Bible Facts And Articles
 
The Date - December 12
The Year - 1855
 
     Man was awakening to a new dawn of a new age - within a few short decades, knowledge would explode throughout the civilized world. Brand-new sciences appeared almost overnight, as men concentrated mind and energies to find and conquer the secrets of their Universe.
 
     In Russia, the seeds of a revolutionary new religion were being sown. With its basic premise of "No God" and its Bible a text on dialectical materialism, it was to soon take root and spread like a parasitical mushroom across the world. Spearheading this ideological attack was an assault to defame, discredit and finally destroy the Book that had given millions the promise of Christ.
 
     It is thus strange how God in ironic humor chose a boy born in Russia to issue a counter-challenge to a skeptical world that has never been successfully refuted. His name - Ivan Panin. His challenge - the inspiration of Scriptures, factually demonstrated in the one language all sciences utilize - mathematics.
 
     Panin died in 1942, after almost 50 years of brilliant work, and passed into the Presence of the God He loved and served. His writings and labours have been largely lost to the world of saints and scoffers alike, and have not been given the attention they deserve. A small fraction of his amazing discoveries are here re-issued for the benefit of a generation in doubt.
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     Those familiar with the laws of statistical probability will most appreciate the issue at stake. Those with knowledge of Hebrew and Greek will be even better prepared to analyze and understand this challenge. Those with neither are still invited to consider the facts, and to give any other answer than the overwhelming evidence presents - that the Holy Bible in its original languages is the skillfully designed product of a Mathematical Master-mind far beyond any earthly capability and far above any human possibility of deliberate structuring. The evidence Panin presents may only be refuted in one of two ways - (1) By showing that his facts here presented are not actually true; (2) By demonstrating that his mathematics are faulty and the statistical conclusions reached unfounded.
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     To check the first is simply a matter of verifying the author's statements from the original languages and sources. To check the second requires only a knowledge of high-school arithmetic, and a little knowledge of the laws of arithmetic and geometrical progression. If then neither can be faulted (and the author knows of no successful attempt to date) there is left no other reasonable or scientific answer to the evidence you are about to see than the simple Biblical statement of its origins - "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Pet.1:21) You are invited to impartially examine the evidence, but should know before beginning that knowledge equals responsiblity and the Bible will not leave you impartial to its claims for commitment to its Author! Accordingly, these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, Son of God; and believing, you might have life through His Name." (John 20:31)
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     The New Testament was originally written in Greek, the Old Testament in Hebrew and Aramaic. Both Greek and Hebrew have a common peculiarity - neither use special symbols for their number (like "1" "2" "3" etc.) but use instead LETTERS of their alphabets to represent numbers. Accordingly, the 24 Greek letters of the alphabet also stand for the following numbers, 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,10; then 20,30 etc. to 80; next 100,200 up to 800. Likewise the Hebrew alphabet has a similiar value for each of its letters. The Hebrew numbers 6 and 90 are not in the Greek: and the Greek numbers 500,600,700,800 are not in the Hebrew. All other numbers are common to both alphabets. We shall call these numbers the numeric values of the letters.
Each word in Hebrew and Greek thus represents a sum in the arithmetic, obtained by adding the numbers for which each letter stands. Bear in mind that the numeric values are not assigned arbitrarily, but are part and parcel of the language. The resultant SUM of all the added letters in a word or phrase will be called its GEMATRIA. For the purpose of study, one further definition is necessary; the number of the place a letter occupies in the Hebrew or Greek alphabet will be called its PLACE VALUE. The numeric value is the same as the place value for the first 10 Hebrew letters; but the eleventh letter, caph, has a place value of 11 but a numeric value of 20. Keep in mind this distinction. Here is the complete list of the Hebrew and Greek alaphabets, plus numeric and place values:

