Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible

Approximately 2000 out of 2500 Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled to the letter - no errors.

(1) Some time before 500 B.C. the prophet Daniel proclaimed that Israel's long-awaited Messiah would begin his public ministry 483 years after the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem (Daniel 9:25-26). He further predicted that the Messiah would be "cut off," killed, and that this event would take place prior to a second destruction of Jerusalem. Abundant documentation shows that these prophecies were perfectly fulfilled in the life (and crucifixion) of Jesus Christ. The decree regarding the restoration of Jerusalem was issued by Persia's King Artaxerxes to the Hebrew priest Ezra in 458 B.C., 483 years later the ministry of Jesus Christ began in Galilee. (Remember that due to calendar changes, the date for the start of Christ's ministry is set by most historians at about 26 A.D. Also note that from 1 B.C. to 1 A.D. is just one year.) Jesus' crucifixion occurred only a few years later, and about four decades later, in 70 A.D. came the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^5.)*

(2) In approximately 700 B.C. the prophet Micah named the tiny village of Bethlehem as the birthplace of Israel's Messiah (Micah 5:2). The fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Christ is one of the most widely known and widely celebrated facts in history.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^5.)

(3) In the fifth century B.C. a prophet named Zechariah declared that the Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave—thirty pieces of silver, according to Jewish law-and also that this money would be used to buy a burial ground for Jerusalem's poor foreigners (Zechariah 11:12-13). Bible writers and secular historians both record thirty pieces of silver as the sum paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus, and they indicate that the money went to purchase a "potter's field," used—just as predicted—for the burial of poor aliens (Matthew 27:3-10).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^11.)

(4) Some 400 years before crucifixion was invented, both Israel's King David and the prophet Zechariah described the Messiah's death in words that perfectly depict that mode of execution. Further, they said that the body would be pierced and that none of the bones would be broken, contrary to customary procedure in cases of crucifixion (Psalm 22 and 34:20; Zechariah 12:10). Again, historians and New Testament writers confirm the fulfillment: Jesus of Nazareth died on a Roman cross, and his extraordinarily quick death eliminated the need for the usual breaking of bones. A spear was thrust into his side to verify that he was, indeed, dead.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^13.)

(5) The prophet Isaiah foretold that a conqueror named Cyrus would destroy seemingly impregnable Babylon and subdue Egypt along with most of the rest of the known world. This same man, said Isaiah, would decide to let the Jewish exiles in his territory go free without any payment of ransom (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; and 45:13). Isaiah made this prophecy 150 years before Cyrus was born, 180 years before Cyrus performed any of these feats (and he did, eventually, perform them all), and 80 years before the Jews were taken into exile.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^15.)

(6) Mighty Babylon, 196 miles square, was enclosed not only by a moat, but also by a double wall 330 feet high, each part 90 feet thick. It was said by unanimous popular opinion to be indestructible, yet two Bible prophets declared its doom. These prophets further claimed that the ruins would be avoided by travelers, that the city would never again be inhabited, and that its stones would not even be moved for use as building material (Isaiah 13:17-22 and Jeremiah 51:26, 43). Their description is, in fact, the well-documented history of the famous citadel.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^9.)

(7) The exact location and construction sequence of Jerusalem's nine suburbs was predicted by Jeremiah about 2600 years ago. He referred to the time of this building project as "the last days," that is, the time period of Israel's second rebirth as a nation in the land of Palestine (Jeremiah 31:38-40). This rebirth became history in 1948, and the construction of the nine suburbs has gone forward precisely in the locations and in the sequence predicted.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^18.)

(8) The prophet Moses foretold (with some additions by Jeremiah and Jesus) that the ancient Jewish nation would be conquered twice and that the people would be carried off as slaves each time, first by the Babylonians (for a period of 70 years), and then by a fourth world kingdom (which we know as Rome). The second conqueror, Moses said, would take the Jews captive to Egypt in ships, selling them or giving them away as slaves to all parts of the world. Both of these predictions were fulfilled to the letter, the first in 607 B.C. and the second in 70 A.D. God's spokesmen said, further, that the Jews would remain scattered throughout the entire world for many generations, but without becoming assimilated by the peoples or of other nations, and that the Jews would one day return to the land of Palestine to re-establish for a second time their nation (Deuteronomy 29; Isaiah 11:11-13; Jeremiah 25:11; Hosea 3:4-5 and Luke 21:23-24).

