The man who did the maths
Peter Stoner was a professor of mathematics and astronomy. In his book Science Speaks, he asked a simple question: what are the chances that one man could fulfil the Messiah prophecies by accident?
He didn't use all of them. He picked just eight.
The eight prophecies
- Born in Bethlehem (Micheas 5:2).
- Announced by a messenger who goes before him (Malachias 3:1).
- Enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey (Zacharias 9:9).
- Betrayed by a friend (Psalm 40:10, 41:9 in most Bibles).
- Sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zacharias 11:12).
- The silver thrown down in the house of the Lord, for the potter (Zacharias 11:13).
- Silent before his accusers (Isaias 53:7).
- Hands and feet pierced (Psalm 21:17, 22:16 in most Bibles).
Every one of them was written hundreds of years before Jesus was born.
The answer
The chance of one man fulfilling all eight by chance:
1 in 10 to the power of 17. That's 1 in 100 quadrillion: a 1 followed by 17 zeros.
Stoner submitted his figures to a committee of the American Scientific Affiliation, who reviewed them and found the calculations dependable and accurate.
How big is that?
Stoner gave a picture. Cover the entire state of Texas in silver dollars, two feet deep. Mark one coin. Stir them all up. Now blindfold a man, send him anywhere he likes, and tell him to pick up one coin.
The chance he picks the marked one is the same as the chance of one man fulfilling just those eight prophecies by accident.
Then he ran 48
Stoner then worked out the odds for 48 prophecies:
1 in 10 to the power of 157.
For comparison, scientists estimate there are about 10 to the power of 80 atoms in the whole observable universe. These odds are 10 to the power of 77 times bigger than that.
Jesus fulfilled far more than 48.
"He could have arranged it"
Some people say Jesus simply read the prophecies and acted them out. A few he could have chosen, like riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. But look at the ones no man could arrange:
- Where he was born.
- A messenger sent ahead of him before he began.
- The exact price his betrayer was paid, set by other people.
- What the priests did with the money afterwards.
- Soldiers nailing his hands and feet.
You cannot choose your birthplace. You cannot set your own betrayal price. You cannot make soldiers crucify you rather than stone you.
Why this is a big deal
Stoner put it plainly:
"The fulfillment of these eight prophecies alone proves that God inspired the writing of those prophecies." A proof, he said, that "lacks only one chance in" 10 to the power of 17 "of being absolute."
Coincidence isn't an answer. The odds rule it out.