Re: The centre of the Bible

Many of the recent translations will have a few verses in the New
Testament omitted (or else set off from the rest of the text) because of
manuscript evidence that they were not in the original. This would cause
the central verse in the Bible to occur earlier.

Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395

On Mon, 5 Jun 2006, Hon Wai Lai wrote:

> I came across a powerpoint slideshow illustrated with beautiful nature
> photographs, with the following messages in the slideshow:
>
> ........................................
> This is pretty strange how it worked out this way.
> Even if you are not religious, you should read this.
>
> Q: What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?
> A: Psalm 117
>
> Q: What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
> A: Psalm 119
>
> Q: Which chapter is in the centre of the Bible?
> A: Psalm 118
>
> Facts:
> There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118.
> There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118.
> Add these numbers up and you get 1188.
>
> Q: What is the centre verse in the Bible?
> A: Psalm 118:8
>
> Does this verse say something significant about God's perfect will for our
> lives?
>
> The next time someone says they would like to find God's perfect will for
> their lives and that they want to be in the centre of His will, just send
> them to the centre of His Word!
>
> Psalms 118:8 (NKJV)
> "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."
>
> Now isn't that odd how this worked out...or was God in the centre of it?
> ................................................................
>
>
> I am not in favour of looking for geometric patterns or mathematical
> patterns in the Bible as if there are coded messages to be discovered (this
> reminds me of the da Vinci Code), and as if it is through a supernatural
> scheme spanning millenia that the books and verses of the Bible fell into
> place in a predestined sequence. This fails to recognise that scriptural
> revelation came about through inspiration not dictation, and that the Spirit
> worked through natural human faculties and cultural mindsets. Some verses in
> Bible are indeed more central that others to the key message of God's
> revelation e.g. Romans and Gospel of John are more important theologically
> than Nahum. But importance cannot be determined from the position a verse
> appears in the compilation of scriptural books - except perhaps opening and
> concluding chapters in the Bible.
>
>
> However, does anyone know if the above assertions are indeed correct - at
> least in the NKJV translation (how about NIV?), and how might one downplay
> the apparent pattern? Also when was the Bible delineated with verses and
> passages?
>
>
>
Received on Mon Jun 5 18:15:10 2006