THE MATHEMATICAL SIGNATURE OF GOD IN THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE [INCREDIBLE PROOF]

BOOK THE SIGNATURE OF GOD: Documented Evidence That Proves Beyond Doubt the Bible Is the Inspired... ^ | 1998 | GRANT R JEFFERY

[Quix]

NOTE: If I know anything about the rabid naysayers on FR, at least some of the RELIGIOUS [vs spiritual] types will wail and rant that ANYTHING having to do with numbers and The Bible has to be crossing the line into dealing with Biblically forbidden NUMEROLOGY. This is nonsense. The dictionary definition of “numerology” makes clear that numerology is the study of numbers, as the figures designating the year of one’s birth, “to determine their supposed influence on one’s life, future, etc.” [Quix color, bold emphasis on the definition from:

HERE: http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0562554.html

Clearly, the Biblically prohibited issue is INTEREST IN, TRUST IN, FASCINATION IN, FAITH IN A SUPERNATURAL OCCULTIC CONNECTION, PHENOMENA OR DYNAMIC rather than Faith in God.

Please note also, I didn’t go back and insert the italics codes for the rather many italicized words. Sorry. Have other priorities today, too. As usual, the color bolded is my emphasis.

CHAPTER 12 excerpt for fair use discussion from

The Signature of God

By Grant R Jeffery

The Book has many chapters of impressive study and research including photos from Sinai Peninsula re Moses’ led crossing at the EXODUS etc. I encourage people to buy and read the whole book. It’s well worth the time. NOTE: Jeffrey uses Hebrew Letters in the text. I’ve forgotten my Hebrew alphabet and certainly don’t know how to post them. If someone can clue me in (listing the Hebrew alphabet with the letter’s names in English letters—as well as how to post the Hebrew), I’ll see what I can do, later.

The Mathematical Signature of God in the Words of Scripture

The Scriptures reveal God as the great mathematician who knows the smallest detail of His creation, and measures and numbers all things. This character of God is consistent with the revealed phenomenon of staggering complexity involving mathematical patterns within the text of the Scriptures. The Bible declares that God is so concerned with the details of His children's lives that He has numbered the hairs on our head. "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30). The prophet Isaiah speaks of His majesty and His concern for numbering and measuring all things [paragraphing added by Quix]:

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?" (Isaiah 40:12, NKjv). When you consider the Bible's declaration that God "measured the waters," "measured heaven with a span," and "calculated the dust of the earth in a measure," it does not seem unusual or out of character that this same Almighty God would inspire His writers to record His precise message to mankind in the Scriptures with a mathematical precision within the original text that surpasses our ability to understand fully.

Evidence of Divine Authorship of the Old Testament

Ivan Panin was one of the most remarkable Christians to live in this century. Almost one hundred years ago, this fascinating and famous mathematician left Russia to settle eventually in Canada in the town of Aldershot, Ontario, not far from where I live. Although he was a committed atheist in his early years, he discovered the reality of Jesus Christ later. In 1890, Panin embarked on an exciting journey of scientific exploration of the text of the Bible that would prove that the Bible is truly the inspired Word of God. This century has witnessed a progressive abandonment of the doctrine of verbal inspiration of the Scriptures by many biblical scholars and religious leaders. As the leaders of many mainline churches succumbed to the continuous assaults on fundamental doctrines and the authority of Scripture, many Christian laymen began to lose their confidence that they could absolutely trust that the Bible was truly the inspired Word of God. As Ivan Panin wrote, "In the early centuries Christianity suffered most from its avowed enemies; in the last, from its professed friends."

