To the Forum:
The Bible comprises 66 books - 39 in the Old Testament, and 27 in the
New. Like 153 (the number of fishes netted in John 21:11), 276 (the
number of souls saved from shipwreck in Acts 27:37), 666 (the number of
the beast - Rev.13:18), 703, 2701, 3003 (the sums of sequences in the
opening words of Genesis) and 78 ('mabbul' or Flood), 66 is a triangular
number - and therefore, for the Christian, an apposite 'hallmark' or
divine stamp of authority.
Some time ago (20 June 2001), under the subject heading "Watershed", I
had occasion to draw attention to the fact that accurate values of the
principal universal constants 'pi' and 'e' could be extracted from the
parallel verses Gen.1:1 and John 1:1, respectively, by applying the same
simple mathematical procedure to the data obtained from the reading of
their Hebrew and Greek words as numbers. Further, to show that the sum
of these verse totals - 2701 (37x73) and 3627 (39x93), respectively -
was another triangular number, viz 6328.- - implying that John 1:1
represents a perfect 'plinth' for 2701-as-triangle. Details may be found
at the last URL given below.
Now 39 and 93 (factors of John 1:1) may be written (64 - 27) and (64 +
27). This means that their product, 3627, is the difference of two
squares, viz 64^2 - 27^2. Thus, if we construct a square - ABCD, say -
of side 64, and within it another - AEFG, say - of side 27, then the
hexagon EBCDGF represents John 1:1, having sides of 27, 39 and 66 -
these reflecting the number of OT, NT and (OT+NT) books - of which John
1:1 is part.
These details may be found displayed at
http://homepage.virgin.net/vernon.jenkins/B_Books.htm
Such observations inspire confidence in the belief that the Scriptures
are laced with additional information - thus providing clear evidence of
their divine authorship and authority - as implied by a careful reading
of Rev.13:18. And the fact that such information has its roots firmly
anchored in the heart of mathematics and carries symbolic overtones adds
particular weight to these findings.
Sincerely,
Vernon
http://homepage.virgin.net/vernon.jenkins/First_Princs.htm
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