The Bible Code

Light iron-age reading
The Bible

Gabbin' with God

* Old / New Testament
* Apocrypha
* Annotated Bible

Analysis

* G'Tach
* Arsenokoites
* Biblical scientific errors

Woo

* Hanzi of Genesis
* Creation Research
* Biblical scientific foreknowledge

Figures

* Abel
* Cain
* Baal

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“”When my critics find a message about the assassination of a prime minister encrypted in Moby Dick, I'll believe them.

—(They did. He didn't.) Michael Drosnin. Newsweek, Jun 9, 1997

The Bible Code is a 1997 book by Michael Drosnin. The concept of Bible codes, also known as Torah Codes, is based on the idea that hidden messages are contained in sacred texts.

## Contents

* 1 The Bible Code method
* 2 Preposterous woo in its purest form
* 3 Insane codes found by Bible Code Wisdom in the English translation of the Bible
* 4 See also
* 5 External links
* 6 Notes
* 7 References

## The Bible Code method[edit]

Australian atheist entertainer John Safran proving conclusively beyond a shadow of a doubt that Vanilla Ice was involved in the U.S. World Trade Center attacks by utilizing Drosnin's scientific methods.

To extract this code requires a would-be code-seeker to count every nth character (where n is a non-zero integer[note 1]) in a text until you run across a sequence that contains a specified keyword. This particular technique is known as the Equidistant Letter Sequence (ELS) formula. The ELS formula has been likened to arranging the letters of the document into a grid n characters wide, and then treating them like the "word search" puzzles seen in newspapers, circling vertical words as they are discovered. When presented, many of the codes are shown in such a grid, with the necessary words interlinking, crossing each other, or pointing to each other.

Its proponents insist that, if the original text in its original language is used, the words so discovered constitute a "hidden message" that was planted in the text by its authors (and, by extension, a hidden message from God if the work is supposed to be divinely inspired). The original language of the Torah is biblical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew uses an abjad style alphabet, which means that every character is a consonant.[note 2] The reader must fill in the appropriate vowel sounds based on context and tradition. The name "Sarah", for instance, is spelled with only the Hebrew-alphabet equivalents of S, R, and H. This makes finding words somewhat easier than in a language that requires vowels by reducing the size of the word being looked for and increasing the odds of it being found randomly. For example, if I wanted to show that the Torah predicted the Holocaust by finding an ELS containing the name "Hitler", I would only need to search for "HTLR".[note 3]

In 2002, Drosnin predicted atomic holocaust due to war in Palestine in 2006. [1] After clearly failing, in 2007 he wrote another book claiming that Al-Qaeda has nuclear capacity and it can strike in 2011. [2] In 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed without any revenge nuclear attack.

## Preposterous woo in its purest form[edit]

This is, of course, pure woo on the same level as uncovering backward masking in rock songs or retroactively applying the prophecies of Nostradamus to recent events. Drosnin claims to have applied the algorithm to War and Peace and found nothing, but some have since applied the same computer algorithm to find hidden codes in other books such as Moby Dick,[3] The Lord of The Rings series, and the lyrics of Vanilla Ice.[4] Naturally, prophecies, codes, and other secrets were also discovered in these non-religious texts. Beyond the fact that practically any sequence of words can be found in a sufficiently long text such as the Bible, the problem is that no "prophetic" sequence of words has ever been discovered until after the events foretold have transpired. In these cases, none of the prophecies can be said to have predictive value, but rather retroactively shoehorned.

Recently, Drosnin has shied away from using it predictively. However, he has stopped short of publicly admitting that it's a proven statistical certainty that if you look in the right way, you can find anything in anything.[5]

“”I don't think the code makes predictions. I think it reveals probabilities. so I can't say what will happen in the next five years. also it is not a crystal ball – you can't just ask the Bible to tell you about tomorrow or next year. You can only find what you know how to look for – you must have some idea of what you're looking for.