Panin was a mathematics genius, one of the top ten men in his field at the time. He became a Christian after graduating from Harvard University in 1882 and began to devote time to study the Bible. He read fluently in a number of languages, Hebrew and Greek among them. Aware of the numerical values of the Greek and Hebrew alphabets, he experimented one day by replacing the letters for their corresponding number in Scriptures. Suddenly, his trained mind saw a mathematical pattern! He studied the gematria of the words more intensely, his excitement growing. More and more evidences of incredibly detailed mathematical design came to light. A few short hours of work had him utterly amazed. The verses he had studied bore unmistakeable evidence of an elaborate mathematical pattern, far beyond chance or of accident. He calculated roughly the time it would take for a mathematician even of his own calibre to produce a similar mathematical design, with the corresponding letters still making sense in a sentence. It was plainly impossible, even if the design had been intentional to the writer, within the space of many years to complete! This discovery marked a turning-point in his career; it revolutionized his life. From that time on until his death in 1942, he devoted his life to the study of Bible Numerics. His painstaking researches into the original languages of Scripture in the light of this discovery brought to light a wealth of irrefutable objective evidence for the Divine Inspiration of Scripture.
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     Panins' work is highly detailed and exhaustive. At best this tract can only state some of his general findings and give a limited number of examples from his voluminous writings on the subject. But even the few selected will be more than enough to convince the honest enquirer that the Bible is all it claims to be - the Holy, inspired, infallible Word of God. Panin supplied a representative of the Nobel Research Foundation with over 43,000 sheets of his studies accompanied by his statement that this was his evidence that the Bible was the Word of God. Their reply was - "As far as our investigation has proceeded ... we find the evidence overwhelmingly in favor of such a statement." He challenged nine noted rationalists and Bible critics through the medium of the New York "Sun" newspaper to publically refute or give explanation for a few of his presented facts other than the obvious: that the Word of God was the product of a Divine Master-mind above all possibility of human construction, carrying within itself a self-checking and protecting factor to ensure against additions or subtractions to its text in the original languages. Four made lame excuses; the rest were silent. He issued a challenge throughout leading newspapers of the world to offer a natural explanation or refute the facts; not a single person has been able to do so.
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     Taking a given subject, like genealogy, a passage of Scripture, a book of the Bible in its entirety, he demonstrated among many other things the following phenonema:
 
PATTERNS of prime numbers, such as 11,13,17 and 23, but especially 7, so remarkable as to be beyond human ability to construct. The number 7 has always had special significance in religious patterns of worship through the ages. The Bible is filled with sevens, from the 7 days of creation to the 7 angels of Revelation. It has been an old venture of the Bible scholars to trace the recurrence of the number 7 through the Scripture. Numerics reveal an incredible pattern of sevens underlying and re-inforcing the very words of Scripture, that are seemingly inexhaustible in detail and intricacy. The numbers on the surface only give clue to the wealth of numeric detail underneath. In a given passage or book, the followimg patterns of seven can be seen to occur ALL BY DESIGN -
 
(1) The number of words in the vocabulary will divide by seven; (2) The number of words that begin with a vowel will divide by seven, likewise the number of words that begin with a consonants; (3) The number letters in the vocabulary is divisible by seven; (4) Of the letters, those which are vowels and those which are consonants will both divide by 7; (5) The number of words in the vocabulary occurring more than once is divisible by 7: those occurring only once likewise divide by 7; (6) The number of words occurring in more than one form is divisible by 7; the number occurring in only one form likewise divides by 7; (7) The number of nouns is divisible by 7; the number that are not likewise divides by 7; the same goes for the number of proper names, male and female names and the number of words beginning with each of the letters of the alphabet! The following is an example of this from the New Testament:
 
Matt. 1:1-16; examining the first 11 verses only numerically.
 
Genealogy of Christ is divided into 3 sets of 14; Abraham to David; David to Babylon; Babylon to Christ. (vs 17) There are two natural sections; vs 1-11 and vs 12-17.
The vocabulary has 49 words (7x7); the sum of its factors is 14 (2x7)
28 words begin with a vowel (4x7); 21 remaining with a consonant (3x7)
7 end with a vowel (1x7); 42 end with a consonant (6x7)
The 49 words have 266 letters (38x7); the sum of the figures 266 is 14(2x7)
The sum of the factors of 266 (2x19x7) is 28 (2x7)
Out of the 266 letters 140 are vowels (20x7) 126 are consonants (18x7)
Also!! Of those 49 words, 7 occur in more than one form (7x1) 42 in one form only (6x7)
14 occur only once (2x7) 35 (5x7) occur more than once
42 (6x7) are nouns; 7 are not; Of the 42 nouns, 35 (5x7) are proper names; other 7 are not;
These remaining 7 common nouns have exactly 49 letters (7x7)
Of the 35 proper names 28 are male ancestors (4x7) after the flesh, 7 are not;
Male names occur in all 56 times (8x7); the names of only 3 women occur in the passage;
the Greek letters in their names add up to 14 exactly (2x7)
There is only one city mentioned; Babylon - it has exactly 7 letters...!!
This diminishes the chance of accident to 6 hundred billions to one! Many other details are hidden here that will come to light on further study. Panin said it would have taken Matthew several months working 8 hours a day to contruct the genealogy even if it were possible; but the names were chosen BEFORE MATTHEW WAS BORN.
THE BIBLE AND BIRTH CONTROL
A BIRTH CONTROL QUIZ
 
1. What Church Synod issued a Bible commentary which stated that
   contraception was the same as abortion?
 
2. What theologian declared in the 1500's that birth control was the
   murder of future persons?
 
3. What priest in the 1700's declared that taking "preventative
   measures" was unnatural and would destroy the souls of those who
   practiced it?
 
