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Decoding the Bible Code: Can We Trust the Message?
Is there a secret code within the Bible that outlines future events like "The Bible Code "proclaims? Responding to those claims, "Decoding the Bible Code "is a well-researched examination of the "code" and the faulty methodology and reasoning behind it.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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September 4, 2024
A POPULAR EVANGELICAL RESEARCHER CRITIQUES THE "BIBLE CODE" THEORIES
John Weldon has written/cowritten many books, such as 'The Facts on Halloween,' 'The Facts on the Mormon Church,' 'Is There Life After Death?,' 'New Age Medicine: A Christian Perspective on Holistic Health,' 'Behind the Mask of Mormonism: From Its Early Schemes to Its Modern Deceptions,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1998 book, "This concept of a [Bible] code is influenced by and based in kabbalistic metaphysics and numerological theory... Eliyahu Rips, Doron Witztum, and Yoav Rosenberg... brought their discoveries to the attention of the academic community in 1988 and 1994. Then skeptical journalist Michael Drosnin expanded the code... in his smash bestseller 'The Bible Code,' and several months later a more serious and technically oriented text was published by psychiatrist ... Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, entitled 'Cracking the Bible Code.' \
'"However, the principal code researchers claim that the popularization of the codes... misrepresents and distorts the serious research and brings disrepute to the entire field. To date, the majority of people are familiar only with the popular treatments and have not been exposed to the scientific data that underlies the codes. For this reason we will address the popular treatments in some detail so that misconceptions can be cleared up." (Pg. 9)
He states, "Whatever one may think of the initial research that inspired Drosnin to write his book, it is evident that there are serious problems with Drosnin's own work. In fact, three of the very people who initially 'broke' or confirmed the code have, to varying degrees, publicly disavowed Drosnin's text. In particular they are concerned with its overall lack of scientific methodology and its attempts to predict the future." (Pg. 41)
He adds, "The June 4, 1997 issue of USA Today... [said] 'mathematically, the likelihood of your being able to find something like the "code will save" or "Rabin" is very high. You can find "Drosnin is the Messiah," and many other things, some of which will be correct, and many of which will not be correct. Looking for four or five key words makes no sense. You cannot develop a meaningful statistic on it.'" (Pg. 42)
He recounts, "Drosnin... made this challenge to his critics: 'When my critics find a message about the assassination of a Prime Minister encrypted in Moby Dick, I will believe them.' Brendan McKay took up the challenge and searched through Moby Dick, and... he found 13 predicted assassinations of public figures, several being Prime Ministers of their equivalents." (Pg. 50)
He points out, "There is a problem with taking a language such a English and foisting it on to a quite different language (Hebrew)... Another example of Drosnin's selective approach to transliteration is found in his words about the Oklahoma bombing... Drosnin's transliteration is stretched to accommodate the phonetically difficult word 'McVeigh.' MKVau could be translated as several different names... McVeigh is only an interpretation based on the assumption of an accurate Bible code that predicts future events." (Pg. 72)
He states, "this is one of our major concerns about the Bible codes and their potential dangers---that for lack of a more critical spirit, they will be used in unadvised and embarrassing ways... Another concern is the fact that the codes, as used by Drosnin, have given us unfulfilled prophecies---or more bluntly, false prophecies." (Pg. 112) Later, he adds, "Rips, Witztu, and Gans have all come out AGAINST using the Bible code for divination. They state emphatically that the code cannot and should not be used to predict the future." (Pg. 133)
This is an excellent critique of "Bible Codes" theories, that will be of great use to anyone looking for such material.
John Weldon has written/cowritten many books, such as 'The Facts on Halloween,' 'The Facts on the Mormon Church,' 'Is There Life After Death?,' 'New Age Medicine: A Christian Perspective on Holistic Health,' 'Behind the Mask of Mormonism: From Its Early Schemes to Its Modern Deceptions,' etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1998 book, "This concept of a [Bible] code is influenced by and based in kabbalistic metaphysics and numerological theory... Eliyahu Rips, Doron Witztum, and Yoav Rosenberg... brought their discoveries to the attention of the academic community in 1988 and 1994. Then skeptical journalist Michael Drosnin expanded the code... in his smash bestseller 'The Bible Code,' and several months later a more serious and technically oriented text was published by psychiatrist ... Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, entitled 'Cracking the Bible Code.' \
'"However, the principal code researchers claim that the popularization of the codes... misrepresents and distorts the serious research and brings disrepute to the entire field. To date, the majority of people are familiar only with the popular treatments and have not been exposed to the scientific data that underlies the codes. For this reason we will address the popular treatments in some detail so that misconceptions can be cleared up." (Pg. 9)
He states, "Whatever one may think of the initial research that inspired Drosnin to write his book, it is evident that there are serious problems with Drosnin's own work. In fact, three of the very people who initially 'broke' or confirmed the code have, to varying degrees, publicly disavowed Drosnin's text. In particular they are concerned with its overall lack of scientific methodology and its attempts to predict the future." (Pg. 41)
He adds, "The June 4, 1997 issue of USA Today... [said] 'mathematically, the likelihood of your being able to find something like the "code will save" or "Rabin" is very high. You can find "Drosnin is the Messiah," and many other things, some of which will be correct, and many of which will not be correct. Looking for four or five key words makes no sense. You cannot develop a meaningful statistic on it.'" (Pg. 42)
He recounts, "Drosnin... made this challenge to his critics: 'When my critics find a message about the assassination of a Prime Minister encrypted in Moby Dick, I will believe them.' Brendan McKay took up the challenge and searched through Moby Dick, and... he found 13 predicted assassinations of public figures, several being Prime Ministers of their equivalents." (Pg. 50)
He points out, "There is a problem with taking a language such a English and foisting it on to a quite different language (Hebrew)... Another example of Drosnin's selective approach to transliteration is found in his words about the Oklahoma bombing... Drosnin's transliteration is stretched to accommodate the phonetically difficult word 'McVeigh.' MKVau could be translated as several different names... McVeigh is only an interpretation based on the assumption of an accurate Bible code that predicts future events." (Pg. 72)
He states, "this is one of our major concerns about the Bible codes and their potential dangers---that for lack of a more critical spirit, they will be used in unadvised and embarrassing ways... Another concern is the fact that the codes, as used by Drosnin, have given us unfulfilled prophecies---or more bluntly, false prophecies." (Pg. 112) Later, he adds, "Rips, Witztu, and Gans have all come out AGAINST using the Bible code for divination. They state emphatically that the code cannot and should not be used to predict the future." (Pg. 133)
This is an excellent critique of "Bible Codes" theories, that will be of great use to anyone looking for such material.
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