onemorehere
11-28-2019, 03:12 PM
On October 18th, I received this email from the ReclaimNews Christian news service. The person offering this prize is Rev. Jack Cascione, author of several books mentioned in this email. To claim the prize, you can submit your literary research here (http://redeemerlutheranchurch.org/wptest/?page_id=38). Note he excludes outright poetry. This may be a reference to my emails to him, I don't know--I had emailed word frequency patterns that I had found outside the Bible in an attempt to prove that this phenomenon was not limited to the Bible. My emails to him were similar to my postings here (https://www.worldliteratureforum.com/forum/index.php?threads/word-frequency-patterns.65857/).
As I doubt most readers here are familiar with his brand of Biblical numerology, here is a link to an interview (https://am980themission.com/content/all/leemichaelslive) he gave on a Christian radio station. To get to the interview, scroll down the list of past programs to the one dated "9/4/19 Proof We Have the Original Text of the Bible ? Jack Cascione"
$2,000 Offered for Proving Hebraic Meter in Genesis Chapter 1 is not Unique to the Bible
A previous article titled, ?New Evidence for Genesis Authorship,? by this writer included the following challenge.
Some have said, this meter can be found in any kind of literature. Such only betray their ignorance. This writer is offering $1,000.00 to anyone who can find the same amount of Hebraic Meter in any other literature on earth as is found in Genesis Chapter 1 and continues throughout the text of the Pentateuch. There are 366 words in Genesis Chapter 1, not including conjunctions, prepositions, and pronouns all attached to the 366 words. Surely some genius professor out there will say, ?That?s just the same kind of literary structure we find in Moby Dick, Sanskrit, Hieroglyphics, the Bhagavad Gita, the front page of the New York Times, cuneiform tablets, or the Gnostic writings.?
There must also be a statistician out there who says this kind of metered repetition happens all the time. Offer the proof and take my money.
The challenge has now increased to $2,000.00, with the addition of another $1,000.00 offered up by a Michigan layman.
For any who would like to collect the money we herewith offer a few more parameters.
Suggested Writings Challengers Might Consider for Comparison with Genesis Chapter 1
Any language from any time in history.
Any religious text on earth from recent history such as the Book of Mormon, Koran, Helen White of the Seventh Day Adventists, Mary Baker Eddy, etc.
Any writing from Ancient Roman and Grecian literature, such as those of Plato, Aristotle, Aesop, etc.
Any ancient texts from Eastern religions such as, Siddhartha Gautama, Confucius, the Upanishads, Sanskrit, Bhagavad Gita, etc.
Any writings found in Prichard?s Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Ebla Tablets, Cuneiform, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hieroglyphics, Egyptian Funeral Scrolls, Ugarit, Nag Hammadi Texts, Kabbala, Gnostic writings, Apocrypha, and the Pseudo Epigraph. (Do not waste time in the Septuagint. It is an inconsistent translation.)
Any Ancient Western Texts such as the Norwegian Eddaic poems and Skaldic verse, Beowulf, etc.
Any western writer, such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, John Bunyan, Machiavelli, Goethe, etc.
Any more recent author such as Dickens, Melville, Jules Vern, Hugo, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, etc. (Poets will not work because they usually follow one or two preferred meters but not three.)
Any front page of the New York Times, London Times from any time in history.
Constraints
The meter must be written in non-contiguous, random, asymmetric order in single words, events, or especially phrases, in multiples of 7s, 10s, and 12s and must also display metered subsets of 7s, 10s, and 12s, within longer meters of 14, 21, 28, etc., 20, 20, 30, 40, etc., and 12, 24, 36, etc. Occurrences of metered repetition consisting of a similar quantity and varying lengths, as found in Genesis Chapter 1, must be found in paragraphs, chapters, and throughout the entire document such as the Pentateuch; and yes, it may include articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.
How to collect the money
Simply submit comparable examples of metered repetition, as found in Genesis Chapter 1, from any other literature as displayed in the previous article titled, ?New Evidence for Genesis Authorship.? Many other chapters could have been selected, but we will begin with the first chapter of the Bible.
At this time, every conservative denomination?no matter how much they claim to support the authority, inspiration, and infallibility of the Bible?apply their Doctrine of Inspiration only to the original autographs which no longer exist. They will not state: ?We have the original text of the Bible and we can prove it.?
Imagine the word ?Scripture? in Luther?s speech (below) at the Diet of Worms followed by the words, ?As was stated in the original autographs which we no longer possess?? No wonder Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, etc., are in a state of collapse.
"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."
Seminaries are now teaching students that we do not have the original text of the Bible, and the Reformation was based on na?ve assumptions. Seminaries will not present ?alternative facts? proving we have the original text of the Bible. Denominations that once confessed the text now discredit the text. Generation by generation the denominations are taking on the form of cult organizations instead of Bible believing Christians.
