Imagine everything that has ever happened, from the time Moses received the Ten Commandments, to the end of time as we don’t yet know it, was written down in vivid detail over 3,000 years ago. Imagine that this writing of extraordinary prediction isn’t locked away in some highly classified government facility, but rather hidden within the text of the best-selling book of all time. Imagine that the history of man and the path of his future has been laying on coffee tables and hotel nightstands for countless generations; that a text within a text was implanted into the Holy Bible by a force far more intelligent than mankind has ever known. This text, sealed from mortal view, has been waiting patiently for thousands of years. And now, with the invention of computers and group theory, the secret prophesies of perhaps God Himself, have been unlocked.

Although this may seem a bit far stretched even for Star Trek junkies and religious zealots, it is exactly what Michael Drosnin wants you to believe in his 1997 release, The Bible Code. Making its mark as the #1 best seller in seven countries, The Bible Code i

Although admitting early in the first chapter his complete skepticism and atheistic beliefs, Drosnin is clearly intent on persuading the average reader to believe word for word the discovery of the code. Formerly a reporter for the Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, Drosnin writes of his doubts on more than one occasion, and reminds the reader that everything they are about to read is an unbiased report of events that he has personally seen or drawn from his conversations with people directly tied to the research. However, after the obvious attempt at winning the readers’ trust in the introduction (like a salesman saying “Trust me”), his writing quickly turns from his earlier skepticism, and takes on the characteristics of a young child at a magic show; so caught up in the display of amazing tricks that he fails to wonder any longer if it is indeed a trick or the truth. Whether or not Drosnin actually is skeptical of the Bible code, he definitely doesn’t hesitate to take on the role of used car salesman with his book; dazzling the reader with a shiny paint job and plush interior so as not to arouse suspicions of the important things such as the engine and brakes. Not to be too critical of Drosnin, for he is very informative, but the average “its in a book so it must be true” reader is undoubtedly sucker-punched by the constant barrage of “proof”, while the few criticisms mentioned in the book are quietly ushered out via the back door.

In my critique, The Bible Code accomplishes exactly what it was intended to do. Drosnin successfully takes our natural fascination with mysterious codes and hidden texts, combines with them the religious power of the Bible, and then throws in some “expert” studies and bomb-proof statistics in a giant magic show designed to over-inflate an interesting theory and sell a few million books in the process. Perhaps that would explain why there is already a sequel to this book on the shelves of bookstores everywhere, and yet, the “phenomenon” of Bible codes is no more publicized in 2003 than it was in 1997. For such a proven existence, I find it odd that pastors aren’t preaching about it, and every person I mention it to has not heard of it. I am instantly reminded of a saying that I heard about the miraculous success of all Amway merchants: “If it works as well as they

Some topics in this essay:
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