Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.

Script:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. … for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

Isaiah, chapter 7, verses 14 and 16, New International Version

VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re so happy you’re able to join us here today on Anchored by Truth. For our most recent several episodes we have been working on a series we call “Eternal Information.” We’ve covered a lot of ground so far in this series. For those listening today who may have missed some of the earlier episodes we encourage you to go to our website crystalseabooks.com where you can hear them. This series in particular has been one of those series where each episode builds on the material from previous episodes. In the studio today we have RD Fierro. RD is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, we’re pretty deep into our discussion of information. Maybe it would help provide some context to today’s discussion if you would start us off by briefly going over some of the big ideas we’ve been discussing?

RD: Well, before I do that I would also like to extend my greetings to everyone who is joining us here today. The biggest idea that we are trying to convey in this series is that you cannot look at the universe around us and fail to note that it not only contains material elements, like matter and energy, but that it also contains non-material components like volition and information. And it would be impossible for our universe to contain such non-material components without there being a non-material source that possessed both power and intelligence.

VK: One of the first ideas we covered in this series is that information cannot be created, destroyed, or affected by matter or energy. Matter or energy can be used to store, transmit, or receive information but the information itself remains unaffected by the matter and energy. A recipe for pound cake doesn’t change whether it is written on a note card, stored in computer hard drive, or retained in someone’s memory. And the presence of information always requires the presence of intelligence. Or said differently, the presence of information within the visible universe demonstrates that there must be a source of power and intelligence that made it possible. And, when you refer to a non-material source that possesses both power and intelligence you’re referring to God.

RD: Yes. Our universe could not appear as it does without information, and therefore intelligence, being present. But intelligence without creative power would never produce either the visible universe or the information that we displayed throughout the universe. So, one big idea we have been discussing is that the existence of information points directly to the existence of God. Or as Dr. Werner Gitt so aptly put it in the title of his book, In the Beginning was Information. This point is reinforced by the fact that life would not be possible without the presence of information within biological structure.

VK: Even the Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary points out that the nucleotide sequence of DNA contains information. That dictionary provides this definition for information: “[Information is] the attribute inherent in and communicated by one of two or more alternative sequences or arrangements of something (such as nucleotides in DNA or binary digits in a computer program) that produce specific effects.”

RD: Yes. One way of thinking about information’s role in living creatures is to note that physics and chemistry, by themselves, will not produce biology. Biological structures are the result of chemical elements being organized and directed in very specific patterns such as the nucleotide sequence within DNA. In other words, physics plus chemistry does not equal biology. Physics plus chemistry plus information equals biology.

VK: And in our last episode of Anchored by Truth we noted that if the existence of natural information indicates what we might call natural intelligence, then the existence of supernatural information would necessarily indicate the presence of supernatural intelligence.

RD: Exactly right. And in our last episode we began demonstrating that the Bible gives evidence of being the result of a superintending, supernatural intelligence. Last time we began demonstrating that Bible stores and transmits information on multiple levels. This attribute would be very difficult to explain if the Bible were solely the result of human input and intelligence.

VK: And, in that episode we pointed out that one level of information that the Bible contains is the same kind of information you might get from reading any book. In essence, it’s the information you get from reading a book left to right from front to back. The Bible contains a ton of information on human and natural history, interpersonal relations, managing money, building successful families, overcoming addiction, and many other subjects. If there’s a subject that affects the lives of people and communities the Bible most likely has something to say about it.

RD: Yes. So, one level of information that we may easily see within the Bible is what we might term pragmatic information. Pragmatic information is information about the ordinary affairs that concern people such as historical information, advice about money and families, and proverbs to help people avoid trouble and live better lives. Pragmatic information is important, not only because of its content, but also because the presence of this pragmatic information gives us an opportunity to test the accuracy and reliability of the Bible

VK: Can you give us an example of what you’re thinking about?

