Inspiration: Belief vs Empirical Evidence

1. Page 1 of 3 Biblical Inspiration: Belief or Empirical Evidence Jon Green, PhD Note: Slides & script may be found at: https://goo.gl/LC48lg Slide #1: With today’s religiously skeptical millennials, it is difficult to communicate with them about the Bible. They are hesitant to accept the Bible as being God’s inspired guide for a successful life. They have been educated to accept only those ‘beliefs’ based on empirical evidence. We are about to see undeniable evidence that one’s belief in God’s gift of inspiration is supported by empirical evidence--provable or verifiable by objective scientific experiment. Slide #2: A secret is considered to be something that is hidden. Thus, Jesus often spoke hidden truths in parables. “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. Matt. 13:13” The Prophets, in their writings, have placed hidden ‘secrets’ for our discovery leading to correct understanding. Slide #3: I am fascinated by the “hidden secrets” which form the “Foundation of Creation.” If you want to understand something clearly it is necessary to go beyond a superficial examination and carry out a deep examination of it component parts. The foundation of creation is known in Physics as Quantum Mechanics. That field studies “the behavior of matter and its interactions with energy on the scale of atoms and subatomic particles.” Slide #4: I have noted 5 components of Quantum Mechanics which bear upon ferreting out those hidden secrets of the prophets. Notice how they are alluded to in the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy. They are Quantum Entanglement, String Theory, Chaos Theory, Fractals, and Symmetry. Slide #5: Thus, enters into the field of Biblical Interpretation the newest epistemological tool, Chiastic Analysis. It is a rhetorical or literary technique for emphasizing a central concept or thought using subtle repetition. Beginning more than 3,000 years ago it begins to appear in ancient Hebrew writing. An Adventist pastor developed this as a tool for Bible scholars! Slide #6: Our Creator gave each of us a Chiasm. It is known as the Optic Chiasm. Even in basic science many have learned that the left eye interacts with the right side of the brain and the right eye interacts with the left side of the brain. The benefit of this Chiastic arrangement is 2-fold: Wider field of observation and a point of fixation—two benefits vital to Biblical study. Slide #7: The prophets and the apostles used the Chiasm EXTENSIVELY in their writing. In fact, you will see in the next few minutes that Chiastic Analysis is a bellwether and measurable marker of inspired writing. Slide #8: Jude vs. 1-25 is a concise example of a Chiasm. Now, just picture in your Bible the appearance of that passage. The first element is what we call “The Bookends” We start at the first and the last verse of the passage, in which each has the common phrase, “Jesus Christ.” Then we continue to move in reverse order, searching for the next common word, phrase, or thought. Finally, we run out of all related words. What is between those two final related words is the Chiastic Center—the concept upon which the apostle wants the reader to focus. It explains or enhances the understanding of the two bookends. Notice the “Symmetry,” one of those components of the “Foundation of Creation.” Do you think you could write coherently in this manner? Try it sometime.

2. Page 2 of 3 You will appreciate the impossibility of a human doing extensive writing this way. It truly is a test of Inspiration. (By the way, the sequential letters missing were deleted by me to make this Chiasm fit on a single slide. These are only 10 pairs out of the actual 20.) Slide #9: Look what this writer has further done. Within this overarching Chiasm, which we have just observed, there are two subset Chiasms. These have been developed the same way, and coherently added more understanding to the message of Jude. It has been said, “Through Chiastic analysis there is no need for commentaries, the Bible has its own built in commentary.” Thus is both the “Quantum Entanglement,” “String Theory, and “Fractal” components of “Quantum Mechanics, the Foundation of Creation.” Slide #10: The “Fractal” component becomes more complex as the Biblical passage or book is more than one chapter. Here is the last section of Daniel with 4 levels of Chiastic analysis and 12 Chiastic Subsets—and each one bringing out a vital message contributing to a further understanding of the of a portion of this passage! In amazement I recognize that it is ONLY a TRUE prophet who could write like this. The smartest human would be unable to write in such a consistent style or quantity. Slide #11: William Foy was purported to be a true prophet of God. Was He? He was baptized at the age of 17 and learned to read sometime afterwards. 7 years later, when he was 24, he had two visions within a 2.5 week period. The first was 2.5 hours long while the 2nd was 12.5 hours. Only two original documents of his are available. These have been subjected to Chiastic analysis. [Birth – 1818; Baptized – 1835 at 17 yrs. By Silas Curtis; Became a Millerite preacher—1841 at 23 yrs; First 2 visions Jan. & Feb., 1842 at 24 yrs.; Joined the Episcopal Methodist Church—1842; Published book with the two visions—1842; Died—Nov. 9, 1893 at 75 yrs and buried Birch Tree Cemetery in Sullivan, Maine] Slide #12: Notice the Chiastic symmetry of William Foy’s writing of the two visions compared to that of the prophets and the apostles. No difference. NO HUMAN, WITHOUT GOD’S DIRECT INTERVENTION AND UNIQUE SPECIAL INSPIRATION, IS ABLE TO WRITE IN THE CHIASTIC STYLE! Slide #13: When Ellen White’s writings are subjected to Chiastic Analysis, I am amazed. There has NEVER been such an amount of writing that has been done in that style. She is the ONLY person in known history that has accomplished such a feat; she stands alone. Of all documents analyzed so far each one is no different from that of the prophets and the apostles. They possess the indelible mark of a true prophet of God. Slide #14: Here is a portion from Early Writings. Remember, we start at the ‘bookends’ and work towards the center. Here the similar words or phraseology are color-coded. The symmetry is recognizable. However, I prefer the graphic representation that also displays the symmetry of the Subset Chiasms like this… Slide #15: …analysis of Ellen White’s first vision in Early Writings. I find it fascinating that it is not ‘language biased.’ Whether the Chiastic Analysis is done in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, or English the inspired writings demonstrate God’s word and His message can be clearly determined. Slide #16: Like all of Ellen White’s writings, the “Conflict of the Ages” series is the capstone when testing the validity that her writings are inspired by God and testifying that she is, indeed, a true prophet of God. a) The ‘bookends” are precise. First 3 words of Patriarchs and Prophets and the last 3 words of The Great Controversy are “God is Love”

3. Page 3 of 3 sequential order of what she wrote in Acts of the Apostles. Don’t you agree with me that NO HUMAN MIND could write a multipage document and achieve such perfect symmetry—much less 5 volumes over a period of 35 years in non-chronological order? 1. Each book individually correlates to God’s “Foundation of Creation--” Quantum Entanglement String Theory Chaos Theory Fractals Symmetry 2. Each book correlates to God’s “Foundation of Creation--” Internal Chiastic Completeness Quoted Bible Texts Fit Seamlessly into the Chiastic Symmetry Quoted Secular Authors Fit Seamlessly into the Chiastic Symmetry 3. ALL Books Fit Under One Overarching Chiasm with Multiple Fractals Slide #17. The gift of prophecy is “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5 “It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man’s words or his expressions but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God.” -------------------------- Manuscript 24, 1886 (written in Europe in 1886) & Ellen G. White, Selected Messages From the Writings of Ellen G. White, Book 1 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1958), 21. b) She has written in Prophets and Kings words or phrases that correspond to the