5 ms·

In college a Christian friend readily gave "evidence" of predictions in the bible as reason why he believes that religion. I think a lot of religious people do

In college a Christian friend readily gave "evidence" of predictions in the bible as reason why he believes that religion. I think a lot of religious people do think there are clear predictions. I wish I remembered his examples (which I found uninteresting at the time) — I think one was a prediction of an invasion of Tyre?

ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
The problem with a lot of historical predictions is that they were too vague to be useful i.e. could someone armed with a bible have known enough about an invasion of Tyre to make a bet with someone before it happened? e.g. I bet they get invaded in the next two weeks. Predictions of that nature are usually just re-interpretations based on knowledge after the fact.
- baremetal 3y ago
  Israel was recreated in one day. As prophesied. "Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." Isaiah 66:8 On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.[1] [1] https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-isra...
  - ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
    A prophecy is different to a concrete prediction. People in the 1930s weren't able to use the bible to predict that Israel would be created in a day in the next 20 years. There's also the doubt over how long a "day" is in the bible, so it seems more a case of it only being a prediction in hindsight. There's a better critique here: https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/does-the-state-of-israel-fulfil-biblical-prophecy/ https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/does-the-state-of-...
    - WorldMaker 3y ago
      This prophecy also has a self-fulfilling prophecy nature to it, because plenty of groups in America (alone) had good and (maybe mostly) terrible reasons to follow the prophecy "like a blueprint".
  - empyrrhicist 3y ago
    And yet, Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled....
bitsage 3y ago
It could have also been about Jesus and his death

ndsipa_pomu 3y ago

The problem with a lot of historical predictions is that they were too vague to be useful i.e. could someone armed with a bible have known enough about an invasion of Tyre to make a bet with someone before it happened? e.g. I bet they get invaded in the next two weeks. Predictions of that nature are usually just re-interpretations based on knowledge after the fact.

baremetal 3y ago
Israel was recreated in one day. As prophesied. "Who has ever heard of such things? Who has ever seen things like this? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." Isaiah 66:8 On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U.S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.[1] [1] https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-israel https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/creation-isra...
- ndsipa_pomu 3y ago
  A prophecy is different to a concrete prediction. People in the 1930s weren't able to use the bible to predict that Israel would be created in a day in the next 20 years. There's also the doubt over how long a "day" is in the bible, so it seems more a case of it only being a prediction in hindsight. There's a better critique here: https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/does-the-state-of-israel-fulfil-biblical-prophecy/ https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/does-the-state-of-...
  - WorldMaker 3y ago
    This prophecy also has a self-fulfilling prophecy nature to it, because plenty of groups in America (alone) had good and (maybe mostly) terrible reasons to follow the prophecy "like a blueprint".
- empyrrhicist 3y ago
  And yet, Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled....

bitsage 3y ago

It could have also been about Jesus and his death