Panin completed an astonishing study during the ^•'course of fifty years that revealed the most amazing mathematical pattern beneath the surface layer of the text of the Bible. He worked diligently up to eighteen hours a day for half a century to illustrate the divine inspiration and authority of Scripture. As one small example, Panin discovered that the first verse of the Book of Genesis contains an astonishing number of mathematical patterns that illustrate divine inspiration. “ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

The phenomenon of these mathematical patterns cannot be understood until we realize that the Bible was composed in alpha-numeric languages—Hebrew and Greek. These ancient languages did not possess Arabic numbers to express numeric data. Therefore, these languages used various letters of their alphabet to express numbers such as " 1,2,3," etc. In addition, a small portion of the Bible was written in Aramaic, which is also alpha-numeric. Each letter in these languages stood for a number. -In other words, each of the letters expressed both a letter and a number. When they wished to express a number, such as 22, they would choose two Hebrew letters—one letter [HEBREW LTR] stood for 20 and the second letter [HEBREW LTR] stood for 2.

The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet stood for 1, the second for 2, the third for 3, etc. When we come to the eleventh letter, it represented 20, the twelfth stood for 30, etc., all the way through to 800. Because each letter had a numeric value, every word can be given a numeric value by adding up the total value of each of the individual letters. In addition, every one of the Hebrew and Greek letters was given a place value as well. To help illustrate this phenomenon let's apply this system to the English language. It would look like this:

An Example Illustrated in the English Language

PLACE VALUE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 30 40 50 60

NUMERIC VALUE

The Hebrew Language

PLACE VALUE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

[FIRST 15 HEBREW LETTERS]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 30 40 50 60

NUMERIC VALUE

Note that in the above example using the English alphabet the first ten letters have the same place values and numeric values. However, when we get to the eleventh letter K, the numeric value begins to increase by ten with each additional letter until we reach the value of 100. From that point in the alphabet forward the numeric value of each letter will increase by 100.

Every single word in Hebrew contains a series of letters with individual numeric values. For example, the word B'raisheet, "beginning," is expressed in Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew as [HEBREW LETTERS]. If you add up the total value of the individual letters in B'raisheet the numeric value of the word is 913. Since each word has a numeric value, we can add up the value of each of the words in a biblical verse to determine the numerical value of the sentence.

The Astonishing Pattern of SEVENS in Genesis 1:1

Let us begin by examining the first verse of the Bible to explore Panin's discovery.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1)

[Genesis 1:1 in Hebrew]

Ivan Panin carefully examined the Hebrew text of Genesis 1:1 and discovered an incredible phenomenon of multiples of 7 that could not be explained by chance. Genesis 1:1 was composed of 7 Hebrew words containing a 28 letters. Throughout the Bible, the number 7 appears repeatedly as a symbol of divine perfection—the 7 days of creation. God rested on the 7th day, the 7 churches, the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets, etc. In total, Panin discovered 30 separate codes involving the number 7 in this first verse of the Bible.

A Listing of the Phenomenal Features of Sevens Found in Genesis 1:

1. The number of Hebrew words.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
2. The number of letters equals 28 (28-4= 7) . . . . . Seven
3. The first three Hebrew words translated
“In the beginning God created” contain
14 letters (14 / 2 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seven
4. The last four Hebrew words "the heavens
and the earth" have 14 letters (14-2=7) . . . . . . . .Seven
5. The fourth and fifth words have 7 letters . . . . . Seven
6. The sixth and seventh words have 7 letters . . . . .Seven
7. The three key words: God, heaven, and earth have 14 letters (14 / 2 = 7). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seven
8. The number of letters in the four remaining s
words is also 14 (14 / 2 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
9. The middle word is the shortest with 2 letters.
However, in combination with the word to the
Right or left it totals 7 letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seven
10. The numeric value of the first, middle,
(and last letters is 133 (133 / 19 = 7) . . . . . . . .. . . Seven
11. The numeric value of the first and last letters
of all seven words is 1,393 (1,393 - 199 = 7) Seven
When professors on the mathematics faculty at Harvard University were presented with this biblical phenomenon, they naturally attempted to disprove its significance as a proof of divine authorship. However, after valiant efforts these professors were unable to duplicate this incredible mathematical phenomenon. [QX PARAGRAPHING ADDED HERE]