Nonetheless, the book was a best seller, and Michael Drosnin has so far managed to milk the material for no fewer than two sequels and many TV documentaries (although most now are made to refute the "code"). In the best example of "retroactive ~~prophecy~~ shoehorning", The Bible Code (published in 1997) did not "predict" the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, while The Bible Code 2 (published in 2002) did.[note 4] Must be because you need to "have some idea of what you're looking for", clearly.

## Insane codes found by Bible Code Wisdom in the English translation of the Bible[edit]

“”Was Jesus jewish and did he have the ark of the covenant?

Could aliens and UFO's[sic] be in the bible?

Do skeptics think the antichrist is a myth?

—Bible Code Wisdom, just asking questions[6]

"Bible Code Wisdom" was a webshite that provided an online Bible code search function using a magic "ELS decoder grid." The site claimed that insight on virtually any subject could be found in the Bible by using its software. Analysis of this bullshit reveals several interesting results:

* Elvis Presley is both dead and alive[7]
* Jesus was evil[8]
* Aliens are real[9]
* God does not exist[10]

Alas, the site's "ELS decoder grid" almost certainly predicted its own demise, as it dropped off the internet in April 2018 and was replaced by a spam farm.

## See also[edit]

* Biblical scientific foreknowledge
* Gematria and new gematria

## External links[edit]

* Assassinations Foretold in Moby Dick! \- an example of how this type of thing occurs in any large-enough text

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ Obviously, because counting every 2-and-a-halfth letter is kinda difficult.
2. ↑ Some can also indicate vowels, especially long vowels. (See the Wikipedia article on Matres lectionis.) But no such context exists when characters are plucked independently from the text.
3. ↑ It also helps that the Hebrew script has two characters that can be transliterated as 'T' (Taw ת and Teth ט) and two characters that can be transliterated as H (He ה and Heth ח).
4. ↑ Although Moby Dick "predicted" it as well - see Moby Dick predicted the "War on Terrorism".

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Drosnin, Michael (2003-10-28). Bible Code II. East Rutherford: Penguin. ISBN 1-4406-5006-3.
2. ↑ Drosnin, Michael (2010-10-19). The Bible Code: Saving the World. Hachette UK. ISBN 0-297-86486-6.
3. ↑ Assassinations Foretold in Moby Dick!
4. ↑ "John Saffron vs. God - Bible Code" on YouTube
5. ↑ Meet Michael Drosnin, Author, "The Bible Code"
6. ↑ Bible Codes Predictions Software Search Freeware Prophecy. Archived from the original at biblecodewisdom.com.
7. ↑ Elvis both dead and alive (3 matches) Archived from the original at biblecodewisdom.com.
8. ↑ Jesus was evil (360 matches) Archived from the original at biblecodewisdom.com.
9. ↑ Aliens are real (31 matches) Archived from the original at biblecodewisdom.com.
10. ↑ God does not exist (8 matches) Archived from the original at biblecodewisdom.com.

