Bible Code... Fact or Fiction?

[skyking1976]

... And the priest says, "Rectum? Darn near killed 'em!"

 

[Timebuilder]

With all the hoopla sparking religious and political debates on these boards, i figured i would start a thread of my own. Just saw the Bible Code program on the History Channel. Did some brief google searching. Its intriguing, but is it along the lines of Chem-trail phenomena? Or Bernoulli's Principle? comments?

I suppose that there could be some sort of code, but I really don't give it much thought.

All of the info without any "coding" is clear enough, and probably far more valuable. Others have told me that some interesting names have been "discovered" in the "code," but whether this is a real code or just a set of random events is for others to talk about.



BBQ. Sheesh. Now I'm hungry.

The worst part there is NO BBQ in this town. TGI Friday's has some ribs, which are a big improvement over the ribs they used to sell, but it isn't real BBQ.

 

[Super 80]

The problem with the Bible Code is which version do you use? There is more than one set of scrolls as the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown us, and the evidence in the Bible is that the Apostles used a different set than what has come down to us in the Masoretic Text, which is the fundamental Hebrew that makes up what we call the Tanach or Old Testament.

Second, do you use vowels or not? In Moses' time, Hebrew had not progressed to that level of sophistication. The writing largely supported an oral tradition. It was only latter in David's time that the language was possibly edited and codified. In the case of Job, it may have been the first it was even collected in writing.

In the book, The Bible Code, they had the Hebrew spelling all kinds of non-Hebrew words. To say there was a stretch of translation is an understatement. But there is also the matter of interpretation, where word substitution was interjected as well saying the Bible was written by computer from the word for 'thought.'

This is not to say that the Old Testament writings were not "constructed." The evidence in the writings themselves show definite structures - indicating the writer thought ahead as to how to present the material and formed it into certain constructs. Psalm 119 with each line of the poetry starting with a letter in alphabetical order is an extreme example of designed text. Other devices use mirrored 15 line sections split into five parts of three lines each. The crescendo is usually found in the middle section.

There may be a "code," enough people have looked for it, but still the best secret in the Bible is the Hidden Bread of the Passover Meal: the Bread of Salvation. The unleavened bread is broken in the beginning of the meal, and half is hidden in a three pocket linen by the head of the table. After the lamb is served, it is this bread, called the Bread of Salvation, that Jesus uses to say is His body. The figurative connection could be made that the Bread is His flesh, but since eating human flesh is a sin, it is more likely that Jesus is saying His body is a vehicle for Salvation. Likewise with the cup of wine. This is the third cup, called the Cup of Redemption. Is Jesus saying this wine is turned into His blood or that His blood is Redemption?

Having a meal that God institutes through Moses for Death to Pass-over the Jews on the eve of their deliverance from slavery from Egypt concludes as a metaphor for spiritual passing over of death for the Christian believer and the deliverance from slavery to sin found in Christ Jesus.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday. At our home we had a leg of lamb this year.

 

[enigma]

RJpilott, Super80 has given a better code answer than I can, I will say this: If you have any real interest in finding some of the "hidden" stuff in the Bible, I suggest that you obtain and read a "Learn the Bible in 24 hours" by Chuck Missler. Learn the Bible is available at Lifeway and most all other book stores. It's a very interesting read for anyone, believers and unbelievers, because the Bible is an authentic ancient work and is interesting for that fact alone.

enigma

 

[Mogus]

A book about the Bible Code caught my attention in a bookstore. Flipping through it, I noticed one of the author's alleged translations: "Clinton...prosperity...peace." Haha! It's a bunch of hooey.

 

[mar]

After the lamb is served, it is this bread, called the Bread of Salvation, that Jesus uses to say is His body. The figurative connection could be made that the Bread is His flesh, but since eating human flesh is a sin, it is more likely that Jesus is saying His body is a vehicle for Salvation. Likewise with the cup of wine. This is the third cup, called the Cup of Redemption. Is Jesus saying this wine is turned into His blood or that His blood is Redemption?

Super80 how would you respond to the tenet of 'transubstantiation' where the Catholics believe that through the Eucharist, the act of Communion, that the bread and wine do in fact become the body and blood and Christ.

Not just figuratively but literally.

I suppose it's just a matter of faith isn't it?

See, this is really a problem for me. How can you pick and choose what concepts in the Bible are literal (Christ rising from the dead) and what concepts are figurative (the bread isn't *really* His flesh).

The way I see it (saw it) you either accept the Bible at it's word or you don't.

 

[RJPilott]

Some codes that were found in relation to Sept 11... coincidence? I have no idea... But i do know a few good jokes if we want to turn this into a joke telling thread

http://www.biblecodedigest.com/page.php/50

World Trade Center

-Powerful Destructive Sound, As If From An Airliner
-New York. They Accompany the Unfortunate Who Are Stricken In It. The Worshippers Are Gathering Around God.
-Exact crossing of September 11 and 2001 near center of NY code (734296 vs. 734286)
-And Your Son is In the Destruction
-In the morning
-Firemen
-Devastation
-Terror
-Grief
-Cruelty
-Crying
-Death

 

[Timebuilder]

Super80 how would you respond to the tenet of 'transubstantiation' where the Catholics believe that through the Eucharist, the act of Communion, that the bread and wine do in fact become the body and blood and Christ.

Not just figuratively but literally.

I suppose it's just a matter of faith isn't it?

See, this is really a problem for me. How can you pick and choose what concepts in the Bible are literal (Christ rising from the dead) and what concepts are figurative (the bread isn't *really* His flesh).

The way I see it (saw it) you either accept the Bible at it's word or you don't.

Mar,

While I am always interested in Super 80's answers, since he has spent far more time and energy on the "scholarly" aspect of study than I have, I think I can give you an answer.

One easy tenet of Bible study is this: "If the plain sense makes sense, then don't make any onther sense."

Clearly, Christ was not saying that the bread was his physical body, since he was still in his pre-ressurection form. He wasn't saying that this body should be eaten, and never said that future events of the Lord's Supper would trigger an event of transubstantiation. If it did, that would be the aforementioned eating of human flesh; a sin.

In Bible study, we look for the clearest meaning possible. Often, the meaning is not literal, but figurative. All of the parables fit this format, establishing Christ's use of figurative speech as examples of the point He is making. The use of the bread and the wine are clearly in line with this familiar format.

Since Christ did not take the extra step of saying that the bread and wine would in the future bercome His actual body and blood, this is a non-Biblical interpretation and doctrine devised by Men.

 

[bart]

THEY use the same code to send encrypted chemtrail orders throught the business page of the NY Times.

I swear to God.

Check it out...

 

[A Squared]

Ahhh, BBQ....

Did the first grilling of the season last night. Salmon. Hmmm Fish on Easter, is that sacreligious? I kinda hope so. Anyway, I found that I'd left the tank shutoff valve on since the last BBQ sometime last fall. Still gas left though, guess those burner valves are more leakproof than you might expect. Anyway, served the salmon and immediately discovered that I'd grossly underestimated cooking time. Returned said fish to the inferno, second attempt was much better. Out of practice ... who knew there were currency issues with grilling. Maybe I need to devise a grilling simulator to maintain proiFISHency throughout the winter months.