The Harvard scientists used the English language and artificially assigned numeric values to the English alphabet. They had a potential vocabulary of over 400,000 available English words to choose from to construct a sentence about any topic they chose. [QX paragraphing added here]

Compare this to the limitations of word choices in the biblical Hebrew language, which has only forty-five hundred available word choices that the writers of the Old Testament could use. Despite their advanced mathematical abilities and access to computers the mathematicians were unable to come close to incorporating 30 mathematical multiples of 7 as found in the Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1.

If anyone doubts the difficulty of producing a passage following such an intricate pattern of sevens, I challenge you to try it yourself. I have tried, and it is impossible to complete a paragraph on any topic and remain true to the system of interlocking sevens. I doubt that anyone could complete a paragraph of over one hundred and fifty words following such a pattern of sevens, as found in Genesis 1:1 and Matthew, chapter 1, even if they were to devote several years to the effort. [QX added paragraphing, here].

The problem is that with the addition of every I fit single word and sentence the magnitude of the challenge to integrate the new phrase into the existing pattern grows geometrically. Each word and sentence must fit into the pattern existing within me preceding sentences. [Qx added paragraphing here].

In light of this virtual impossibility we need to remember that the writers of the Bible were forty-four mostly common men who wrote their individual texts separated from one another over a period of sixteen centuries. How could these ordinary men contribute to this hidden pattern without consultation when most of them never met their fellow authors? The only logical explanation is that God directed their minds through supernatural INSPIRATION TO WRITE His precise inspired words.

The number "seven" permeates the totality of Scripture because the number speaks of God's divine perfection and perfect order. The actual number 7 appears 287 times in the Old Testament (287 - 41 = 7) while the word seventh occurs 98 times (98 - 14 = 7). The word seven-fold appearst seven times. In addition, the word seventy is used 56 times • (56 / 8 = 7).

Panin discovered literally thousands of such mathematical patterns underlying all of the books of the Old Testament before his death in 1942. I refer the interested reader to Panin's book. The Inspiration of the Scriptures Scientifically Demonstrated,

which discusses these phenomena extensively. Panin and others have examined other Hebrew literature and have attempted to find such mathematical patterns, but they are not found anywhere outside the Bible.

Matthew 1:1-17—Evidence of Divine Authorship of the New Testament

Panin also examined the New Testament to discover whether or not the pattern continued. There were four hundred years of silence between the completion of the Old Testament ft around 396 B.C., and the writing of the New Testament following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, when God inspired the New Testament authors, including Matthew, to begin writing the Gospels, He again manifested His signature on the pages of Scripture by creating a marvelously complex pattern of sevens beneath the text of Matthew's Gospel.

The first section in Matthew's account consists of seventeen verses from Matthew 1:1 to 1:17 that describe in•detail one particular subject, the genealogy of Jesus Christ. This seventeen-verse text contains 72 Greek Vocabulary words. A Vocabulary word is a particular word different from any other word that was used in a passage. In other words, a Greek word that appears 6 times in the passage would only be counted as 1 Vocabulary word. Obviously, the number of Vocabulary words will differ from the number of total words appearing in the passage. The same system of numeric and place values for letters exists in the Greek language used in the New Testament as we found in Hebrew of the Old Testament.

