May 24, 2011
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Christians and Numerology
Let's take the Harold Camping awkwardness in a slightly different direction.
One common thing I've seen with every end-of-the-world prediction I've ever seen, is this obsession with the numbers of the Bible. It gets funky, though, in the whole predicting-the-pokkalypse thing, because the predictors tend to take these numbers and combine them in seemingly random ways. I'll give you an example from the Harold Camping circus:
Why are we multiplying those numbers by each other?
Here's another example:
Why would the 120 years of Genesis 6 be "Jubilee Years" when the Jubilee hadn't been instituted yet by Noah's day? Things get so wibbly-wobbly when we start messing around with, "Oh, that verse doesn't really mean a year, it means a JUBILEE year, so fifty years... and a thousand years is like a day to the Lord, so then we have to take the number and multiply it by a thousand..." It seems so arbitrary--how do we know which "years" are actual years, which "years" are jubilee years, which "years" are prophetic years, and which "years" are prophetic jubilee years (50,000?).
Maybe this is part of my general dislike of math in general, as a writer, but is numerology really something that should be a part of Christianity? I'm not talking simply about certain numbers being symbolic--six the symbol of man, seven the number of completion, twelve the number of the tribes and of the disciples, forty the number of the desert, etc. Sure, there are many numbers with some sort of significance: the three of the Trinity, the seven days of Creation, the fifty years of Jubilee, etc. Even St. John the Divine kind of hints at this sort of thing when he mentions the infamous "Number of the Beast." ("This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.")
But more than that--what about the idea that we can derive more complex meanings than that from numbers, particularly about the future? There's a difference between saying, "Oh, this number adds this added shade of meaning to this verse," and saying "This number is part of a secret code which reveals hidden meanings in this verse." While "sacred numbers" are a historical concept in Christianity, numerology was listed as a form of divination (and therefore forbidden) as early as 325 A.D.
And yet so many of the prophetic writings, particularly in Daniel and in Revelation, seem to encourage playing with numbers in that manner. There seems to be a tension here.
What role should the study of numbers or of numerology play in Christianity, or in Christian eschatology?
Comments (10)
gematria has a place, but not the place that people have made for it. Israel became a state exactly when it was planned... But as for doomsday, I just don't see a work down for that in the text.
It seems that from the Gnostics to today's numerologists, there have been some to whom salvation in Christ was not enough. Instead they wanted to be special and be able to obtain super-secret knowledge because God would only share with them the decoder ring or the super secret handshake.
It may sound like a cop out, but perhaps we should leave the symbolism in the numbers to the people who wrote them, i.e. Daniel and John. They and God only really know what they're supposed to mean. This may be one of the "mysteries" hinted at in the Bible; we'll only fully understand them in heaven.
I agree with you. I think the point is that we need to be ever vigilant... I don't understand this "let's try and figure everything out based on numbers and other things" kind of mentality.
I'm all for working to understand the text's original and intended meaning.
I don't really see where that intersects with numerology. At all. It's unwarranted. There are no directives to pursue any such practice in the Bible (to the contrary, there are assurances that no one knows and that it'll be a surprise, etc), and people throw these figures about with no method to their madness. It's irrational.
I did a blog on this, maybe you'd like to read it. This I believe goes far beyond assigning meaning to numbers, it's just a part of his system of interpretation. I attempt to put forth his ideas and identify where they go wrong. http://happily-married-guy.xanga.com/748476048/whats-behind-harold-campings-ideas/
Yes, there's a definite difference between saying this verse has a number that may be significant to this verse, and saying let's multiply this number by that number and assign symbolic meanings and decipher the Bible's secret code. The former makes sense, the latter is nonsensical. You ask, "Why are we multiplying those numbers by each other?" Good question, since there is no reason to do so other than to concoct some secret numeric code.
Do you remember "The Bible Code" a few years back? That's another creative bit of numero-crapola. All of these serve to distract believers from the hard work of living a faithful, holy, loving life in Christ. Some people prefer novelties.
Numerology as a "tool' for predicting the future, etc. appeals to the superstitious and the fearful. Those who pay attention to this sort of thing somehow believe that it comes from some special revelation. What it really should do is to cause us to run from these false prophets as fast as we can.
I think numbers in the Bible often have symbolic significance. Different numbers did have special spiritual significance to authors and actors.
I don't think they ever have significance related to the prediction of an actual amount of time that will pass before a future event takes place. "Symbolic" is not "literal".
I read your blogs regularly. Your humoristic way is amusing, continue the good work!
NumerologyCalculator.org
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