Theomatics: what do you think?

[Tashin Hanabi]

What do you guys think about theomatics?

I personally have not researched the matter seriously enough to have formed an opinion, but I would like to hear a discussion on its merits for those of you who do know.
I ask one thing of you, though---do not merely base your assumptions on either of these two things:

1. The veracity of the bible. <<This is not relevant to this topic, and will get us seriously distracted. Theomatics is a fairly new science.
2. The book "Da Vinci Code." While it contains some truth, it is still a work of fiction and cannot be used as a reliable source. Please don't reply if you have no idea what theomatics are, other than what you've heard from other people or read in this book. I want serious replies from people who have done atleast a little research.

[Lysia]

Tashin Hanabi

2. The book "Da Vinci Code." While it contains some truth, it is still a work of fiction and cannot be used as a reliable source. Please don't reply if you have no idea what theomatics are, other than what you've heard from other people or read in this book. I want serious replies from people who have done atleast a little research.

YAY xd

[Tarrou]

Theomatics debunked. By Christians no less.

[Tashin Hanabi]

Tangled Up In Blue

Theomatics debunked. By Christians no less.

I was just asking your thoughts on the matter. You don't have to be so laconic. sweatdrop

[Psilan]

That Theomatics website

To introduce this topic briefly, Theomatics concerns a mathematical structure that Del Washburn claims to have discovered in the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible. He claims to have demonstrated, in a most thorough, rigorous and scientific manner, that this structure could not have occurred by chance. If his analysis were correct, it would be evident that no one but God Himself could have designed what Washburn claims to have found.

I admit that, until this thread, I was unfamiliar with the topic (though it looks like a cousin of the Bible Code).

However, I have two things to point out:

(1) The reason that mathematical analysis of the text is possible at all is that neither Hebrew nor Greek has a seperate character set for numbers. The ancient people who wrote and analyzed the texts were not ignorant of that fact, and would occasionally "cross wires." (By using numbers to represent words or words to represent numbers)

(2) It sounds like a great leap in logic to assume that if there is an underlying mathematical structure that it must clearly be documentable divine intervention, especially considering that ancient authors liked to play with numerology.

[Tarrou]

Tashin Hanabi

Tangled Up In Blue

Theomatics debunked. By Christians no less.

I was just asking your thoughts on the matter. You don't have to be so laconic. sweatdrop

My thoughts are that it is a highly suspect attempt to prove definatively that the bible is correct using psuedoscience and dodgy methodology. Religion and religious texts are a matter of faith and faith alone and cannot be proven using mathematics or anything else short of God dropping down from the heavens and saying "Look, this is the way things are...".