This prophetic statement sweeps across 3500 years of history to its complete fulfillment—in our lifetime.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^20.)

(9) Jeremiah predicted that despite its fertility and despite the accessibility of its water supply, the land of Edom (today a part of Jordan) would become a barren, uninhabited wasteland (Jeremiah 49:15-20; Ezekiel 25:12-14). His description accurately tells the history of that now bleak region.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^5.)

(10) Joshua prophesied that Jericho would be rebuilt by one man. He also said that the man's eldest son would die when the reconstruction began and that his youngest son would die when the work reached completion (Joshua 6:26). About five centuries later this prophecy found its fulfillment in the life and family of a man named Hiel (1 Kings 16:33-34).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^7).

(11) The day of Elijah's supernatural departure from Earth was predicted unanimously—and accurately, according to the eye-witness account—by a group of fifty prophets (2 Kings 2:3-11).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^9).

(12) Jahaziel prophesied that King Jehoshaphat and a tiny band of men would defeat an enormous, well-equipped, well-trained army without even having to fight. Just as predicted, the King and his troops stood looking on as their foes were supernaturally destroyed to the last man (2 Chronicles 20).

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^8).

(13) One prophet of God (unnamed, but probably Shemiah) said that a future king of Judah, named Josiah, would take the bones of all the occultic priests (priests of the "high places") of Israel's King Jeroboam and burn them on Jeroboam's altar (1 Kings 13:2 and 2 Kings 23:15-18). This event occurred approximately 300 years after it was foretold.

(Probability of chance fulfillment = 1 in 10^13).

www.reasons.org...

(The remaining 500 or so reach into the future and may be seen unfolding as days go by.) Since the probability for any one of these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance averages less than one in ten (figured very conservatively) and since the prophecies are for the most part independent of one another, the odds for all these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance without error is less than one in 10^2000 (that is 1 with 2000 zeros written after it)!

God is not the only one, however, who uses forecasts of future events to get people's attention. Satan does, too. Through clairvoyants (such as Jeanne Dixon and Edgar Cayce), mediums, spiritists, and others, come remarkable predictions, though rarely with more than about 60 percent accuracy, never with total accuracy. Messages from Satan, furthermore, fail to match the detail of Bible prophecies, nor do they include a call to repentance.

The acid test for identifying a prophet of God is recorded by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:21-22. According to this Bible passage (and others), God's prophets, as distinct from Satan's spokesmen, are 100 percent accurate in their predictions. There is no room for error.

As economy does not permit an explanation of all the Biblical prophecies that have been fulfilled, what follows in a discussion of a few that exemplify the high degree of specificity, the range of projection, and/or the "supernature" of the predicted events. Readers are encouraged to select others, as well, and to carefully examine their historicity.

Since these thirteen prophecies cover mostly separate and independent events, the probability of chance occurrence for all thirteen is about 1 in 10^138 (138 equals the sum of all the exponents of 10 in the probability estimates above). For the sake of putting the figure into perspective, this probability can be compared to the statistical chance that the second law of thermodynamics will be reversed in a given situation (for example, that a gasoline engine will refrigerate itself during its combustion cycle or that heat will flow from a cold body to a hot body)—that chance = 1 in 10^80. Stating it simply, based on these thirteen prophecies alone, the Bible record may be said to be vastly more reliable than the second law of thermodynamics. Each reader should feel free to make his own reasonable estimates of probability for the chance fulfillment of the prophecies cited here. In any case, the probabilities deduced still will be absurdly remote.

Given that the Bible proves so reliable a document, there is every reason to expect that the remaining 500 prophecies, those slated for the "time of the end," also will be fulfilled to the last letter. Who can afford to ignore these coming events, much less miss out on the immeasurable blessings offered to anyone and everyone who submits to the control of the Bible's author, Jesus Christ? Would a reasonable person take lightly God's warning of judgment for those who reject what they know to be true about Jesus Christ and the Bible, or who reject Jesus' claim on their lives?