A Listing of the Phenomenal Features of Sevens Found in Matthew 1:1-17

1 The total numeric value of the 72 Vocabulary
words is 43,364 (42,364 - 6,052 = 7) . . . . . . . Seven
2 The number of Greek nouns in the passage
IS 56 (56 / 8 = 7)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
3 The Greek article for “the” occurs 56 times
(56 / 8 = 7)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven

In the first eleven verses of Matthew 1:1-11 we find these additional features:

4 The number of Greek vocabulary words is 49
(49 / 7 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
5 Of these 49 words, 28 words begin with a vowel
(28 / 4 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Seven
6 Of these 49 words, 21 begin with a consonant
(21 / 3 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
7 The number of letters in these 49 words equals
266 (266 / 38 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
8 Of these 49 words, 35 words occur more than
one time (35 / 5 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
9 Of these 49 words, 14 words occur only one time
(14 / 2 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
10 The number of proper nouns is 35 (35/5=7) . . . . Seven
11 The number of times these proper nouns occur
is 63 (63 / 9 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
12 Of the 35 proper nouns, the number of
male names is 28 (28 / 4 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
13. Three women, Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, are named
in this section. The number of Greek letters in
these three names is 7 (14 / 2 = 7) . . . . . . . . . Seven
Only a few of the numerical features that are found in this passage are listed in this analysis by Ivan Panin.

However, these features reveal an underlying profound mathematical design that reveals the signature of the true author of both the New Testament and the Old Testament— God Himself. However, to illustrate that this is not an unusual phenomenon occurring only in this one isolated passage, I will list some additional mathematical features that occur in the balance of Matthew 1:18-25 and describe the birth of Jesus Christ. In this seven-verse section God has placed an astonishing pattern of SEVENS that verify the signature of the original author.

The Pattern of SEVENS in Matthew 1:18-25—The History of Christ's Birth

1. The number of letters in the seven word
passage is 161 (161 -23=7) . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
2. The number of Vocabulary words is 77
. . . . (77-11=7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
3. Six Greek words occur only in this passage
. . . . . and never again in Matthew. These six
. . . . . .Greek words contain precisely 56 letters
. . . . . (56 - 8 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
4. The number of distinct proper nouns in
. . . . . the passage is 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
5. The number of Greek letters in these seven
. . . . . .proper nouns is 42 (42 - 6 = 7) . . . . . . . . Seven
6. The number of words spoken by the angel to
. . . . . . Joseph is 28 (28 - 4 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seven
7. The number of Greek forms of words used in
. . . . . . this passage is 161 (161 - 23 = 7) . . . . . . . Seven
8. The number of Greek forms of words in the
. . . . . angel’s speech is 35 (35 / 5 = 7) . . . . . . . . . Seven
9. The number of letters in the angel's 35 forms
. . . . . of words is 168 (168 / 24 = 7) . . . . . . . . . . . Seven

This phenomenal discovery by Panin has been examined by numerous authorities and the figures have been verified. In total, Panin accumulated over forty thousand pages of detailed calculations covering most of the text of the Bible before his death. [Qx added paragraphing here]

These incredible, mathematical patterns are not limited to the number seven. There are numerous other patterns. These amazing patterns appear in the vocabulary, grammatical forms, parts of speech, and particular forms of words. They occur throughout the whole text of the Bible containing 31,173 verses. When you consider the amazing details of this mathematical phenomenon you realize that the change of a single letter or word in the original languages of Hebrew or Greek would destroy the pattern. Now we can understand why Jesus Christ declared that the smallest letter and grammatical mark of the Scriptures were preserved by God's hand: "For verily I say unto you. Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” Matthew 5:18)

Naturally, the religious skeptics did not abandon their atheism in response to these incredible discoveries by Ivan Panin that revealed a staggering pattern of complexity hidden beneath the text of Scripture. After many skeptics had dismissed his research, Ivan Panin issued a public challenge through one of the major newspapers of the day, the New York Sun, in a letter to the editor on November 20, 1899, offering his detractors an opportunity to prove his research wrong if they could. [Qx added paragraphing here].

