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Who Wrote the Bible Code? A Physicist Probes the Current Controversy
What is the truth about the Bible code? How can you decide what to believe? Why does it matter? Around the world, men and women are captivated by a theory so incredible that, if proven true, it would forever revolutionize mankind’s view of Scripture. Some experts have claimed the Bible contains a code that accurately predicts today’s events. Others renounce the Bible code theory as unfounded.
Using a new statistical test that promises to provide an authoritative, credible answer to the Bible code debate, computational physicist Dr. Randall Ingermanson leads you on an easily understandable, meticulously planned investigation of the evidence at hand–addressing the most urgent questions surrounding the Bible code controversy and carefully examining how recent findings could affect your faith.
Using a new statistical test that promises to provide an authoritative, credible answer to the Bible code debate, computational physicist Dr. Randall Ingermanson leads you on an easily understandable, meticulously planned investigation of the evidence at hand–addressing the most urgent questions surrounding the Bible code controversy and carefully examining how recent findings could affect your faith.
- GenresReligion
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 17, 1999
26 people want to read
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Randall Ingermanson
10 books14 followersSee also R.S. Ingermanson and Randy Ingermanson
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 6, 2024
A CRITIQUE OF THE "BIBLE CODES" THEORIES
Dr. Randall Ingermanson is "a theoretical physicist with a longstanding interest in computers and the Bible." He has written many other books such as 'Transgression,' 'Double Vision,' etc.
He wrote in the introductory section of this 1999 book, "My purpose... is to answer two questions: Does the Bible really hide some intentionally coded patterns? And, if so, who wrote them?... Yes, it really matters, despite the fact that some of the Bible-code people have gotten rather carried away. It truly matters for two reasons: 1. The Bible code is being touted in some quarters as a 'proof of God's existence'---the ultimate evangelistic tool. 2. Others are using the Bible code as a high-tech Ouija board, finding predictions of imminent disaster or apocalypse. Both approaches are wrongheaded and dangerous, I believe... we can settle the authenticity question using a completely simple new test that I've developed.... Once we've decided whether the Bible code is real or not, we can more easily answer the question of authorship." (Pg. 2-4)
He wrote of the Bible codes methodology, "The selection process has come under intense criticism by a group led by Dr. Brendan McKay... McKey closely questioned a number of decisions made by Professor Havlin that appear to be quite arbitrary. Havlin responded with a lengthy explanation of his decisions in which he points out that he used his best professional judgment to overcome several technical problems. For Professor Barry Simon, an Orthodox Jewish mathematician... that's enough to kill the project... The fatal flaw he sees in the Bible code is that Professor Havlin had to use his judgment to choose the spellings of the names of the rabbis, that that introduces a subjective element." (Pg. 29)
He observes, "Who PREDICTED that the word 'Torah' would be found at a skip of fifty letters, starting with the first word of Genesis? What was the basis for that prediction? The answer is that nobody predicted it explicitly. Instead, somebody made a fuzzy implicit prediction that some interesting word would be found at some skip. (That was a pretty safe prediction. With thousands of possible words and many possible skips, something was bound to turn up.) Then, after finding 'Torah' at a skip of 50, somebody did some sloppy postdiction and calculated the probability of finding exactly that word at exactly that skip. This is a lot like laying an exacta-bet at the racetrack after the race has been run." (Pg. 36)
He concludes, "Grant Jeffrey ['The Mysterious Bible Codes'] means well in promoting the Bible code so heavily. I just don't believe that he's correct. I don't see any evidence for a Bible code in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament." (Pg. 167)
This is an excellent critique of the Bible Codes, that will be of great interest to Christians looking for such critiques (who might also read 'Decoding the Bible Code: Can We Trust the Message?' and 'The Bible Code: Fact of Fake?').
Dr. Randall Ingermanson is "a theoretical physicist with a longstanding interest in computers and the Bible." He has written many other books such as 'Transgression,' 'Double Vision,' etc.
He wrote in the introductory section of this 1999 book, "My purpose... is to answer two questions: Does the Bible really hide some intentionally coded patterns? And, if so, who wrote them?... Yes, it really matters, despite the fact that some of the Bible-code people have gotten rather carried away. It truly matters for two reasons: 1. The Bible code is being touted in some quarters as a 'proof of God's existence'---the ultimate evangelistic tool. 2. Others are using the Bible code as a high-tech Ouija board, finding predictions of imminent disaster or apocalypse. Both approaches are wrongheaded and dangerous, I believe... we can settle the authenticity question using a completely simple new test that I've developed.... Once we've decided whether the Bible code is real or not, we can more easily answer the question of authorship." (Pg. 2-4)
He wrote of the Bible codes methodology, "The selection process has come under intense criticism by a group led by Dr. Brendan McKay... McKey closely questioned a number of decisions made by Professor Havlin that appear to be quite arbitrary. Havlin responded with a lengthy explanation of his decisions in which he points out that he used his best professional judgment to overcome several technical problems. For Professor Barry Simon, an Orthodox Jewish mathematician... that's enough to kill the project... The fatal flaw he sees in the Bible code is that Professor Havlin had to use his judgment to choose the spellings of the names of the rabbis, that that introduces a subjective element." (Pg. 29)
He observes, "Who PREDICTED that the word 'Torah' would be found at a skip of fifty letters, starting with the first word of Genesis? What was the basis for that prediction? The answer is that nobody predicted it explicitly. Instead, somebody made a fuzzy implicit prediction that some interesting word would be found at some skip. (That was a pretty safe prediction. With thousands of possible words and many possible skips, something was bound to turn up.) Then, after finding 'Torah' at a skip of 50, somebody did some sloppy postdiction and calculated the probability of finding exactly that word at exactly that skip. This is a lot like laying an exacta-bet at the racetrack after the race has been run." (Pg. 36)
He concludes, "Grant Jeffrey ['The Mysterious Bible Codes'] means well in promoting the Bible code so heavily. I just don't believe that he's correct. I don't see any evidence for a Bible code in either the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament." (Pg. 167)
This is an excellent critique of the Bible Codes, that will be of great interest to Christians looking for such critiques (who might also read 'Decoding the Bible Code: Can We Trust the Message?' and 'The Bible Code: Fact of Fake?').
Displaying 1 of 1 review