*The estimates of probability included herein come from a group of secular research scientists. As an example of their method of estimation, consider their calculations for this first prophecy cited:

- Since the Messiah's ministry could conceivably begin in any one of about 5000 years, there is, then, one chance in about 5000 that his ministry could begin in 26 A.D.
- Since the Messiah is God in human form, the possibility of his being killed is considerably low, say less than one chance in 10.
- Relative to the second destruction of Jerusalem, this execution has roughly an even chance of occurring before or after that event, that is, one chance in 2.

Hence, the probability of chance fulfillment for this prophecy is 1 in 5000 x 10 x 2, which is 1 in 100,000, or 1 in 105.

Source

I have a question. In those days, what was the original meaning for "messiah"?

Also, I keep mentioning this, but people always forget. You can prove that people and places existed, but you cannot prove a single word of what they said. Sure, someone wrote it. But that doesn't mean they were honest.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Right! And the Bible was compiled well after the fact and could have been written to support prophecies. The Bible and the dubious writers are completely unreliable.

reply to post by AfterInfinity


Messiah means: Anointed which symbolizes, Being filled with the spirit of God.

With so many people believing in the Bible it is no surprise that so many prophecies have come true (Because the believers make them come true) thats why I fear that Christians in power will destroy the world.

Oh and links please to your claim that so many have come true.

Oh and who really cares about fulfilled prophecies which got fulfilled 100s of years ago, it's now that matters not then.

The Dead Sea Scrolls confirm the accuracy of the original texts. You may not trust the authors, but that doesn't make the overall message untrue or unreliable. The Bible has stood the test of time.

reply to post by DarkKnight21


Has it? I think people are waking up and discovering different aspects of spirituality and rejecting the old outdated books.
Just look at the census reports in many countries also the attendances of church goers.
With education more and more people will reject the Old and bring in the new.

When were the Bible books written?



Old Testament

Job--Unknown
Genesis--1445-1405 B.C.
Exodus --1445-1405 B.C.
Leviticus --1445-1405 B.C.
Numbers--1445-1405 B.C.
Deuteronomy--1445-1405 B.C.
Psalms--1410-450 B.C.
Joshua--1405-1385 B.C.
Judges--ca. 1043 B.C.
Ruth--ca. 1030-1010 B.C.
Song of Solomon--971-965 B.C.
Proverbs--ca. 971-686 B.C.
Ecclesiastes--940-931 B.C.
1 Samuel--931-722 B.C.
2 Samuel--931-722 B.C.
Obadiah--850-840 B.C.
Joel--835-796 B.C.
Jonah--ca. 775 B.C.
Amos--ca. 750 B.C.
Hosea--750-710 B.C.
Micah--735-710 B.C.
Isaiah--700-681 B.C.
Nahum--ca. 650 B.C.
Zephaniah--635-625 B.C.
Habakkuk--615-605 B.C.
Ezekiel--590-570 B.C.
Lamentations--586 B.C.
Jeremiah--586-570 B.C.
1 Kings--561-538 B.C.
2 Kings--561-538 B.C.
Daniel 536-530 B.C.
Haggai--ca. 520 B.C.
Zechariah--480-470 B.C.
Ezra--457-444 B.C.
1 Chronicles--450-430 B.C.
2 Chronicles--450-430 B.C.
Esther--450-331 B.C.
Malachi--433-424 B.C.
Nehemiah--424-400 B.C.