RD: Sure. One form of this pragmatic information is the historical information the Bible provides. We can test this historical information to see whether it is reliable. And we have given tons of examples on various Anchored by Truth episodes to show that the Bible’s historical information is reliable. Examples like the fact that the book of Jonah maintained a record of the existence of the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, while secular history lost sight of it for over 2,000 years. In 1849 the British diplomat and explorer, Austen Henry Layard, rediscovered the lost palace of Sennacherib with its 71 rooms and colossal bas-reliefs. He also unearthed the palace and famous library of Ashurbanipal with 22,000 cuneiform clay tablets. But before Layard’s discovery many historians thought that Jonah’s account of Nineveh was just a legend because it was contained in the same book as him being in the belly of a fish for 3 days. Another remarkable confirmation of the Bible’s historical reliability is the archeological findings at the city of Jericho.

VK: Extensive excavations have been carried out at the site of the ancient city of Jericho. And while some of the archeologists who worked at the site didn’t believe their findings supported the Biblical account, careful analysis by others, such as Dr. Bryant Wood, have come to a different conclusion. For instance, Dr. Wood says that “The city’s free-standing inner and outer mudbrick walls collapsed outward, fell down the slope and piled up at the base of the (mound), falling ‘beneath themselves’ as the Hebrew of Joshua 6:5 indicates. This allowed the invading Israelites to go straight ahead, up and into the city in the manner described in Joshua 6:20.

RD: Dr. Wood has also concluded that “After the walls fell, the city was set on fire (Joshua 6:24). A one-meter-thick layer of ash and debris, including jars of burnt wheat, has been found in many sections of the city. The jars full of charred grain support the Bible’s claims that the attack took place just after the harvest (Joshua 3:15), that the siege was short (seven days), and that the Israelites did not plunder the city, except for the precious metals that were “put into the treasury of the house of the Lord” (Joshua 6:24) and the individual sin of Achan (Joshua 7:21).” One of the most remarkable findings was that “In at least one area, the mudbrick wall had not collapsed, consistent with Rahab’s house being spared even though it was attached to the city wall.” … “Some houses in the lower city were built into the lower city wall, which is exactly how Rahab’s house is described (Joshua 2:15).”

VK: And as we have pointed out in numerous episodes of Anchored by Truth there are hundreds if not thousands of examples of times the Bible’s historical trustworthiness has been validated by archeological finds. So, historical information is one aspect of the pragmatic information the Bible contains. And when tested the historical information is found to be reliable. The same thing is true of the Bible’s advice for everyday situations like money management or family relationships. Last time we noted the Bible’s recommendation from Ecclesiastes that we should diversify our investments. Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verse 2 says we should divide our investments into 7 or 8 portions because the future is uncertain. This tracks very closely to investment advice that is still given to never allocate more than 10% or so of a portfolio into a single asset class. Diversification is one of the foundational principles that is still honored today. Moreover, the appropriateness of the Bible’s recommendations regarding marital and family relations has been validated by countless sociological studies to produce happier and more successful families and children.

RD: Yes. And people who don’t follow the Bible’s advice on remaining faithful in marriage or avoiding gluttony drunkenness far more often than not wish that they had listened to the Bible. The Bible’s pragmatic information is time tested and validated. But, of course, the Bible doesn’t just contain pragmatic information. It also contains prophetic information.

VK: And in our last episode of Anchored by Truth we mentioned two examples of the Bible’s extraordinary prophetic accuracy. We talked about the precise fulfillment of the Bible’s prophecies in Jeremiah, chapter 25, verses 10 and 11 and Isaiah, chapter 45, verses 1 and 2. These prophecies concerned the fact that the nation of Judah would be conquered by the Babylonians and the Jews would spend 70 years in exile. Then their exile would end when a Persian king, that the Bible names specifically, would allow the exiled Hebrews to return to Judah and Jerusalem. These prophecies were fulfilled exactly even though they were given decades before fulfillment.

