Thursday, March 27, 2003

HOW NOT TO READ THE BIBLE 101

If the Bible has ever seemed difficult to grasp to you, a new book has been released that demonstrates very clearly how not to read Scripture. I'm sure Don Christie the author of Actual Proof of My Existence signed: God of the Bible means well in his attempt to 'prove' the existence of God, but in so doing gives a clinic in bad hermeneutics:
The book shows that all of the ‘major events’ of the 20th century from the years (1900 – 2003) and beyond, are found in the ‘Psalm number’ that is the same year of the ‘event’. The Psalms are the 19th book of the Bible so Psalm 46 becomes 1946. Here are a few samples: Psalm 46:9 says “He makes wars to cease” and we all know that 1946 is the first full year after World War II; this is even verse 9 and September 2, 1945 (9th month) is one year later, exactly when the surrender was signed with Japan. Another incredible Psalm is Psalm 87. In 1987 Saddam Hussein restored the old Babylonian empire (by rebuilding all of the palaces) and hosted a really big party for a month with bands and musicians from all over the world; it was predicted in Psalm 87:4 “I will make mention of Rahab and (Babylon) to them that know me: behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there.” Psalm 87:7 “As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in thee.” There are over 20 of these Psalms that clearly predict all of the major events of the 20th century. More events are the Titanic, the Depression, Attack on Pearl Harbor, World War II, the Y2K problem, and on and on. It gets really interesting for the years: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010, and beyond!

So reads the press release touting the book. Of course works like this ultimately do more harm than good. Every generation seems to find prophetic words that deal very specifically with current newspaper headlines.

Yes, God does exist. Yes, there is 'proof'. No, He didn't use the Bible to predict World War II or the Internet.

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