New Testament

James--A.D. 44-49
Galatians--A.D. 49-50
Matthew--A.D. 50-60
Mark--A.D. 50-60
1 Thessalonians--A.D. 51
2 Thessalonians--A.D. 51-52
1 Corinthians--A.D. 55
2 Corinthians--A.D. 55-56
Romans-- A.D. 56
Luke--A.D. 60-61
Ephesians--A.D. 60-62
Philippians--A.D. 60-62
Philemon--A.D. 60-62
Colossians--A.D. 60-62
Acts--A.D. 62
1 Timothy--A.D. 62-64
Titus--A.D. 62-64
1 Peter--A.D. 64-65
2 Timothy--A.D. 66-67
2 Peter--A.D. 67-68
Hebrews--A.D. 67-69
Jude--A.D. 68-70
John--A.D. 80-90
1 John--A.D. 90-95
2 John--A.D. 90-95
3 John--A.D. 90-95
Revelation--A.D. 94-96

Oh and just because the odds are really high doesn't mean that it is all true, things happen all the time which have massive odds, maybe it is just all coincidence.

reply to post by DarkKnight21


there are many truths in Bible but many untruths too. and one of them that you quoted about Jesus is God or something like this and it does not need any statistics to perceive that.
moreover authors are important.

reply to post by DarkKnight21


en.wikipedia.org...

Scholars therefore divide the book into three parts:[13]

Chapters 1 to 39 (First Isaiah, Proto-Isaiah or Original Isaiah): the work of the original prophet Isaiah, who worked in Jerusalem between 740 and 687 BCE.[14]
Chapters 40 to 55 (Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah): by an anonymous author who lived in Babylon near the end of the Babylonian captivity.[13]:418
Chapters 56 to 66 (Third Isaiah or Trito-Isaiah): the work of anonymous disciples committed to continuing Isaiah's work in the years immediately after the return from Babylon.[13]:444 This section includes visions of new heavens and new earth.[14] (Other scholars suggest that chapters 55–66 were written by Deutero-Isaiah after the fall of Babylon.)[4]:p. 561
This implied sequence of pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic material is somewhat misleading, as significant editing has clearly taken place in all three parts.[15]:p.183

There is some uncertainty as to how Deutero-Isaiah and Trito-Isaiah came to be attached to the original Isaiah: the two competing theories are either that Deutero-Isaiah was written as a continuation of Proto-Isaiah, or that it was written separately and became attached to the famous Isaiah later

The authorship and dating of the book is still in question. Plus, Cyrus the Great is named as the "Messiah" that would restore Israel.

reply to post by boymonkey74

You want current proof that the prophecies of the Bible are still coming to pass? Go to the bookstore and get "The Harbinger" by Jonathan Cahn. Your eyes will be opened! A prophecy given to ancient Israel is also directly related to America and 9/11 AND the economic crash. Just check it out!!!

reply to post by mytquin


Was it written after 9/11 or before because anything can be warped to fit into someones prophecies. Just look at all the garbage to do with Nostradamus.

Originally posted by mytquin
reply to post by boymonkey74

 

You want current proof that the prophecies of the Bible are still coming to pass? Go to the bookstore and get "The Harbinger" by Jonathan Cahn. Your eyes will be opened! A prophecy given to ancient Israel is also directly related to America and 9/11 AND the economic crash. Just check it out!!!

Interesting book. One need only read the book of Isaiah to know that the few remaining prophecies are still being fulfilled. Truth is on God's side. The reason so many secularists are going bananas in this thread right now is because they don't want to admit they are sinners, don't want to admit they need a savior, and don't want to admit that the Messianic prophecies were fulfilled 100% in Jesus Christ. They want to be their own saviors and as long as that is the case they will reject the evidence that is right in front of their faces. Their hearts have been hardened to God, and I can smell their fear from a mile away.

The jig is up. They place so much emphasis on "science" and turn a blind eye to history and the miracle of Israel. It tires me, but as a former atheist I feel it is my duty to show them that God is a scientist too. The mathematical figures are truly astounding.

