The first post in this series on Bible prophecies can be found here.
The prophecies in the Bible are often touted to be undeniable evidence of the Bible’s inspiration. But this claim is often made in the hopes that people won’t actually examine the prophecies for themselves. It’s the very definition of “Big Lie,” where a falsehood is told so often and so loudly, people begin to believe it even though it’s completely untrue.
In this series, we’ve looked at several examples of failed or non-existent prophecies. What further proof is needed to show that the Bible could not have been inspired by a perfect deity? And there are other examples we could have looked at. Isaiah’s 70 Weeks prophecy, which is also fleshed out in the Book of Daniel, is claimed by many Christians to predict the precise day of Jesus’ crucifixion… or birth, or Triumphal Entry, etc. In fact, they all disagree about what it’s predicting and when it’s supposed to occur. I almost dedicated an entire post to it, but finally decided against it. It’s extremely convoluted. I do recommend looking at ways that different people try to explain it. The twists and turns they have to go to (including creating something called a “prophetic year”) are pretty amusing.
I find it interesting that when people make those kinds of attempts, they already have their finish line all worked out. They assume that the prophecy must reference Christ, so they set about trying to figure out a way to make it fit. In other words, the prophecy itself makes nothing clear. It’s purpose is actually to be obscure, so that any number of things can be attributed to it later and be claimed as a prophecy fulfillment. One of the few Bible prophecies that is clear deals with the destruction of Tyre, as we talked about in part 6. Yet that prophecy wasn’t fulfilled, as we can see just by looking at Tyre on a map.
In reality, it’s difficult for people to see these things because they are afraid of the end result. They’re afraid to realize that their religion is a lie. And that’s a very understandable feeling to have — it’s not pleasant, as I can attest to firsthand. Yet most people won’t let themselves see these issues clearly, even though they think it’s necessary for people of every other religion to see the problems with theirs. After all, most Christians think that Muslims are wrong and bound for Hell unless they realize the beliefs they’ve always held are wrong. But putting your own beliefs under the microscope is very difficult. Most people refuse to do it.
At the very least, the issues we’ve talked about should cause Christians to re-examine their beliefs. The Bible has some real problems that can’t be solved by simply claiming it’s inerrant. We’ll address that further in future posts.
Finding Truth 
Well, you did, Nate, so maybe there’s hope for the other billion or so. You never know, right?
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Yep, you never do. I used to be one of them!
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I’ve finished your prophecy series and I have to admit; there is sufficient evidence to say the bible (and most christian interpretation of it) is not inerrant.
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Thanks Matt. It can be tough to come to that realization — it definitely screwed around with my worldview…
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Nate, I have concluded most people of faith don’t really want to look at the evidence because they actually are afraid the evidence will lead them in the same direction you traveled.
I think most people (not just people of faith) want reassurance and not challenge.
When I still called myself a Christian I had many stories that were ‘faith bolstering’. I told them with more conviction then I felt in my heart and invariably even the most committed Christian would thank me for the story and thank me for boosting their faith. Now if their faith needed boosting, what does that say?
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Yeah, I think you may be right about that. We’re all busy living our lives, so we find shortcuts that help us in our worldviews so that we don’t have to take the time to research every little thing. That’s only a problem when facts pop up that run counter to the opinion we’ve latched onto. But it’s very easy for us to dismiss those things because they’re uncomfortable, and because we like to put a lot of stock in the opinions of the people we trust. If they aren’t bothered by something, why should we be? Confirmation bias at its finest. 🙂
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Thanks Nate, I been going over the evidence for and against Christianity. I have concluded that essentially where things are factual, such as Texts and archaeology the evidence invariably is negative. When i started to look for the positive evidence i found it invariably was in the subjective category. Such as:
– God speaking to someone;
– The Holy spirit revealing the truth of the Bible to a person;
– a claim of how Christianity changed someone’s life;
– a claimed miracle that invariably seems to lack attestation by a medical expert;
– dreams and visions;
– remarkable coincidences
– near death experiences.
The problem with the subjective experience as ‘proof’ is multiple. It does not allow for the complexity of the mind,it is not ‘your’ experience, memory has been proven time and time again to be unreliable. The differences in things like dreams and visions and NDE’s cause them to be questionable at the very start.
I am weary of Christians talking about how the Holy Spirit illuminates the Bible. If this s so why is there so much variation in interpretation between Christians.
I realise that you can’t believe based on someone else’s experience. I have long since discounted my own experiences.
In the end if the Bible is shown to be unreliable then it would seem that what ever else follows is built on a shaky foundation.
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That’s a nice summation, Peter. I completely agree that relying on the subjective should be a huge red flag.
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At the very least, all the true views of the scriptures should cause you to re-examine your beliefs.
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“At the very least, all the true views of the scriptures should cause you to re-examine your beliefs.”
Where does one find “all the true views of the scriptures” ?
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@kcchief
I honestly think this guy needs his meds.
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