. In Micah 5:3 we learn that Bethlehem is also to be his place of
birth. This greatly limits the total number of candidates which could possibly
be the Messiah to those who came from Bethlehem. In this passage (particularly
Micah 5:4) we also see that the Christ must be male.
The present population of Bethlehem is about 20,000, but the
average population of the ancient city stayed well under 10,000. If we assume a
very high birth rate of 40 / year / 1000 population (modern Africa averages 41,
Asia 24, Europe 11), this means less than 400 individuals per year would have
been born in Bethlehem. Because about half of these would be female, this
further restricts the total number of possible Messiah candidates to less than
200 individuals per year.
2. "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the
decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince,
(Anointed One, the ruler) comes, there will be seven `sevens', and sixty-two
'sevens.'" Daniel 9:25
In addition to where the Messiah will come from, we are also
told when he will come. This will further restrict the candidates from which we
can draw.
The clock started in 445 B.C. when Artaxerxes Longimanus issued
the decree to "restore and rebuild Jerusalem". From that time we are
told to count off 49 (7x7) and 434 (62x7) periods (understood as years in other
similar Biblical passages). This puts the Messiah at about 483 years after 445
B.C. or at about A.D. 39 (there being no zero year). Because different
calendars were used by different ancient people, the length of these
"years" might have been as short as 360 days (very likely the length
of the calendar Daniel used in Babylon) or as long as 365.25 days. If the
shorter year is assumed, the 483-year span is reduced by 360/365.25 to about
476 years - 7 years less or about A.D. 31 (coincident with the final part of
Jesus' ministry - when "his hour had come").
There are many different ways we might understand "when"
the Messiah "comes." These might include, when he is born, when he
assumes power, or when he is "cut off" (e.g. Daniel 9:26). If we
assume the Messiah lives 100 years, in addition to the 7 year uncertainty in
our date, we have a 107 year window beginning in 69 B.C. and extending until
A.D. 39 for the birth of the Messiah. Taken together with the place of birth,
this reduces the number of candidate Messiahs to less than 107 x 200 or less
than 21400.
If we allow that there might have been as many as about
25,000 men who could potentially have been considered the Messiah, we are being
sufficiently generous that we probably will not be challenged. King Herod, in
Matthew 2:16, appears to have felt he had a much tighter window (2 years) than
we have assumed here. (Of course, Herod had additional information which we
cannot use here.)
3. "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before me" (Mal. 3:1).
This prophecy evidently refers to a special messenger of
God, whose one duty was to prepare the way for the work of Christ, so there is
a further restriction added. Our question here is: Of the men who have been
born in Bethlehem during the allowed window, one man in how many has had a
forerunner to prepare his way? John the Baptist, of course, was the forerunner
of Jesus, but for how many of the other 25,000 might we have allowed that the
prophecy had been adequately fulfilled? This was a time of unrest for Israel
and various false prophets of one kind or another were fairly common. Most, of
course, were proclaiming themselves. Were there as many as a hundred prophets
proclaiming someone other than themselves? A thousand? Of these, how many were
featuring a Messiah from Bethlehem?
Let's assume there were 1250 prophets (about one a month) all
featuring a Messiah, from Bethlehem, other than themselves. (Assuming one in
every 20 candidates had a prophet to "prepare the way".) Surely we
are being sufficiently generous. This brings our candidates down to 1250 - one
a month from Bethlehem, and with a forerunner.
4. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and
having salvation: lowly, and riding upon ... a colt the foal of an ass"
(Zech. 9:9).
Our question then is: One man in how many, who was born in
Bethlehem and had a forerunner, did enter Jerusalem as a king being lowly and
riding on a colt the foal of an ass? If we assume that a plot is afoot to
imitate the Messiah for profit or other gain, we might expect the perpetrators
to deliberately set this one up. Unlike the "messenger" above, this
one requires no lengthy advance planning. And perhaps even a seeker of wealth
and power could act lowly long enough to pull this one off.
5. "And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds
in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the
house of my friends"(Zech. 13:6).
5b. "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the
wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet"(Ps. 22:16).
Christ was betrayed by Judas, one of His disciples, causing
Him to be put to death, puncture wounds being made in His hands and feet.
Betrayal is, by definition, not an element subject to advance planning. Neither
is crucifixion something one would deliberately want to include in one's plans.
Still, crucifixion was the standard method of execution at this time and
betrayal was not too unusual.
Let's assume one man in 10 of those in high profile roles
got betrayed and crucified. Now our number of candidates is down to 125. (All
from Bethlehem, all with forerunners, and all betrayed and crucified within the
critical century.) If this sounds less than generous, remember that the
population of Bethlehem is less than 10,000 and we are assuming a crucifixion
rate totaling more than 2% of its male population within 107 years (ignoring
any additional crucifixions of those not having forerunners - presumably a much
greater number).
6. "And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my
price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of
silver" (Zech. 11:12).
The question here is: Of the people who have been betrayed,
one in how many has been betrayed for exactly thirty pieces of silver?