RD: Right. But it is important to note that the Bible’s prophetic information wasn’t just confined to the destinies of nations and empires that were fulfilled over decades and centuries. Biblical prophets also gave prophecies about specific individuals that were fulfilled relatively quickly such as when the prophet Samuel foretold that the first king of Israel would be Saul. Samuel gave Saul a series of prophecies that were precisely fulfilled within a day of Samuel giving them. This ensured that Saul could be assured that Samuel had been sent by God to anoint him king. When we think of Biblical prophecy we often think about the “big” prophecies such as those concerning Jesus or the future of Israel or the worldwide flood. But all of the prophets had to give short term prophecies as well as long term prophets. Otherwise the Hebrews would have had no way of testing to see whether the prophet was genuine.

VK: In Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verses 21 and 22 Moses gave the people the test for determining whether someone who claimed to be a prophet had actually been sent by God. God had tol Moses to tell the people, “You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.” In other words, a Biblical prophet had to be 100% accurate. So, even though scripture does not report all of the prophecies that each prophet made we can be confident that the prophets were providing enough prophecies for shorter-term events that allowed the people to validate their status.

RD: So, the ability to give accurate prophecies 100% of the time is what distinguishes authentic Biblical prophets from the many imposters that have come along through the ages. People such as Edward Cayce and Jeanne Dixon have claimed to be prophets but they have many well-known prophetic failures. Dixon predicted that the Russians would be the first to land a man on the moon. She predicted that Richard Nixon would not resign from the presidency of the United States. She predicted that the Vietnam War would be over by l966 and she predicted that the Panama Canal treaties would not be approved and ratified. She also predicted that UFOs, with super-advanced humans from a hidden planet would land and make contact with us by 1977. All of those prophecies were obviously failures. Edward Cayce predicted the 2nd coming of Christ would occur in 1998. It didn’t.

VK: During the 1930s, Cayce also incorrectly predicted that North America would experience existential chaos: He said, "Los Angeles, San Francisco ... will be among those that will be destroyed before New York". Though, come to think of it, if you look at what’s going on in this country right now you might start to think he was right about some of that.

RD: And that is an important point. These false prophets may have been right may have been right on some or even many occasions. But the standard for being a Biblical prophet is to be right 100% of the time and no prophets outside the Bible have that kind of record. But in this episode we are primarily concerned with the nature of the information that the Bible contains and how that demonstrates the supernatural character of the Bible. So, let’s take a look at our opening scripture for a second. This scripture from Isaiah is certainly one of the most famous prophecies in the Bible because it was the prophecy that the coming Messiah would be born of a virgin. But what I want to point out is that the prophecy, like many in the Bible, had two levels of prophetic information within it. There was an immediate application of the prophecy and a much longer application.

VK: What do you mean?

RD: This prophecy was given by the prophet Isaiah to a Hebrew king named Ahaz. At the time Isaiah gave it the nation of Judah had been invaded by a confederation of two foreign powers and kings. The kings were from the nations of Israel and Aram. Aram was essentially Syria. Isaiah, chapter 7, verse 1 says, “When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem …”

VK: We should tell everyone that event occurred about 733 B.C. – a little over 700 years before Jesus was born. At this point in Israel’s history the kingdom that had been unified under King David and King Solomon had been split into a northern kingdom that was called “Israel” and a southern kingdom that was called “Judah.” Ahaz was the king of Judah, the southern kingdom. There had been civil war between Judah and Israel pretty much every since the split of the kingdom under Solomon’s son. For most of the period of the split kingdom the northern kingdom was the more powerful of the two. So, at the time of this invasion the threat that Judah might be conquered by a confederation of Israel and Syria was real. Ahaz knew that and he was scared. So, God sent the prophet Isaiah to Ahaz to essentially tell him “don’t worry about those two kings. I’ll handle them. And to prove I’ll take care of them ask me for a sign and I’ll provide it.”