Panin issued his public challenge to some of the greatest atheist scholars of the day. "I herewith respectfully invite any or all of the following to prove that my facts are not facts: namely Messrs. Lyman Abbott, Washington Gladden, Herber Newton, Minot J. Savage, Presidents Eliot of Harvard, White of Cornell, and Harper of the University of Chicago, Professor J. Henry Thayer of Harvard, and Dr. Briggs, and any other prominent higher critic so called. They may associate with themselves, if they choose, all the contributors to the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, who wrote its articles on Biblical subjects, together with a dozen mathematicians of the caliber of Professor Simon Newcomb. [Qx added paragraphing here]

The heavier the calibre of either scholar or mathematician, the more satisfactory to ft me. They will find that my facts are facts. And since they are facts, I am ready to take them to any three prominent lawyers, or, better still, to any judge of the superior or supreme court, and abide by his decision as to whether the conclusion is not necessary that Inspiration alone can account for the facts, if they are facts. All I should ask would be that the judge treat the case as he would any other case that comes before him."

Despite his public challenge in the New York Sun, not one of these prominent men attempted to refute Mr. Panin's undeniable facts or to deal with the unavoidable conclusion that the evidence produced by Panin proved that the Bible was truly inspired by a divine intelligence. The critics could not refute these facts. The only thing they could do was to ignore them. [Qx added paragraphing here]

Were Mr. Panin's research and calculations wrong? If so, where? If they were correct, and if they are, then the evidence exists for all to see that God did truly inspire the words of Scripture. One of Panin's last challenges consisted of this argument. He wrote to his ''detractors: "Lastly, my argument can also be refuted by showing that even though my facts be true, my arithmetic faultless, and my collocation of numerics honest, that men could have written thus without inspiration from above."

However, any honest attempt to create a paragraph on any subject that will contain this astonishing pattern of mathematical features within the surface text will utterly fail. I doubt that even a modern Cray super-computer could produce a passage containing the "wheels within wheels" pattern of sevens as revealed in Genesis 1:1 or Matthew 1:1-25.

To date, no one has succeeded in duplicating the phenomenon produced by the biblical writers in ancient times.

What was Panin’s own view of the Scriptures after a lifetime of diligent study? He wrote the following statement in one of his essays after warning of the limitations of wisdom found in secular philosophy. "Not so, however, with The Book. For it tells of One who spake as men never spake, who was the true bread of life, that which cometh down from the heavens, of which if a man eat he shall never hunger." Ivan Panin's conclusion of the matter was the following challlenge.

"My friend of the world, whoso you are: Either Jesus Christ is mistaken or you are. The answer that neither might be is only evading the issue, not settling it. But the ages have decided that Jesus Christ was not mistaken. It is for you to decide whether you shall continue to be."

QX: AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!

PTL!

[Quix]

i THINK

Most of the so called Codes spread about are artifacts of man.

NOT ALL of them.

As I'd think you'd know.

[Starwind]

It seems that using non-biblical literature would provide a baseline against which one could compare biblical literature with this methodology of "signature search."

Results obtained from non-biblical literature would merely confirm it as non-biblical and sets an artifically low bar for a test of 'divinely inspired' (as opposed to a concordance or commentary for example) biblical literature to meet. The only divinely inspired biblical literature I know of, is the bible.

We already know the bible contains many instances of '7', '40', '1000' for example, whereas non-biblical literature does not have that same proportion. If something non-biblical were then used as part of a 'control' sample, it's lack of occurrances of instances of '7', '40', '1000' would by contrast make such instances in the bible stand out more, when we know they are normal and not hidden.

Those instances of '7', '40', '1000' in the bible are there in plain text by God's inspired writing, not secretly hidden in the text letter sequences and man's chapter/verse boundaries. But a flawed control having no instances of '7', '40', '1000' would leave the impression of the bible being encoded in ways God did not encode it.

Did that make sense?

The bible is unique and we must be careful how we compare it to other literature, especially if the purpse of our comparison is to form conclusions about how God wrote the bible.

[Quix]

I think there's a flaw in your reasoning etc. But I'm not about to ferret it out at this hour or soon.

But say you're right. Fine. Get a bunch of commentaries by people fascinated with counting things in the Bible and noting such surface stuff.