Remembering that betrayal is not a planned element, this must be left to chance
alone. If planning is involved, we must consider the likelihood that the
religious leaders of the day might wish to avoid prophesied quantities, such as
"30 pieces of silver," in their payoffs.
What motivation causes one friend to betray another? A small
amount of money? Not likely. We might expect either a larger amount or
different motivation entirely. Perhaps the chances are as good as one in fifty
of exactly matching the amount; they are certainly not as good as one chance in
10.
If we assume one in ten, the number of viable candidates are
now down to less than 13.
7. "And the Lord said unto me, Cast it unto the potter:
a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of
silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord" (Zech.
11:13).
This is extremely specific. All thirty pieces of silver are
not to be either kept or returned. They are to be cast down in the house of the
Lord, and they are to go to the potter. You will recall that Judas in remorse
tried to return the thirty pieces of silver, but the chief priest would not
accept them. So Judas threw them down on the floor of the temple and went and
hanged himself. The chief priest then took the money and bought a field of the
potter to bury strangers in.
Our question is: One man in how many, after receiving a
bribe for the betrayal of a friend, would return the money, have it refused,
throw it on the floor in the house of the Lord, and then have it used to
purchase a field from the potter? This is also outside of the control of
conspirators.
Money is valuable. Most who accept it keep it. Those few who
attempt to return it are likely to find willing help. This has to be a one in a
hundred shot from the beginning, without including the "temple" and
"potter" elements.
Furthermore, if we are allowing for conspiracy, we must
remember that the others involved in this drama have their own goals. If the
Messiah knows to line up a donkey, we should expect the Jewish priests be
motivated to avoid destinations like a "potter" as determinedly as
amounts like "thirty." These elements must be considered chance at
best. A one in a thousand shot for this prophecy must be considered
conservative.
If 13 candidates are each subjected to a one in a thousand
chance, there is less than one chance in 75 than even one of them will succeed.
8. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isa. 53:7).
One man in how many, after fulfilling the above prophecies,
when he is oppressed and afflicted and is on trial for his life, though
innocent, will make no defense for himself? It is difficult to imagine why
anyone would do this. Any conspiracy theory has to end here - there is nothing
left to gain and a great deal to loose. One in a hundred is probably generous.
Perhaps a candidate who was mute would fulfill this prophecy; we should not
expect it of one who was able to speak. We will assume one in a hundred.
This brings the chances against a candidate fulfilling these
prophecies down to less than one in 7500.
9. "They divide my garments among them and cast lots
for my clothing." Psalm 22:18
Dividing of garments between attending Roman soldiers was
normal at crucifixions, but casting lots was not. We know from John 19:23,24
the reason why this exception was made; one garment was seamless so they
decided to cast lots for it instead of tear it. What are the odds against this
exception? This seems to have been a rare event since the soldiers had to
discuss how to deal with it. Surely it would be conservative to assign a
probability of one in twenty-five.
This brings the chances down to one in 187,500.
10. "He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with
the rich in his death." Isaiah 53:9
The fact that he was crucified probably takes care of the
first half of this prophecy. But how many are buried with the rich? In Matthew
27:57 we find a rich man named Joseph getting the body of Jesus from Pilate and
placing it in his own tomb. What odds do we assume here? One in ten? One in
six?
If we say one in six, our chances drop to less than one in a
million of any man fulfilling these 10 prophecies.
If the odds of the Biblical authors of making these
predictions, without divine aid, are as "good" as one in a million,
we must still conclude that it was sufficiently improbable as to be
unreasonable to assume. We must still conclude the presence of divine
inspiration.
A Challenge to Apologists (including the younger version of myself in the previous section)
At this point in time, Science Speaks is more likely to be weighed for its historical significance than its usefulness as an evangelical tool. "silver Dollars" are now
collector's items rather than what a person might carry in their pockets, and formal
hermeneutics have become increasingly complex, during the century since these arguments
were constructed. In particular, the internet, by its magnitude alone, has made it difficult
to do a thorough job of addressing "all" objections which a critical person might raise.
e.g.: This page Here.
As the number of motivated and creative critics increases, it becomes the responsibility
of the apologist to evaluate the number of possible ways each prophetic statement might
(in theory) be interpreted. For example, in the the Wikipedia page (linked above), the
complexity of nailing down the exact size and location of the ancient (and completely
removed) original city of Tyre becomes a difficult issue (particularly on an increasingly
built-up Mediterranean waterfront).
As the complexity of interpreting the passage increases the number of ways it might have
been fulfilled, the numerator of each probability-term increases with it. This numerator was
usually presumed to be "1" in my Grandfather's book (as in my "Challenge" above), but this
is no longer a satisfactory assumption. The job of answering every critic with a computer is,
at best, a full time job. As the numerators increase, their product also increases greatly.
Those of us who attempt to use century-old arguments to defend the Gospel, must
understand that we have a hundred years worth of raised objections which must now be
addressed. See Here for some different strategies.
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