4. Who declared that birth control was sodomy?
 
5. What church group ruled in the 1800's that a church official found
   guilty of birth control was no longer allowed to hold his position?
 
6. What well known theologian said, "WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN WHAT IS
   TERMED 'BIRTH CONTROL.'"
 
If you think that the above statements were made by Roman Catholics,
then your quiz score is "zero."
 
The answers are:
 
1.  The Synod of Dort; 2. John Calvin; 3. John Wesley; 4. Martin Luther; 5. The Pilgrims; 6. Arthur W. Pink.
 
If you are shocked, that really is not too surprising, because Protestant opposition to birth control has largely been forgotten in
our decadent Twentieth Century.  If you want to know about Biblical
principles which oppose contraception, or wish to know what the
Reformers and their heirs thought about this important subject, we
certainly hope that you'll get this book!
 
THE BIBLE AND BIRTH CONTROL by Charles D. Provan - published by
ZIMMER PRINTING, 410 West Main St., Monongahela, Pennsylvania 15063
(price is under $10.00) - (724) 258-7775.
 

LAST WORDS
 
 
THE FIRST WORD:  Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34)
 
The first word from the cross is not about the pain of the cruel nails, nor about the humiliation of an accursed death, nor of the injustice which He has suffered, but it is a prayer for those who have crucified the Lord of Life, the very Son of God, the One who had no sin.  Truly they knew not what they did.
 
THE SECOND WORD:  Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.  (Luke 23:43)
 
Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost.  He had spent His life seeking and saving.  Even now at the hour of His death He answers the appeal of the thief on the nearby cross who cries, “Lord, remember me!”  Jesus remembers him not with relief from his cross, but with something far greater:  Paradise!  That day!  What salvation! For a thief?  Yes, for everyone who comes to the Savior.
 
THE THIRD WORD:  Woman, behold thy son….behold thy mother.  (John 19:26, 27)
 
Human relationships are tender.  And when Jesus saw His mother Mary at the foot of the cross, He made provision for her.  Turing to John, He instructs him to care for her.  So it is yet today. Although the affairs of nations and the thoughts of rulers are in His control, He has His eye on the sparrow – and on your smallest needs.
 
THE FOURTH WORD:  My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?  (Matthew 27:46)
 
Death is separation.  Eternal death is eternal separation from God in the awfulness of hell.  The agonies of hell were suffered by our Substitute when He was forsaken by God so that we would never be forsaken.  This suffering no person has ever endured.  All physical and mental suffering fades in comparison to separation from God. His God. Those who refuse Him shall eternally have to bear the same punishment.
 
THE FIFTH WORD;  I thirst.  (John 19:28)
 
The suffering Savior was human as well as divine.  Truly human.  He had assumed our human nature at His birth in order that the penalty due the human race might be borne by a member of it.  The intense agony of thirst indicated the reality of the suffering of His body.  That God  should become man is a mystery.  That our sin and guilt can be laid on Him is a mystery.  But we believe and are saved!
 
THE SIXTH WORD:  It is finished.  (John 19:30)
 
The just anger of the Triune God had been laid upon Jesus throughout His entire life, but especially during the closing hours of His life.  Now this fearful suffering was finished.  The price has been paid.  Man’s salvation had been earned.  Sin is blotted out.  Reconciliation is complete.  Everlasting righteousness is brought in.  Hallelujah!
 
THE SEVENTH WORD:  Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.  (Luke 23:46)
 
Death did not overtake Jesus.  Rather, the Savior offers His life.  The wages of sin is death, and the wages must be paid because our Sin-bearer had come to live our life and die our death.  Boldly Jesus engages this enemy of man – knowing that He will conquer it and rise the third day.
 
It is nothing to you, all ye that pass by?  Thousands passed by while Jesus hung on the cross and ridiculed Him.  Millions have since heard these Words, but have passed by in unbelief.  But your salvation is possible only if the Son of God hung on the cross for your sins.  Listen to these WORDS.  Accept this crucified and risen Savior as your substitute.  Believe and live!
 
(Gospel Tract Society, Inc., P. O. Box 1118, Independence, MO  64051)