Analyze those texts. They ought to have enough surface such stuff to satisfy you as it being more reasonably equal.

I think the study presented contended that the differences were so many orders of magnitude that any fantasies of comparison--regardless--were laughable.

[Starwind]

I think the study presented contended that the differences were so many orders of magnitude that any fantasies of comparison--regardless--were laughable.

You've misunderstood my point to xzins, which was one cannot do such comparisons (of the type discused herein) between the bible and non-biblical literature because the bible is unique in regards to finding God's signature.

It's like comparing the only apple to a world of other fruit. Regardless of how much other fruit you test, those tests tell you nothing valid about the one and only apple, other than they're obviously not apples and the apple isn't like them - but we knew that already.

I was arguing against extra-biblical comparision and arguing in favor of exclusively intra-biblical comparisons, like my example with John 1:1-17, which you didn't like because you already knew it wouldn't turn out the same - which was my earlier point.

When man artifically cherry-picks the 'signature' and does not consistently look for the same signature in other portions of the bible, not surprisingly, the 'test for a signature' stands up only in the one place it has been applied. (duh)

[Baraonda]

"It's amazing that you seem remotely comfortable with that pattern."

Off the top of my head, here's a pattern for you:

16 2 3 13
5 11 10 8
9 7 6 12
4 14 15 1

It's a 4x4 matrix.

Note the following properties:

.Each row adds to 34
.each column adds to 34
.each diagonal adds to 34
.The four corner squares add to 34
.The top left 4 squares add to 34
.The top right 4 squares add to, you guessed it, 34
.The lower left 4 squares add to, again, to 34
.The lower right 4 squares add to, as by magic, to 34
.The middle 4 squares add to 34
.The middle 2 squares of the 1st col + the middle 2 squares of the last col =34
.The middle two squares of the top row + the middle 2 squares of the bottom row = 34
.The first two squares of the 1st col + the first two squares of the last col = 34 ETC

And, 3 + 4 = 7.

The 6X6 matrix has more properties. Multiples of 6 and 4 have even more properties.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for the ping!

I don't have much use for the commercialization of the original theory of equidistant letter sequencing, the article which was published in a peer reviewed math journal. The original article was quite engaging however.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Thanks Quix will have to get ith you tomorrow. I stll have family here. I had seen this before and found it very intersting. There is much more to it thm just what you have posted.

Thanks again for the ping.

[stands2reason]

I guess the control of other texts means nothing to you.

No.

Perhaps you could prove your perspective with Scripture matching the protocol in the doc?

I don't know what you're saying here. My perspective? My perspective is that this "proof" is lacking.

I suppose you are far sharper than the experts consulted and challenged?

Sharper? Not necessarily. More skeptical? Most definitely.

Again, don't expect people to take a proof on faith.

[Revelation 911]

Im not so sure why my 42 got zapped

Apologies to all if it offended anyone

[xzins]

Thank you, AG.

I was interested in your take on this.

I'm no mathematician, and I haven't kept up with this.

To what extent do you find it valuable, and where does it go astray?

[xzins]

Yes, it made sense.

We'd have to control for overt appearances of those numbers because they are regularly used.

A reference to "12" tribes or apostles; a reference to "7" churches or deacons....those we'd have to agree didn't count.

If we were to take a random passage from "Job" or from "Romans," I think we'd have a fair baseline....maybe.

Your thoughts?

[RnMomof7]

The Bible Codes are scoffed at by many ignorant folks who have not investigated the latest criteria etc. for valid codes nor even the whole principles behind them. I don't think God is ready to use them to show some astounding stuff but what has surfaced has been pretty incredible when all the facts are looked at closely enough

What version of the bible are they built on?

It just amazes me that people that do not read the bible now want to search for secret meanings and knowledge like Gnosticism

[bornacatholic]

The number "seven" permeates the totality of Scripture because the number speaks of God's divine perfection and perfect order.