The goal of this challenge is to locate someone somewhere who can prove the assumptions and data presented in this writer?s books In Search of the Biblical Order and Repetition in the Bible are not unique to the Bible. Rather than deal with the entire Bible, the challenge is narrowed down to proving that Hebraic Meter found Genesis Chapter 1, as published in the previous article, is not unique to the Bible.
A panel of knowledgeable judges, not including this writer, will determine whether the challenge has been met.
As I doubt most readers here are familiar with his brand of Biblical numerology, here is a link to an interview (https://am980themission.com/content/all/leemichaelslive) he gave on a Christian radio station. To get to the interview, scroll down the list of past programs to the one dated "9/4/19 Proof We Have the Original Text of the Bible ? Jack Cascione"
$2,000 Offered for Proving Hebraic Meter in Genesis Chapter 1 is not Unique to the Bible
A previous article titled, ?New Evidence for Genesis Authorship,? by this writer included the following challenge.
Some have said, this meter can be found in any kind of literature. Such only betray their ignorance. This writer is offering $1,000.00 to anyone who can find the same amount of Hebraic Meter in any other literature on earth as is found in Genesis Chapter 1 and continues throughout the text of the Pentateuch. There are 366 words in Genesis Chapter 1, not including conjunctions, prepositions, and pronouns all attached to the 366 words. Surely some genius professor out there will say, ?That?s just the same kind of literary structure we find in Moby Dick, Sanskrit, Hieroglyphics, the Bhagavad Gita, the front page of the New York Times, cuneiform tablets, or the Gnostic writings.?
There must also be a statistician out there who says this kind of metered repetition happens all the time. Offer the proof and take my money.
The challenge has now increased to $2,000.00, with the addition of another $1,000.00 offered up by a Michigan layman.
For any who would like to collect the money we herewith offer a few more parameters.
Suggested Writings Challengers Might Consider for Comparison with Genesis Chapter 1
Any language from any time in history.
Any religious text on earth from recent history such as the Book of Mormon, Koran, Helen White of the Seventh Day Adventists, Mary Baker Eddy, etc.
Any writing from Ancient Roman and Grecian literature, such as those of Plato, Aristotle, Aesop, etc.
Any ancient texts from Eastern religions such as, Siddhartha Gautama, Confucius, the Upanishads, Sanskrit, Bhagavad Gita, etc.
Any writings found in Prichard?s Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Ebla Tablets, Cuneiform, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hieroglyphics, Egyptian Funeral Scrolls, Ugarit, Nag Hammadi Texts, Kabbala, Gnostic writings, Apocrypha, and the Pseudo Epigraph. (Do not waste time in the Septuagint. It is an inconsistent translation.)
Any Ancient Western Texts such as the Norwegian Eddaic poems and Skaldic verse, Beowulf, etc.
Any western writer, such as Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, John Bunyan, Machiavelli, Goethe, etc.
Any more recent author such as Dickens, Melville, Jules Vern, Hugo, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, etc. (Poets will not work because they usually follow one or two preferred meters but not three.)
Any front page of the New York Times, London Times from any time in history.
Constraints
The meter must be written in non-contiguous, random, asymmetric order in single words, events, or especially phrases, in multiples of 7s, 10s, and 12s and must also display metered subsets of 7s, 10s, and 12s, within longer meters of 14, 21, 28, etc., 20, 20, 30, 40, etc., and 12, 24, 36, etc. Occurrences of metered repetition consisting of a similar quantity and varying lengths, as found in Genesis Chapter 1, must be found in paragraphs, chapters, and throughout the entire document such as the Pentateuch; and yes, it may include articles, conjunctions, and prepositions.
How to collect the money
Simply submit comparable examples of metered repetition, as found in Genesis Chapter 1, from any other literature as displayed in the previous article titled, ?New Evidence for Genesis Authorship.? Many other chapters could have been selected, but we will begin with the first chapter of the Bible.
At this time, every conservative denomination?no matter how much they claim to support the authority, inspiration, and infallibility of the Bible?apply their Doctrine of Inspiration only to the original autographs which no longer exist. They will not state: ?We have the original text of the Bible and we can prove it.?
Imagine the word ?Scripture? in Luther?s speech (below) at the Diet of Worms followed by the words, ?As was stated in the original autographs which we no longer possess?? No wonder Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, etc., are in a state of collapse.
"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."
Seminaries are now teaching students that we do not have the original text of the Bible, and the Reformation was based on na?ve assumptions. Seminaries will not present ?alternative facts? proving we have the original text of the Bible. Denominations that once confessed the text now discredit the text. Generation by generation the denominations are taking on the form of cult organizations instead of Bible believing Christians.
The goal of this challenge is to locate someone somewhere who can prove the assumptions and data presented in this writer?s books In Search of the Biblical Order and Repetition in the Bible are not unique to the Bible. Rather than deal with the entire Bible, the challenge is narrowed down to proving that Hebraic Meter found Genesis Chapter 1, as published in the previous article, is not unique to the Bible.
A panel of knowledgeable judges, not including this writer, will determine whether the challenge has been met.