CASE STUDY: THE BIBLE
CODE
By Tina Wong and Jon Chung
SUMMARY:
· The original Hebrew texts of the old testament are inputted into a computer, omitting all punctuation and spacing
· Using Equidistant Letter Sequences (ELS), the computer looks for letters/words by looking at every nth letter
· Some believed that the messages were encoded by God with a time lock (code couldn’t be cracked until computers were invented)
· Skeptics say that one can find words/phrases in any text that is large enough because n is nonspecific (can be 1, 1 000 000 or any other whole number)
· This theory was proved when predictions of assassinations were found in Moby Dick
· Odds:
· Bible code promoters say it is 3 000 : 1 or higher
· This conclusion is flawed because it is based on the assumption that there is only one possible match. The computer greatly increased your chances of getting a match.
EFFECTS:
Short term |
Long term |
|
§ it made Mr. Drosnin a ton of money because his book did reach the top 3 best seller list |
§ created a lot of conflict between religious groups and scientist § if this idea really did take off and was not proven wrong then it could have made a lot of conversions within the non believers into believers of God § this could have also made a greater gap between science and religion, since science cant really prove the codes in the Bible |
ANALYSIS:
· The main idea makes sense, but they are mostly predictions and not actual truths
· So far the events that they have encoded are only about the past. At first the book seemed very true.
· This code seems to be the effect of man trying to decipher something that is not really explainable (the bible) which has been a very mysterious text.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
_ What are your thoughts on the Bible Code? Do you think it is a divine message or a mathematical fluke? Why?
_ What would your thoughts be of the bible be if the code was proven to be true, and gave facts on the future? What would you think about God?
_ Do you think the code was meant to be found? Why or why not?
_ What purpose might the code serve? Why?
_ Any other questions you can think of
Drosnin, Michael. The Bible Code.
http://www.csicop.org/si/9711/bible-code.html
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9706/04/israel.bible/drosninlog.html
http://skepdic.com/bibcode.