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Articles about the Bible

Old Testament: |  Goliath • Tamar • Tower of Babel • Abel • Joseph (Old Testament) • Firmament • Baal • Noah • Isaac • Ishmael • Amalekites • Curse of Ham • Jacob • Sodom and Gomorrah • Ezekiel's wheel • Lot • Nephilim • G'Tach • Joseph was Imhotep • Moses • Global flood • Cain • Gibeah • Abraham • Old Testament • Incubus and succubus myths • King David • Serpent seed doctrine • Leviathan • Messiah • Mark of Cain • Asherah • Nimrod • Sirach • Jezebel • Adam and Eve • Moloch • Book of Joel • Garden of Eden • Satan • List of actions prohibited by the Bible •
| Torah: |  Torah • Book of Exodus • Book of Genesis • Book of Leviticus • Book of Numbers • Book of Zechariah • Book of Deuteronomy •
| Old Testament History: |  Book of Esther • Book of Ezra • Book of Judges • Book of Ruth • Books of Chronicles • Books of Kings • Books of Samuel • Book of Joshua •
| Old Testament Wisdom: |  Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Book of Job • Book of Proverbs • Book of Psalms •
| Major and Minor Prophets: |  Book of Daniel • Book of Ezekiel • Book of Isaiah • Book of Lamentations • Book of Jeremiah •
New Testament: |  Mary Magdalene • New Testament • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Joseph of Arimathea • Paul of Tarsus • Good Samaritan • Authorship of the New Testament • Magi • John the Baptist • Principalities and powers • Joseph (husband of Mary) • Nag Hammadi library • Messiah • Jesus • Gospel of Barnabas • Peter the Apostle • Pontius Pilate • Judas Iscariot • Book of Revelation •
| Gospels and Acts: |  Acts of the Apostles • Gospels • Q gospel • Gospel of John • Gospel of Mark • Gospel of Luke • Gospel of Matthew •
| Pauline Epistles: |  Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Colossians • Epistle to the Philippians • Epistle to Philemon • Epistle to the Romans • Epistle to Titus • First Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to the Thessalonians • Second Epistle to Timothy • First Epistle to Timothy •
| General Epistles: |  Epistle of Jude • Epistle of James • Epistle to the Hebrews • First Epistle of John • First Epistle of Peter • Second Epistle of John • Second Epistle of Peter • Third Epistle of John •
Bible analysis: |  Apocalyptic literature • Authorship of the New Testament • Bible interpolation • Biblical sexism • Bibliolatry • Documentary hypothesis • Evidence for the Exodus • Gospels • Horizontal reading • King James Only • Pesher • Q gospel • Septuagint • Skeptic's Annotated Bible • Ten Commandments • Torah • Bible translation • Word of God • Biblical literalism • Biblical contradictions • List of mistakes made by God • Abomination • Firmament • G'Tach • Arsenokoites • Genealogy of Jesus • Nag Hammadi library • Noah's Ark • Annotated Bible • Slavery in the Bible • Examples of God personally killing people • Herod • The Brick Testament • Evidence against a recent creation • EvilBible.com • List of actions prohibited by the Bible • Biblical scientific errors •
| Bible translations: |  Cockney Bible • Douay-Rheims • Jefferson Bible • King James Only • Septuagint • Vetus Latina • Bible translation • Annotated Bible •
| Apocrypha: |  Didache • Apocrypha • Nag Hammadi library • Book of Judith • 2 Maccabees • 3 Maccabees • 4 Maccabees • Books of Enoch • Books of the Maccabees • Gospel of Judas • Gospel of Mary • Gospel of Philip • Gospel of Thomas • Infancy Gospel of James • Infancy Gospel of Thomas • 1 Maccabees •
Biblical figures: |  Abel • Cain • Ishmael • Jacob • Joseph of Arimathea • Joseph (Old Testament) • Mary (mother of Jesus) • Noah • Paul of Tarsus • Mary Magdalene • Lot • Goliath • Nephilim • Moses • YHWH • Amalekites • Baal • King David • Joseph (husband of Mary) • God • Jesus • Asherah • Nimrod • Habakkuk • Adam and Eve • Herod • Pontius Pilate • Jezebel • Tamar • Judas Iscariot • Satan •
Bible woo: |  Jesus diet • Name it and claim it • Snake handling • Speaking in tongues • Spiritual warfare • Gematria • Stigmata • Biblical longevity • Hanzi of Genesis • Dr. Bronner's Soap • Presidential Prayer Team • Trinity Broadcasting Network • Zecharia Sitchin • James Ussher • Creation Week • Zion Oil and Gas • The Drama of the Lost Disciples • Roman Piso • Jose Luis de Jesús • Prayer • Black Hebrew Israelites • Jonathan Otto • Benny Hinn • Presents Of God Ministry • Solfeggio frequencies • Ken Ham • Harold Camping • Institute for Creation Research • Steve Quayle • Kabbalah Center • Acharya S • Christian Identity • Peter J. Peters • Ezekiel's wheel • Creation Research • Biblical scientific foreknowledge • British Israelism •
| Scientific foreknowledge: |  Gaps between Science and the Bible • Scientific Facts in the Bible: 100 Reasons to Believe the Bible is Supernatural in Origin • Science Confirms the Bible • Eternal Productions: 101 Scientific Facts and Foreknowledge • Modern Science in the Bible • Biblical scientific foreknowledge •