*Six is also a number of perfection.

City of God St. Augustine. Book X1, Chap. 30

Chapter 30.

-Of the Perfection of the Number Six, Which is the First of the Numbers Which is Composed of Its Aliquot Parts.

These works are recorded to have been completed in six days (the same day being six times repeated), because six is a perfect number,-not because God required a protracted time, as if He could not at once create all things, which then should mark the course of time by the movements proper to them, but because the perfection of the works was signified by the number six. For the number six is the first which is made up of its own57 parts, i.e., of its sixth, third, and half, which are respectively one, two, and three, and which make a total of six. In this way of looking at a number, those are said to be its parts which exactly divide it, as a half, a third, a fourth, or a fraction with any denominator,e.g., four is a part of nine, but not therefore an aliquot part; but one is, for it is the ninth part; and three is, for it is the third. Yet these two parts, the ninth and the third, or one and three, are far from making its whole sum of nine. So again, in the number ten, four is a part, yet does not divide it; but one is an aliquot part, for it is a tenth; so it has a fifth, which is two; and a half, which is five. But these three parts, a tenth, a fifth, and a half, or one, two, and five, added together, do not make ten, but eight. Of the number twelve, again, the parts added together exceed the whole; for it has a twelfth, that is, one; a sixth, or two; a fourth, which is three; a third, which is four; and a half, which is six. But one, two, three, four, and six make up, not twelve, but more, viz., sixteen. So much I have thought fit to state for the sake of illustrating the perfection of the number six, which is, as I said, the first which is exactly made up of its own parts added together; and in this number of days God finished His work.58 And, therefore, we must not despise the science of numbers, which, in many passages of holy Scripture, is found to be of eminent service to the careful interpreter.59 Neither has it been without reason numbered among God's praises, "Thou hast ordered all things in number, and measure, and weight."60

[Starwind]

What I described with the 7, 40, 1000 (and now 12) etc was an example of why extra-biblical comparisons skew the results (tend to give a false-positive signature indication) - ie an example of what not to do.

IMO, what to do, is to decide (lol) where God's signature is to be found; in the words & letters, or in only the text attributed to God speaking, or in pronouns and verbs only, etc., and what that signature might look like.

Then apply that test of what it looks like in every place it ought to appear, and let the 'signature theory' live or die on those results. We don't tweak special-case signatures for different parts of the bible - unless we believe God tweaks His signature everywhere. So, the criteria for a 'signature of God' is defined and vetted, consistently, intra-biblically.

If the theory bears out, and a 'signature' seemingly is found consistently at least everywhere we expect it, then apply the same test extra-biblically to presumably show the test failing extra-biblically - because we assume God didn't 'sign' extra-biblical texts. If we find God's signature extra-biblically, then it probably wasn't God's signature in the first place, even in the bible, and we go back to the drawing board.

Note the distinction here is the criteria is first defined and vetted in the bible only. What may or may not exist elsewhere does not 'taint' the definition of the criteria as it is being developed. And then only successful signature theories are further tested for confirmation (anticipating true-negatives) against extra-biblical writings.

IMO, the real signature of God is actually found in His prophecies.

God's signature of authenticity is in His foreknowledge revealed in a prophetic passage. Only God has such foreknowledge and only God can ensure the revelations are given consistently to many people across centuries of time. Note how *none* of that could possibly be of man, even though the divine dictation was taken by man, ie man can't forge (or falsely detect) such a 'signature'.

We can test fulfilled prophecies to see if they come true (they do). We can test unfulfilled prophecies to see that they must yet be future (they are). We can apply these tests to every prophecy in the bible (consistently), and compare them against the historical record (we have).

We can then check extra-biblical writings to see if they likewise come true. Almost all extra-biblical writings lack prophetic passages, and those that have them generally fail to come true, or are so vague as to be untestable (no signature).

