Deacon's Corner
Serving & Sharing
Serving & Sharing
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Mathematical Probability that Jesus is the Christ
The Deacon’s Corner…
Mathematical Probability that Jesus is the Christ
What are the odds of anyone of us being struck by lightning in a year? 7 x 10 (5th power) or 1 in 700,000. Or, how about being killed by lightning in a year? 2 x 10 (6th power) or 1 in 2,000,000. Becoming President? 1 x 10 (7th power) 1 in 10,000,000 A meteorite landing on your house? 1.8 x 10 (14th power) or 1 in 180,000,000,000,000. How about the odds that you will eventually die? = 1 in 1. There is a 100% Probability that each of us will die one day! As you can see, the probability of being struck or killed by lightning, becoming president, or having a meteorite land on your house, progressively increases, given the event; however, someone somewhere will be that 1 in 10x , and that someone could be you!
Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were conservatively worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students, then he took their estimates and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented (Peter Stoner, Science Speaks, Chicago: Moody Press, 1969, 4).
After examining only eight prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was 1 in 10 (17th power) which is 1 x 100,000,000,000,000,000.
To illustrate how large the number 10(17th Power) a figure with 17 zeros. Stoner gave this illustration:
If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10(17th Power) silver dollars and lay them on the face of the state of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.
From these figures, professor Stoner, concludes the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of the prophecies- the likelihood of mere chance is only one in 10(17th Power)!
But, of course there are many more than eight prophecies. In another calculation, Stoner used 48 prophecies, (even though he could have used Edersheim’s 456 total confirmed prophecies), and arriving at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10 (157th Power) 157 zeros! Stoner gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small objects. They’re smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10 (15th Power) of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op.cit,109). Again, 1 chance in 10 (157 Power).
The evidence is clear, God has revealed it through the Deposit of Faith- Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures proclaimed for over 2000 years- That Jesus Christ Is the Messiah Foretold through the centuries!
God Bless!
Deacon Rick Chenault Sr.
Mathematical Probability that Jesus is the Christ
What are the odds of anyone of us being struck by lightning in a year? 7 x 10 (5th power) or 1 in 700,000. Or, how about being killed by lightning in a year? 2 x 10 (6th power) or 1 in 2,000,000. Becoming President? 1 x 10 (7th power) 1 in 10,000,000 A meteorite landing on your house? 1.8 x 10 (14th power) or 1 in 180,000,000,000,000. How about the odds that you will eventually die? = 1 in 1. There is a 100% Probability that each of us will die one day! As you can see, the probability of being struck or killed by lightning, becoming president, or having a meteorite land on your house, progressively increases, given the event; however, someone somewhere will be that 1 in 10x , and that someone could be you!
Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, Peter Stoner has calculated the probability of one man fulfilling the major prophecies made concerning the Messiah. The estimates were conservatively worked out by twelve different classes representing some 600 university students, then he took their estimates and made them even more conservative. He also encouraged other skeptics or scientists to make their own estimates to see if his conclusions were more than fair. Finally, he submitted his figures for review to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation. Upon examination, they verified that his calculations were dependable and accurate in regard to the scientific material presented (Peter Stoner, Science Speaks, Chicago: Moody Press, 1969, 4).
After examining only eight prophecies, they conservatively estimated that the chance of one man fulfilling all eight prophecies was 1 in 10 (17th power) which is 1 x 100,000,000,000,000,000.
To illustrate how large the number 10(17th Power) a figure with 17 zeros. Stoner gave this illustration:
If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10(17th Power) silver dollars and lay them on the face of the state of Texas. They’ll cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would’ve had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.
From these figures, professor Stoner, concludes the fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of the prophecies- the likelihood of mere chance is only one in 10(17th Power)!
But, of course there are many more than eight prophecies. In another calculation, Stoner used 48 prophecies, (even though he could have used Edersheim’s 456 total confirmed prophecies), and arriving at the extremely conservative estimate that the probability of 48 prophecies being fulfilled in one person is the incredible number 10 (157th Power) 157 zeros! Stoner gives an illustration of this number using electrons. Electrons are very small objects. They’re smaller than atoms. It would take 2.5 TIMES 10 (15th Power) of them, laid side by side, to make one inch. Even if we counted 250 of these electrons each minute, and counted day and night, it would still take 19 million years just to count a line of electrons one-inch long (Stoner, op.cit,109). Again, 1 chance in 10 (157 Power).
The evidence is clear, God has revealed it through the Deposit of Faith- Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scriptures proclaimed for over 2000 years- That Jesus Christ Is the Messiah Foretold through the centuries!
God Bless!
Deacon Rick Chenault Sr.
Deacon Rick Chenault Sr.
Administrator of Resurrection Chapel
(Diocese of Birmingham Alabama.)
Deacon Rick was ordained a Permanent Deacon on December 7, 2013.
As the Church Administrator, Deacon Rick maintains the business aspects
for Resurrection Chapel under the direction of Fr. Merrill.
As a Missionary church under the direction of Annunciation of The Lord Parish in Decatur, Al.
Resurrection Chapel provides an outreach to other communities that Annunciation of The Lord cannot provide.
Deacon Rick also works closely with Fr. Charles Merrill at Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Decatur, Al. serving in several capacities as needed.
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