Science and the Bible
S en v c f
“Every day of my life ¿s I min ister, I thank God for Talbot T h e o l o g i c a l Seminary which academically and spiritually equipped me with both a
T he present writer has compiled a list o f 89 prqphecies in the Old Testament which were fulfilled in Christ. There may be more, and of course there are still others to be fulfilled in the future. I f we knew the chances o f the in dividual prophecies being fulfilled by an imposter, it would be a simple matter to calculate the probability o f all o f them being fulfilled by an imposter (merely by multiplying to gether the individual probabilities with the use of logarithms). The re sult would be so ridiculously small that it would seem everyone would be convinced that these prophecies could only have been fulfilled by the real Messiah, or the Christ. Since it is not possible to obtain accurate figures for the probability o f the fulfillment o f the individual prophecies by an imposter, we may substitute a figure which is admit tedly low on the average. This gives us a low estimate fo r the total. Tak ing one half as an estimate, an equal chance o f a prophecy being fulfilled or not fulfilled, seems to favor an imposter, compared with the actual strong unlikelihood o f some o f the fulfillments coming to pass. Then the chance o f all 89 o f the prophecies being fulfilled is equivalent to the chance that a blindfolded person would pick out a certain bean which had been thoroughly mixed in a mass o f beans that would cover the entire land mass o f the earth to a depth of about one thousand miles. A rabbi in England named Hugh Schonfield has recently written a book that has become quite popular and which one reviewer says “ may well be the most important book pub lished this decade.” The book is called The Passover Plot, and the au thor maintains that Jesus was not the Messiah, or Christ (see I John 2 :22 ), but a man who cleverly con trived to have the Messianic prophe cies fulfilled in Himself. Schonfield thinks that Jesus ar ranged with Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, to have an ass ready at a designated place fo r the
triumphant entry into Jerusalem. The words exchanged between the disciples who obtained the beast and the men standing by was a pre arranged sign to make sure the right party got the animal. He thinks that by very carefully and skillfully tim ing His actions, Jesus forced the au thorities to arrest and condemn Him at just the right time so that He would be on the cross for only a few hours (due to a sabbath) instead o f the usual several days. But surely, one would think, a man who had contrived all this would have no control o f the prophecy that not a bone o f Him would be broken, while bones o f the others crucified at the same time were broken before the bodies were removed. But the author believes this was taken into consideration in the plot. When Jesus said, “ I thirst,” this was the signal for an unidentified confed erate to administer a drugged drink on a sponge. The drug quickly brought about the symptoms of death. As soon as possible, Jesus was to be revived by unidentified aides. But the most carefully laid plans o f men may go amiss. The guard at the tomb would have frustrated this plot, and it also would spoil Schon- field’s plot. He denies that there was a guard. The unforseen event which prevented the consummation o f the plot as planned was the thrust o f the spear o f the Roman soldier into Jesus’ side. According to Schonfield, Jesus died, and His place was taken by someone else, probably the man who administered the drug at the cruci fixion, who was prepared to play this role in this eventuality. He stole the body and then persuaded Mary Mag dalene and others that he was the risen Jesus. Schonfield does not men tion how the doubting Thomas was convinced. Also he does not mention the prophecy in the 9th chapter of Daniel which foretells the time o f the Messiah’s appearing. Christians will find other flaws in this fanciful tale, but it will encourage the rapidly in creasing trend toward apostasy and it will be used by the anti-Christians.
Rev. MacArthur consistent, well — defined theo logical frame of reference and a carefully planned system for interpreting God's Word. My days at Talbot were the most significant of my life.“
Rev. John MacArthur MacArthur Memorial Bible Church Burbank, California
SERVE
TRAIN
$ 1 6 0 0 CONTEST for WRITERS OF UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS. Send for contest rules and free Brochure on pub* lishing your book. Dept. |(3 Pageant Press, 101 Fifth Avenue, New York 3 A TT E N T IO N : CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, A LL ORGAN IZATIONS • Excellent Profits • Little Effort • Effective Results T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R Y Offering B.D., Th.M. and M.R.E. degrees 13800 Biola Ave., La Mirada, Cal. Charles L Feinberg • Dean, Th.D., Ph.D.
• Does Usuel Task's Bettei SELL SUNFLOWER DISH CLOTHS to Build Clubs, Churches, Help Needy, etc, Write SANGAMON MILLS, Inc. COHOES, NEW YORK 12047
and Pakistan Christian Fellowship CAMPS for young Nationals. COUNSELING University Students. CORRESPONDENCE BIBLE SCHOOLS in the vernacular.
Member I.F.M.A.. Write for Free Literature 107-K North Hale Street, Wheaton, III. 60187
TH E CONVERSION CENTER A soul-winning mission to Roman Catholic priests, nuns and people. 500 million Roman Catholics lost without love, trapped by traditions, paralyzed by popery, deceived by the Devil. 47,000 priests, 138,000 nuns dedicated to “ MAKE AMER ICA CATHOLIC.** Will you help keep America free to evangelize tne world? Pray, give, write for soul-winning material. 18 W . Eaglo Rd., Hovertown, Pennsylvania
30
THE KING'S BUSINESS
Made with FlippingBook HTML5