Re: [asa] Empiricism, Faith and Science

Vernon,

When I read what you say about the numerical patterns in Genesis 1:1, I
try to imagine what effect it would have on a nonbeliever. The question I
am trying to ask you is whether being convinced of the inspiration of Gen.
1:1 will cause him to also be convinced of the inspiration of some other
verse, e.g. John 3:16. Unless he connects the two, this is not necessarily
the case. For example, Jews would not make this connection.

Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395

On Sat, 23 Sep 2006, Vernon Jenkins wrote:

> Gordon,
>
> You write, "You can't extrapolate your conclusion about Genesis 1:1 to all
> the rest of
> Scripture unless you know what constitutes Scripture."
>
> But I thought I had already made my position clear when I wrote, "With such
> a coincidence of significant biblical and extra-biblical elements occurring
> in the opening 7 Hebrew words one might well ask whether any further proof
> of the divine inspiration of the J-C Scriptures is needed." It is surely
> significant that these phenomena are found at the very threshold of what the
> Apostle Paul claims to be the _Inspired Word of God_ - wouldn't you agree?
> Significant too that, as Iain has previously remarked, "...they are not
> everyone's cup of tea." Indeed, I would go further and suggest that they
> represent a _bitter cup_ for virtually all involved in this debate, whether
> TE, OEC, YEC, ID or materialist. Why this universal revulsion to perfectly
> valid data, Gordon? Is it a matter of _superstition_? After all, a
> standard scientific approach has been applied in their gathering and
> cataloguing. It should follow, therefore, that they are (1) accepted as
> realities and, (2) accomodated in all future debate concerning origins. The
> fact that this isn't happening is perhaps as strong a reason as any for
> believing my thesis to be true.
>
> In seeking an explanation for this strange behaviour among the community of
> scientists I am led to consider a _supernatural_ cause. Possibly you have a
> different view, Gordon.
>
> Vernon
> www.otherbiblecode.com
>

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Received on Sat Sep 23 17:34:27 2006