RD: Isaiah was trying to provide God’s reassurance to Ahaz but Ahaz was a wicked king so he rejected Isaiah’s offer. Ahaz essentially said, “I’m too pious to ask God for a sign.” But God knew Ahaz’s heart so he told Isaiah to say to Ahaz, “that’s fine. I’ll give you a sign anyway and it will be a sign of my own choosing.” So, God told Ahaz that as a sign that that the invading kings would not succeed in their ambitions God had Isaiah give the prophecy we heard in our opening scripture. This prophecy actually operated on two levels. In the short term Isaiah’s prophecy meant that before a young woman would get pregnant, give birth, and raise a child for 2 or 3 years the danger to Judah would disappear. And it did. In fact within a matter of decades neither Israel nor Syria would ever pose a serious danger to Judah ever again.

VK: And, on a longer term basis, the prophecy referred to the ultimate deliverer for not only Judah but also the whole world. In his gospel Matthew cited this prophecy as being fulfilled in the virgin birth of Christ Jesus. Now again, we want to emphasize that there was more than 700 years between Isaiah giving this prophecy and Jesus being born. So, while the short term application of the prophecy was fulfilled within a few years, the longer term fulfillment was a matter of centuries. Only, an eternal God with supernatural knowledge could have given that information to Isaiah.

RD: Yes. And that’s the really important point for today. For those of us who accept the supernatural inspiration of the Bible Isaiah being able to give a precise prophecy that had two different applications isn’t really a big deal. We accept the fact that God knows everything (omniscient) and therefore can reveal anything to anyone any time He chooses. But for someone who wants to deny divine inspiration for the Bible they have to come up with an alternative explanation for how a man in the 8th century BC could have known something not just a couple of years earlier but hundreds of years earlier.

VK: What you’re saying is that the prophetic information within the Bible goes well beyond human abilities. Human beings might be able to supply pragmatic information like advice on managing money or raising kids. Human beings can ever make accurate records of historical events – though we have no other records besides the Bible that made such records accurately over a period of 1,500 years. But at least theoretically a reliable historical record, even one prepared over centuries, is within the power of humans to make. But no human being has the power to make precise prophecies of the type we see in the Bible. We don’t know what level the stock market will be at weeks from now much less decades from now. We don’t know the outcome of elections that are sometimes just days away. And even in those cases where claims are made that a human prophet did get some things right we never see detailed prophecies that are fulfilled precisely. But we see this in the Bible.

RD: Right. Again, accepting the supernatural inspiration of the Bible resolves all the questions that otherwise have no sensible resolution. So, critics have to resort to doubting the date the Bible books were written to try to make it look like the prophecies were given after the events not before. This is one of the reasons that careful research and scholarship is so important to our faith. Solid analysis about use of words, writing styles, grammar and syntax help refute the critics’ attempts. And it’s important to note that the critics wouldn’t need to make such attempts if the fulfilled prophecies in the Bible weren’t so effective at demonstrating that the Bible has a supernatural point of inspiration. Back to our basic point. The presence of information always requires the presence of intelligence. And information is abundant within the created order, even in the existence of biological life. This means intelligence was involved in the creation of living creatures. This is information that we can perceive and understand with our natural senses. But the kind of information that we see within the Bible cannot be explained through natural means. It’s supernatural. And supernatural information must have a supernatural intelligence behind it – the kind of intelligence that only God possesses.

VK: And there is at least one more level of information in the Bible that we haven’t had time to discuss yet. We will have to get into that in our next episode of Anchored by Truth. We’re all familiar with single dimension information systems because that’s what we experience in our daily lives from books and other sources. But there are biological information systems within the universe so complex that they are beyond anything that human beings could create. The only reasonable explanation for their existence is that they were created by the Ultimate, Infinite Designer. God has given us ample evidence of His presence and He is more than willing to help us live productive, joyful lives if we will just acknowledge that simple fact. This sounds like a time to go to God in prayer. Today let’s say a prayer for our nation especially that God will bring a spirit of renewal and revival to a culture that is desperately in need of the truth of Christ.

---- PRAYER FOR THE NATION

VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.”

If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”

(Bible Quote from the New International Version)

Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verse 6, New International Version

The walls of Jericho (creation.com)

Jeane Dixon And Prophecy | Christian Research Institute (equip.org)