Is there a code? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
Whoa. What happened to chapters 6 and 7? I actually consider both of those esoteric and really there wasn’t anything on there worth commenting on since I don’t think those are arguments that are really used anyway. When we get to eight, we get to see arguments based on prophecy and Bible Codes. The former in Scripture I take seriously. The latter, I never do.
Now boys and girls, picture this. Suppose you are an atheist and you want to write a chapter in a book about Bible prophecy and how it’s all bunk. If you are an intelligent sort of person, what do you do?
Well, odds are you would consult some scholarship and find out what prophecies are used as the best indicators of appeal to prophecy. Maybe you would go with Isaiah 53 or the 70 weeks of Daniel or with the Olivet Discourse. Maybe you would go with the idea of the Bible predicting Jesus entirely period. You would show how these are not accurate readings of the text and thus demonstrate the Bible has a fallacious record as far as you’re concerned.
Unfortunately, Paulos is not such a man.
Paulos states the argument like this:
1. A holy book makes prophecies.
2. The same book or adherents of it report that these prophecies have come true.
3. The book is indubitable and asserts that God exists.
4. Therefore God exists.
Paulos, John Allen. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don’t Add Up (p. 61). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
He also says the argument from prophecy is held in low esteem by philosophers. Unfortunately, he doesn’t tell us who these philosophers are. Also, were I to use this argument, I would not say it this way. I would say this book got things down extremely accurate centuries in advance and only a being with advance knowledge could do that.
He goes on to talk about how the narrative in Scripture has meaning, but lacks a referent. Then he says
You would think that the obvious irreligious objection would come to almost anyone’s mind when reading a religious tome or holy book. What if you don’t believe the holy book’s presuppositions and narrative claims and simply ask for independent argument or evidence for God’s existence? What if you’re not persuaded by the argument that God exists because His assertion that He exists and discussion of His various exploits appear in this book about Him that believers say He inspired?
Paulos, John Allen. Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for God Just Don’t Add Up (p. 63). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Kindle Edition.
First off, this ignores that the argument from prophecy is evidence still. Perhaps it’s not the best, but it is evidence. Second, I would be glad to present the Thomistic arguments, which Paulos never deals with. I guess those didn’t come up in his google search research.
Yet the most amazing part of this section is that Paulos does not cite a single Bible prophecy!
Imagine if I made a claim that I was going to totally destroy the argument for evolution from the fossil record and never once cited the fossil record. Imagine if I said I am going to demonstrate the Book of Mormon is a hoax and never once cited the Book of Mormon. Imagine if I said that I am going to take down the Qur’an and never referenced it one time.
That would be ridiculous.
That is also exactly what Paulos does.
Somehow, some atheists out there will still think he’s done an excellent job. Once again, I remind you of my rule for these kinds of atheists. They honor reason and evidence with their lips, but their heads are far from it.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
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