Dear PopTart:
As your comment to ”BIG BANG: THE BIBLE TAUGHT IT FIRST”( click the link below since the above link has been lost) Reasons To Believe : Big Bang—The Bible Taught It First!
suggested, some people may just read modern science into Bible. Indeed, but on the other hand, we may check if Bible can still stand the scrutiny of modern science ; in just 100 years what we know about the universe itself has gone through a lot of great changes. For example, recently the newly discovered giant Saturn Aura , any new impact is still unknown( note, sorry, my essay was written a few years ago, while I debated with Popt in a website and I don't update this string of news.) ; many myths ( or mythologies) about the creation were discarded long time ago simply because they no longer could stand the scrutiny of modern science. Indeed, we have to think about why physicists today can still apply their modern scientific knowledge and discoveries to Bible which was written 2000-3400 years ago . Isn't that amazing?
I am glad that you have pointed out the famous Nostradamus prophecies were so general and not specific or in details at all . On the contrary, in the Old Testament , there are many very specific prophecies , in very exact details. For example , Cyrus, king of Persia (580-529 BC) was named his exact name , 150 years before his birth by the prophet Isaiah (740-680 BC) who also made predictions of the Jewish exiles to return home to build God’s temple( by Cyrus’ order). Isaiah also prophesied in the Old Testament the birth of Jesus 700 years before Jesus’ birth, isn’t that amazing? The probabilities of anyone who could fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah , are very slim and impossible, almost zero , right? However, the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah has been fulfilled in Jesus. Don’t you think it is amazing and wonderful? Of course, some prophecies foretold an event would happen in the future , without naming the name or specifying any particular person who would do it ; Judas was such an example , for 30 pieces of silver, he betrayed his Master who lived with him for three years. Nevertheless, Judah should be responsible for his own actions of betraying his Master , because he fulfilled a looser prophecy - “those who ate with Jesus would betray Him”. ( With Jesus ate with His disciples and a lot of people , they all can fit into this betrayer , Judas didn’t have to condemn himself by being the betrayer. Since he stole public money while he was the trusted treasurer of Jesus’ disciples thus the greed of money made him leave Satan a foothold to seduce him to betray Jesus. In one of recently unearthed Apocrypha, the Book of Jude , Judas has been hailed as a hero as if without him, the prophecy couldn't be fulfilled, that is very far-fetched and a total mistake. )
You mention a talking snake in the Garden of Eden ; the consensus of most biblical scholars is that snake is Satan's spokesman . The Bible does not say the snake was a talking snake that could speak human language ; possibly, if humans had not fallen, since they were created in the image of God, initially, humans might be able to understand the languages of other animals, i.e. snakes'. It is not surprising that today, Satan's most treacherous trick is most people do not know or believe its existence. Namely, it hides its existence from modern humans, so it could seduce and trick more innocent humans freely. Only if we put Satan into the equation of our world , then we will see more clearly the
world 's chaos, sufferings and havoc. The good news is that after Jesus' resurrection, Satan is in chain, though it is still wandering around , like a roaring lion , to devour those who fall into its traps . Don’t we need to watch out against it?
The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) is one of the original seven Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in Qumran in 1947. It is the largest (734 cm) and best preserved of all the biblical scrolls, and the only one that is almost complete. The 54 columns contain all 66 chapters of the Hebrew version of the biblical Book of Isaiah. Dating from ca. 125 BCE, it is also one of the oldest of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some one thousand years older than the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible known to us before the scrolls' discovery.
The version of the text is generally in agreement with the Masoretic or traditional version codified in medieval codices, such as the Aleppo Codex, but it contains many variant readings, alternative spellings, scribal errors, and corrections. Unlike most of the biblical scrolls from Qumran, it exhibits a very full orthography (spelling), revealing how Hebrew was pronounced in the Second Temple Period. Around twenty additional copies of the Book of Isaiah were also found at Qumran (one more copy was discovered further south at Wadi Muraba'at), as well as six pesharim (commentaries) based on the book; Isaiah is also frequently quoted in other scrolls (a literary and religious phenomenon also present in New Testament writings). The authoritative and scriptural status of the Book of Isaiah is consistent with the messianic beliefs of the community living at Qumran, since Isaiah is known for his prophecies of judgment and consolation, and his visions of the End of Days and the coming of the Kingdom of God.
