On vacation
Will be on vacation from today to the end of June, at least. I will keep you informed if I manage to find internet access.
Newsflash!
The first private vehicle has reached outer space. This is an important day in history, and opens many new doors with space travel. Still, I think a space elevator would be better.
And now, we take you to your regularly scheduled weblog entry:
1 in 10 to the 17th power?
An e-mail from “alias” about my Jesus’ Appeal piece, before I put up the annotations:
well. being a Christian myself, I was at first a bit skeptical about this whole thing. in the end, it proved to be the same as all your other stories, posing no real threat to history; but just kind of retarded. I had a few things to point out to you, even if you think you already know, or don’t believe it in the first place.
A) The Medieval Paintings: I am led to believe that these could very well be inaccurate. This is still a society that is predominately ‘white’. Being believers in Jesus Christ and his teachings, wouldn’t they paint him to look like themselves? No offense intended, but WHY would they (considering their own skewed midsets) paint Jesus to look like an outsider? The Middle Ages, Crusades, and Roman Catholic Church are all real screwed up when it comes to Christianity. If the catholic church is all about money, doesn’t it seem like you would get more believers (more money) if you’ve got a “damn sexy” guy on that painting, instead of the darker, black haired ‘weirdo’? You’ve learned about it. you know what I mean.
B) Is Jesus the One?? There is documented evidence that Jesus is God’s Son through over 300 prophecies written down hundreds of years before he was born. BEAR WITH ME HERE….
1) it was prophesied that He would be of the “seed of a woman” not that of a man. [therefore, virgin Mary] (Genesis 3:15, Galations 4:4)
2)He would be of the lineage of Shem (Genesis 9&10)
3) He would be a descendant of Abraham (Genesis 22:18, Galations 3:16)
4) ” ” of the line of Isaac (Gen. 21:12, Luke 3:23, 24)
5) ” ” of the line of Jacob (Numbers 24:17, Luke 3:23-34)
6) ” ” of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10, Luke 3:23-33)
7) ” ” family of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1, Luke 3:23-32)
8) ” ” of the house of David (Jeremiah 23:5, Luke 3:23-31)
9) He would be crucified (psalm 22:14-18, Luke 23:33)
10)he would be betrayed by a friend (psalms 41:9, Matthew 10:4)
11) he would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1)
* * *
The chances of just eight of these prophecies being fulfilled in one person is 1 in 10 to the 17th power. Thats 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. And there were over 300 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is The One.
Now, if you’ve stayed with me, if the message hasn’t just cut off completely because its too long, or if you’re not asleep, I’m really proud of you and I thank you for listening to me preach. But thats what I believe.
I already dealt with part A in Jesus’ Appeal Annotated.
1) Where did you find “seed of a woman” in Genesis 3.15? This is God talking to the serpent. Galatians, meanwhile, was written after Jesus’ birth. It is in the New Testament.
2) I read Genesis 9 & 10, and I did not find any prophecies about the Messiah. Even if I accept your proposition, I must remind you that supposedly all the peoples of Earth came from the 3 sons of Noah. What’s so special about 1/3?
3) What does Genesis 22:18 have to do with Jesus? Even if you look at the passage in Galatians… The rest of that prophecy is not true. When did Jesus posess the gates of his enemies and become as numerous as the stars?
4) Again, no mention of the Messiah in the Genesis passage.
5) “… and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the borderlands of Moab, and the territory of all the Shethites” Numbers 24.17. Woah! I totally missed that one in the Gospels!
6) Did you read Genesis 49.10?! “The scepter shall not depart from judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obediance of the peoples is his.” Am I missing something?
7) Hm… absence of mention of Jesus… I see “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”
8) Perhaps you can make a metaphorical argument that Jesus fulfills this prophecy, but let’s look ahead one verse: “In his days Judah will be saved… and Israel will live in safety…” Jeremiah 23.6. Euh… nope, not Jesus.
9) All very fine, but no mention of crucifixion in Psalm 22.14-18.
10) No arguments here. I’m not sure if the Psalm is an actual prophecy. However, being betrayed by a friend isn’t so uncommon an act to support your statistics.
11) Yet, Micah 5:2 says, “But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah” [emphasis mine]. Check out: http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/proph/long.html.
Getting back to the lineage of Jesus, you skipped the mention of the descendants between David and Joseph. Maybe because there’s a huge discrepancy between Luke and Matthew? One more thing about that lineage you use so much from Luke: “… He was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of…” Luke 3.23 [emphasis mine].
So, 1 in 10 to the 17th power? Wow, that number seems a bit… arbitrary. Do you have any evidence to back up your claim, as the numbers relate to the “prophecies”?
Moreover, the Gospel of Matthew was specifically written to try to fulfill the prophecies in order to convince other Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. Not that this was written after Jesus’ death, and based largely on the Gospel of Mark. Don’t you think this would make it just a little bit biased?