What Is the Purpose of Prophecy?
THOSE who claim that their various forms of worship are revelations from superhuman sources also acknowledge that there are good and bad supernatural powers. This acknowledgment raises these questions: Was each of these forms of worship revealed from a good source? Or do they have a bad source? Which one is inspired by the true God?
The First Religion
Mankind is recognized as being one family, and this agrees with the Bible’s account of one original human pair, Adam and Eve. Jehovah, the Creator, made himself known to them. He revealed to Adam and Eve their role in his purpose and their true relationship to him. God made Adam his first prophet, responsible to pass divine revelations on to his wife and eventually to their offspring, that is, all mankind.—Genesis 1:27-30; 2:15-17.
This was the only religion, the one form of worship revealed by Jehovah God. It was expressed by obedience to God’s will. No rituals, sacrifices, shrines, or oracles were required.
False Religion Appears
The first opposing “revelation” came from an angel who wanted to be worshiped. He offered an alternative to true religion and induced Adam and Eve to join him in rebellion against their Creator. This made him Satan, Jehovah’s opposer. His “prophecy” pretended to offer self-determination and independence from God. Instead, it caused enslavement to Satan and to sin, bringing death.—Genesis 3:1-19; Matthew 4:8-10; Romans 5:12.
Satan was eventually joined by other rebellious angels, or demons. No doubt these spawned false religious concepts that contributed to the corrupting of mankind. In the days of Adam’s grandson Enosh, “a start was made of calling on the name of Jehovah.” According to the Targum of Palestine, this was done profanely as part of the idolatrous worship of that time.—Genesis 4:26; 6:1-8; 1 Peter 3:19, 20; 2 Peter 2:1-4.
False religion was wiped out in the Flood of Noah’s day, leaving just the true form of worship practiced by Jehovah’s prophet, Noah. (Genesis 6:5-9, 13; 7:23; 2 Peter 2:5) The demons remained, though, and reintroduced counterfeit prophecies and religious concepts. They caused Noah’s descendants to offend Jehovah by building the city of Babel as a center of false worship. But God confused their language and “scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth.”—Genesis 11:1-9.
What does all of this tell us? We are all descendants of Noah and Adam. So all cultures have a common origin and have retained some concept of God as a vestige of knowledge that has survived from Noah’s day. But this basic concept is corrupted by false religious ideas inherited from those forefathers who scattered from Babel (later restored as Babylon) to all parts of the earth. This is seen in common superstitions about spirits of the dead, in ancestor worship, and in the practice of astrology, divination, and witchcraft.—Daniel 2:1, 2.
The Purpose of Prophecy
Does this mean that present-day religions are based only on concepts inherited from that ancient past? No. Satan and the demons still inspire false prophecy to deceive and divide mankind, confuse true revelations about God, and establish false ideas and religions. (1 Timothy 4:1; 1 John 4:1-3; Revelation 16:13-16) The Bible says: “There also came to be false prophets among the people, as there will also be false teachers among you. These very ones will quietly bring in destructive sects.”—2 Peter 2:1.
On the other hand, Jehovah has preserved the true religion given in Eden. He has added information to enhance our knowledge of him and of our responsibility in the outworking of his purpose. So true prophecies make known the truth about God, his will, and his moral standards. They clarify man’s relationship to him so as to bring mankind back into harmony with his purpose, leading up to its full accomplishment.—Isaiah 1:18-20; 2:1-5; 55:8-11.
At the start of man’s rebellion, Jehovah spoke a prophecy that gave hope to the offspring of Adam and Eve. He revealed that there would be a deliverer, a “seed,” who would destroy Satan and his progeny. (Genesis 3:15) Later prophecies helped to identify this promised “seed,” or God’s “anointed one,” and revealed that he would play the principal role in the fulfillment of God’s purposes.—Psalm 2:2; 45:7; Isaiah 61:1.
Thus a primary intent of prophecy was to make known God’s purposes and the “anointed one,” or “Christ,” through whom they would be fulfilled. Since this chosen one proved to be Jesus, Jehovah’s angel said: “Worship God; for the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires [or, is the spirit of] prophesying.” (Revelation 19:10) Two facts are made clear by this declaration. First, no agent of true prophecy will demand to be worshiped because true worship belongs only to Jehovah God. (Matthew 4:4; John 4:23, 24) Second, the ultimate aim of all true prophecy must be to reveal events and facts relating to Jesus. This recognizes the key role Jehovah assigned him in the outworking of His purpose to sanctify His name and restore earth to its proper place in His arrangement of things.—John 14:6; Colossians 1:19, 20.