Years ago, I saw a copy on sheepskin truly a complete copy of Isaiah 53 Dead Sea Scroll in display at SF DE YOUNG Museum. Obviously, Isaiah 53 predicted Jesus’ birth at Isaiah’s time ; some sarcastic skeptical people or liberal scholars claim that it was therefore written after the birth of Jesus , but the exhibition of the Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah 53 proved to me that at least 100-200 years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah 53 has predicted Jesus’ coming ,,. )
Dear PopT:
誠如你在 ”BIG BANG: THE BIBLE TAUGHT IT FIRST”( click the link below since the above link has been lost) Reasons To Believe : Big Bang—The Bible Taught It First!
一文回應裡所說, 有人可以把現代科學讀進聖經裡去。然而我們可以從另一個角度，來看看今天是否聖經仍然經得起現代科學的考驗; 既便在短短的100年中我們所了解的宇宙本身已經過了許多極大的變化。比如說,最近土星的巨大光環剛被發現,會不會帶來什麼新的衝擊還不得而知; 許多有關創造的神話故事根本早已經不起現代科學的考驗了。我們要想一想，為什麼今天物理學家卻仍然可以將他們的現代科學應用到2000-3400多年前寫的聖經。
此外，我很高興你指出，出名預言家Nostradamus的預言一點也不是特定或特殊。相反地，在舊約聖經裡, 有許多的預言是非常具體，有非常詳細的細節。例如，波斯王古列(580-529 BC)早在他做波斯王150年以前被先知以賽亞(740-680 BC)預言要讓被擄的猶太人回國建殿。耶穌的誕生在祂出生700多年前, 以賽亞就在舊約聖經裡預言了. 若要任何人完成所有舊約歷代有關彌賽亞的預言， 機遇率几近渺茫，甚至不可能。耶穌卻成就了所有舊約裡有關彌賽亞的預言. 你說奇不奇妙? 當然有些預言, 預言了某一件將來會發生的事件，但沒有指定任何特定的人,會去做這件事; 出賣耶穌的猶大乃是最好的例子, 他選擇以30兩銀子出賣與他朝夕共處3年的老師。猶大應為自己的行為負責，因為他成全了一個較鬆散的預言-- 與耶穌一同吃飯的人會出賣祂。(與耶穌一同吃飯的人很多, 有許多人會符合這個條件, 猶大不一定要自己對號入座. 近來出土的偽經, 猶大書, 把他捧成英雄乃大錯特錯.好像若非他出賣耶穌，耶穌就無法救贖人類似的。)
你提及伊甸園裡會說話的蛇, 牠是撒旦的代言人, 乃聖經學家的共識。聖經沒有明說, 該蛇說人話 ; 如果當初未墮落的人類, 是照神的形像所造, 能了解其他動物的語言, 也不足為奇吧. 今天撒旦的詭計乃是大多數人不知道牠的存在。要把撒旦放進方程式裡, 然後我們才會更清楚地看到整個世界的亂象。在耶穌復活後的好消息是, 撒旦已是上了腳鐐, 雖然牠仍能到處流盪, 遊蕩。撒旦如同吼叫的獅子要吞吃那些掉入它陷阱的人。我們當小心提防牠啊！
(後記:由1947年挖出的聖經死海抄卷, 找到相當完整的以賽亞抄卷，比任何已知以賽亞書抄本早
1000年。事實上，此抄卷是迄今發現最古老的舊約手稿之一。
多年前, 我在SF DE YOUNG博物館看到了抄在羊皮上真正完整的死海抄卷,以賽亞書53章。在耶穌誕生700多年前, 以賽亞書53章就特別地預言祂的出生; 一些好譏諷, 懷疑的人, 因此聲稱這是耶穌誕生後寫的，但那次死海抄卷的展覽證明，至少在耶穌誕生100至200年前就已有以賽亞書53章完整的抄本了。)
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