Ergo, God's bible is authentic. His signature being in His prophecies, and His signature (and prophecies) being found nowhere else.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for your reply!

To what extent do you find it valuable, and where does it go astray?

I find the original study which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Statistical Science in 1994 to be very engaging. Here is the article as it was originally published: StatSci-Equidistant Letter Sequences in the Book of Genesis

And here is the home page to that website which explains the history of the research, the contention and the response.

IMHO, it has gone astray because of the commercialization. People are profoundly interested in being able to predict the future – crystal balls, Jane Dixon, horoscopes, etc. But the point of the ELS is not to predict the future but to reveal the authenticity of the Torah by looking at the past. For instance, ELS queries of specific rabbis leads to their birth date and date of death. ELS queries of important historical events reveal the players, etc.

I read somewhere that the mathematicians were outraged at the commercialization because the Torah expressly speaks against such sooth-saying – that it is against God’s will and thus will not lead to fruition anyway. Nevertheless, the book The Bible Code became a top-seller as did the various related books and software by other authors.

Isaac Newton evidently believed the Scriptures contained a code which unlocks the secrets of the universe. Certainly, the Jewish tradition believed the same. And thanks to modern computer technology they have revealed as much in the ELS of the book of Genesis in 2 dimensions. The researchers (I understand) wish to expand this to the whole Pentateuch and higher dimensions.

And speaking of the Pentateuch and Scriptures – there is another mathematical structure within the Scriptures – including the New Testament – which also speaks to divine authorship. Freeper Seven_0 brought the information to the Standing in Awe thread. Here is an excerpt:

The scripture divides into five pentateuchs, Five in scripture divides into 4+1, so there are four in the old testament and one in the new testament. Each of the pentateuchs further divides into 4+1 as do Paul's two pentateuchs.

Each pentateuch has the same basic structure. I will make a few comparisons for you since time is short. Once you see a few you will find they are endless, you can always find more. In fact it has turned out to be a wonderful mnemonic, as I have organized the scripture in my mind.

Compare Exodus with Acts, each is a number two. in the first you see the natural man leaving Egypt. in the second you see the spiritual man leaving the city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.

Look at Deuteronomy and Revelation, each a number five. In the first you see the natural man about to recieve the Earthly inheritance, in the second, you see the spiritual man about to recieve the spiritual inheritance.

There is a parallel between "Ezra, Nehemiah, and Ester" and "Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi," all books of the captivity.

[xzins]

Thank you for your time and insights, AG. You have again been helpful.

You are saying that as a separate study (within the parameters of valid statistical research) that ELS can be engaging and should be pursued.

You appear to be suggesting with the commercialization that ELS has gone after the sensational and left any rigid standards to which statistical research might have subjected it.

Do I have that correct?

Also, I saw the 5's discussion on the "standing in awe" thread and appreciated it at that time. I wonder if Seven_0 has any comments on this subject?

[Quix]

imho,

the scholars at BIBLECODESDIGEST.COM

have overcome that problem. They are a nonprofit group working on it as a personal interest, passion and ministry.

The standards that they are evolving took a big jump with the last parallel comparison between WAR AND PEACE in HEBREW and the Scriptures.

They are in working dialogue with the best Israeli researchers as well as those in this country.

Most of the naysaying I've seen is very behind the times and usually more blind and biased than informed.

[xzins]

My concern is integritous research and a regard for truth no matter where or how it might be revealed.

I have no bias toward, nor prejudice against this subject. (I also have very little information on it.)

I repeat that this is a matter in which some might become interested, but that it is not a central issue to our Christian faith. Therefore, some will be more interested in it (as an avocation?) than others.

Everyone on all sides should be patient.

[FourtySeven]

The incredible mind reader doesn't work for the number 66.

I picked 66, which meant the number I had to "look at and concentrate on" was 54 right? The crystal ball didn't return 54's symbol for 3 times I tried it.

It seems to work for other numbers though.