For this reason, inspired messages from God pointed primarily toward Jesus. The entire spirit, or intent and purpose, of such true prophecy was to bear witness to him. Furthermore, the realization of the prophecies in Jesus marks them all as true. This is why the Bible says that “the truth came to be through Jesus Christ.” “For no matter how many the promises of God are, they have become Yes by means of him.”—John 1:17; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Acts 10:43; 28:23.
Why to the Israelites?
Jehovah started off his “witness to Jesus” by his prophecy regarding the promised “seed.” God later revealed the earthly lineage of the “seed” as being through Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac (not Ishmael), and Jacob. These men remained loyal to the true religion, proving themselves faithful prophets of Jehovah while all the nations were corrupted by the worship of false gods. (Genesis 6:9; 22:15-18; Hebrews 11:8-10, 16) The lineage continued through descendants of these men—the nation of Israel and particularly the family of David, Israel’s most prominent king.—2 Samuel 7:12-16.
Showing why he chose Israel, Jehovah said: “It was not because of your being the most populous of all the peoples . . . [but] because of his keeping the sworn statement . . . to your forefathers,” Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 7:6-8; 29:13) Obviously, only one nation could provide the lineage for the promised “seed.” However, true religion was not limited to the Israelites. While revelations of truth were not given to other nations, individuals from among them could join Israel in worship, and some of these were even included in the lineage of the “seed.” (Numbers 9:14; Ruth 4:10-22; Matthew 1:5, 6) Separate revelations given along national or racial lines would only have caused greater religious division, whereas it is Jehovah’s will to reunite mankind in one worship.—Genesis 22:18; Ephesians 1:8-10; 2:11-16.
God’s requirements are the same for all races. Since he is unchangeable in his moral standards and purpose, his dealings with Israel showed how he will deal with similar situations at any given time. (Malachi 3:6) So Israel served as a model for all nations. Through it God demonstrated the benefits of true worship and the folly of false cults. While the Israelites remained faithful to him, he protected and blessed them. When they turned to false gods of other nations, they fell under oppression by those nations, just as Jehovah had warned them.—Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Daniel 9:2-14.
Israel also served as a prophetic model, and David became a prophetic figure of Jesus, who inherited God’s Kingdom covenant with David. (1 Chronicles 17:11, 14; Luke 1:32) The Law given to Israel, with its sacrifices and priesthood, foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus and pointed to his heavenly Kingdom and priesthood. The Law thus became a “tutor leading to Christ.”—Galatians 3:19, 24; Acts 2:25-36; Hebrews 10:1-10; Revelation 20:4-6.
The Book of True Prophecy
This vital information could not be accurately preserved by oral tradition or by separate revelations to various nations. The best avenue of preservation and of transmission to all nations is a written record. And the Bible fills this role. It alone contains God’s inspired revelations and preserves the historical and prophetic account of his dealings with humans. It alone points to Jesus Christ as God’s Agent for salvation and contains the final prophecies regarding the future accomplishment of his Messianic assignment. This is thus the complete inspired written Word of God.—Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
Since the completing of the Bible, those who have introduced new “prophecies,” religions, and sects could not be inspired by God. True prophecies were not given to reveal new religions. They kept the one true religion current and made known the future outworking of Jehovah’s purpose. Their fulfillment gives proof of his unique Godship and power, showing that he alone can foretell events centuries in advance and unerringly bring them to pass.—Isaiah 41:21-26; 46:9-11.
So all who desire to be acquainted with true prophecy and to practice true religion need to turn to the Bible. It is God’s book of prophecy—his complete message to mankind.—2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

reply to post by DarkKnight21


Lol I admit I have sinned, but the only person I have to say sorry to are the people I have sinned against or myself, just because you have been "born again" doesn't mean you are right about any of it, heck you could be I don't know but my guess is your wrong and you have been duped by "people" who want to control you.
Go on threaten me with hell and an eternity of pain.....is that how they got you? you got scared?
Fear you say? I fear no man (only redheaded women) nor any man made god, your brand of god uses fear to control others.
If there is a god we will not understand anything to do with it/him/she so why bother wasting time on which we can never comprehend.
We are each a single point of conscious thought and live in this moment we are each a God because Iam and you are the center of your own universe.

Oh and why is it born again religious people are always the loudest banging the drum?

Originally posted by windword
reply to post by DarkKnight21

 

en.wikipedia.org...

Scholars therefore divide the book into three parts:[13]

Chapters 1 to 39 (First Isaiah, Proto-Isaiah or Original Isaiah): the work of the original prophet Isaiah, who worked in Jerusalem between 740 and 687 BCE.[14]
Chapters 40 to 55 (Second Isaiah or Deutero-Isaiah): by an anonymous author who lived in Babylon near the end of the Babylonian captivity.[13]:418
Chapters 56 to 66 (Third Isaiah or Trito-Isaiah): the work of anonymous disciples committed to continuing Isaiah's work in the years immediately after the return from Babylon.[13]:444 This section includes visions of new heavens and new earth.[14] (Other scholars suggest that chapters 55–66 were written by Deutero-Isaiah after the fall of Babylon.)[4]:p. 561
This implied sequence of pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic material is somewhat misleading, as significant editing has clearly taken place in all three parts.[15]:p.183

There is some uncertainty as to how Deutero-Isaiah and Trito-Isaiah came to be attached to the original Isaiah: the two competing theories are either that Deutero-Isaiah was written as a continuation of Proto-Isaiah, or that it was written separately and became attached to the famous Isaiah later

The authorship and dating of the book is still in question. Plus, Cyrus the Great is named as the "Messiah" that would restore Israel.

edit on 1-7-2012 by windword because: linky

Cyrus the Great was our beloved king but not jews messiah! and he never claimed such things.

Originally posted by boymonkey74
Oh and just because the odds are really high doesn't mean that it is all true, things happen all the time which have massive odds, maybe it is just all coincidence.

That MIGHT be true. BUT they NEVER happen 456 times in a row...

The chances of just 48 out of the 456 prophecies being fulfilled in one person are 1 in 10 to the 157 power.

That's — 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

"According to Emile Borel, once one goes past one chance in 10^50, the probabilities are so small that it is impossible to think that they will ever occur..." LINK

"...what's the likelihood of a person predicting today the exact city in which the birth of a future leader would take place, well into the 21st century? This is indeed what the prophet Micah did 700 years before the Messiah. Further, what is the likelihood of predicting the precise manner of death that a new, unknown religious leader would experience, a thousand years from now - a manner of death presently unknown, and to remain unknown for hundreds of years? Yet, this is what David did in 1000 B.C.

Again, what is the likelihood of predicting the specific date of the appearance of some great future leader, hundreds of years in advance? This is what Daniel did, 530 years before Christ. ...Indeed, it may be possible for someone to fake one or two of the Messianic prophecies, but it would be impossible for any one person to arrange and fulfill all of these prophecies." LINK

"Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact, proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world. God so thoroughly vindicated Jesus Christ that even mathematicians and statisticians, who were without faith, had to acknowledge that it is scientifically impossible to deny that Jesus is the Christ."

"There are 456 OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECIES about the Messiah that were fulfilled by the life of Jesus Christ. The Bible has many that were written thousands of years before Jesus was born! Precise, detailed prophecies such as; where He would be born (Micah 5:2), how He would be born, (Isaiah 7:14) how He would die (Psalm 34:20), etc. And history has PROVEN, without ANY doubt whatsoever, they were fulfilled EXACTLY as the Bible had prophesied, hundreds of years earlier!"

reply to post by maes9

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, . . . "I am the LORD, . . . who confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers; who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,' to the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,' and I will raise up her waste places; who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers'; who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," and to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'

Thus says the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. . . . I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; He shall build My city and let My exiles go free, not for price nor reward,' says the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 44:24, 26–45:3, 13)

It should immediately be apparent that God's use of "His anointed" is not as restricted as commonly assumed. The Hebrew word is mashiah, which has come down to us as "messiah" and translated as christos in Greek. Because we now use this term exclusively for Jesus Christ, the Messiah, many have failed to realize the breadth of its meaning.

There were/are numerous Messiahs. The concocted life of Jesus, meant to conveniently fit the scriptures, is not the messiah that Isaiah was talking about, if these even are the words of Isaiah, which it probably isn't.