DaVinci Code: Ciphers in the Bible: kabballah: Bible Mysteries: Gnosticism: Essene Secrets:But that there is a mystery is beyond doubt! Even if you don't believe in God there is still a mystery surrounding the chronological data found in the Bible, because the Ancients went to so much trouble to research and record that data. Simple Mathematics demonstrates quite easily that the deliberate synchronisms don't synchronize at all! Why is that? And why do secular academics even bother to quote Biblical chronology to justify their various theories. Can we really believe that the redactors (the people who collected all the records and put them together c.450 BC) were complete idiots and mathematically challenged? Surely Not! There is abundant evidence that they were meticulous in everything.
Dan Brown's books 'the DaVinci Code' and 'Angels and Demons' have been hugely successful books [and movies] primarily because of people's fascination with mystery and intrigue, particularly within the Church.
Within religion, the love of and search for 'secrets, mysteries and hidden knowledge' is called Gnosticism, and today the Christian world is full of Gnostic religious congregations touting the latest hitherto not recognised secret of the fulfilled religious life. While many people fall prey to this 'special knowledge', many are justifiably wary.
But when it comes to religion, the church and the Bible, there is actually a genuine mystery that either gets swept under the table, or simply used to denigrate the Bible by saying that the Bible is rubbish.
This mystery is widely recognised by historians and archaeologists, but it has been more than 40 years since anyone tried to solve it. (Thiele.E.R. (1966) The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings).
Despite not being able to understand the mystery, historians, archaeologists, theologians and a variety of religious folk continue to talk as if the problem is insignificant.
The mystery is this. The chronological dates provided in the Bible make no sense.
This is a particularly disturbing fact when dealing with the historical chronological records for the period of the Divided Kingdom of Israel. (Ancient Israel during this time was actually two kingdoms - Israel and Judah). Ancient historians went to great lengths to synchronize all the reigns of the kings of the two kingdoms, but as everyone can plainly work out for themselves, these synchronisms don't work.
Unfortunately, while those who despise Christianity and Religion will tell you that the Bible is just full of error; something which is easily proven when comparing Bible Chronology with known history, religious fundamentalists who claim that everything in the Bible was virtually dictated by God, will simply ignore the discrepancies by saying that the 'Word of God' cannot be wrong and so therefore either 'known history' is wrong or God has not yet revealed this particular mystery. Either way, the mystery remains.
But that there is a mystery is beyond doubt! Even if you don't believe in God there is still a mystery surrounding the chronological data found in the Bible, because the Ancients went to so much trouble to research and record that data. Simple Mathematics demonstrates quite easily that the deliberate synchronisms don't synchronize at all! Why is that? And why do secular academics even bother to quote Biblical chronology to justify their various theories.
Can we really believe that the redactors (the people who collected all the records and put them together c.450 BC) were complete idiots and mathematically challenged? Surely Not! There is abundant evidence that they were meticulous in everything.
Roughly speaking, the chronological data for the Divided Kingdom is about 10% excessive of known history. When I myself first tried to work it all out it totally frustrated me. But in 1994 whilst exploring why the synchronisms did not synchronize, I accidently discovered something that just seemed to smooth out all the chronological contractions in the Bible, and thereafter spent 10 years researching; trying to prove and disprove what I had discovered. 'Disprove?' you ask. Yes! Disprove.
True Scientific theory is always tested not only to see if the theory works, but to see whether or not it can be disproved. To quote Uriah Kriegel
To win in the game of science, a theory must be submitted to many tests and survive all of them without being falsified. But to be even allowed into the game, the theory must be falsifiable in principle: there must be a conceivable experiment that would prove it false.
In November of 2003, being satisfied that there was little serious historical challenge to what I had discovered, I published the results of my work under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran', at www.kingscalendar.com
The Basic Premise of the research is that between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form. Basically they converted true history into years of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year. They effectively created 13 artificial years where 12 solar years existed. (The Significance 364 / 336 days)
Using that Mathematical base, it was discovered that the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period actually align. A computer spreadsheet program was created by two independent persons to recreate the artificial calendar.
The General formula for the Data conversion which created the artificial calendar was:
'X' times 364 equals 'Y' days
'Y' days divided by 336 equals 'Z' artificial years.
Values are:
'X' = any given number of 'real/solar' years
364 = perceived days in the sectarian calendar
'Y' = number of days calculated
336 = number of days in an artificial year
'Z' = artificial years = 1.083'X' and represents the original number of the converted years plus 8%.
To reverse the process by hand:
'Z' years times 336 equals 'Y' divided by 364 equals the Number of 'X' years converted.
To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5:Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE:
Now whilst many different people have tried to solve the riddle of why Bible Dates don't match real history, the most fundamental flaw in their theories is the mathematical complexity of their formulas and the unending list of 'ifs, buts and maybes'.
The King's Calendar however operates on the principle of 'Lineal Causality' and as such abides by mathematical rules, the most important of which is, that if you change any date for any day, month, or year within the calendar, every other day, month, or year in the calendar is effected and must also change. It's like a 'domino effect'. Chronological references cannot be 'forced' to fit, and nor can they simply be ignored or 'compressed' as is the usual case with historians and archaeologists.
If any King's Calendar chronological determination disagrees with anything in the history books, it must argue the case as to why the history books are wrong, or why the evidence for an assertion is untrustworthy. And contrary to what many people think, much of 'proven history' cannot be proven to be fact. The history of the Ancient Near East is full of suppositions, deductions, guesswork and hunches, but very lean on demonstrable facts.
Nevertheless, about 95% of the King's Calendar results do align with what the history books state, and they do in the process ruffle the feathers of those who believe in absolute bible infallibility. In some cases, Kingscalendar results have been able to demonstrate clearly which academic guesswork is correct.
The King's Calendar Chronological Reconstruction of Israel's history is unique, in that its' methodology can be scientifically (mathematically) tested and demonstrated to be either true or false. Its' chronological predictions are able to be 'proved' or 'disproved'. It cannot be right in one 'time point' in history and be wrong in another. It is right or it is wrong from beginning to end.
It is such a straighforward clear cut method of tying up historical loose ends for not only Israel, but Egypt, Syria, Assyria and Babylon, that whilst some academics have criticized the work as fanciful, not one in the last 6 years has been able to argue that the 'predictive chronological results' are incorrect.
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix Five to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
General formula for Biblical Data conversion:
The formula for constructing the artificial calendar was:
'X' times 364 equals 'Y' days'Y' days divided by 336 equals 'Z' artificial years.Values are:'X' = any given number of 'real/solar' years364 = perceived days in the sectarian calendar'Y' = number of days calculated336 = number of days in an artificial year'Z' = artificial years = 1.083'X' and represents the original number of the converted years plus 8%.To reverse the process by hand:'Z' years times 336 equals 'Y' divided by 364 equals the Number of 'X' years converted.
To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5:Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE:
The Principle of Linear Causality
The King's Calendar is a very simple approach to Biblical Chronology. It substitutes a value of 336 days for every year listed in Scripture. As far as the Divided Kingdom is concerned, when you use this 336 day year value, the synchronisms actually work. To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5: Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE
Because it is a mathematical system, the King's Calendar must abide by certain mathematical rules, the most important of which, is that if you change any date for any day, month, or year every other day, month, or year is effected and must also change. It's like a 'domino effect'. Chronological references cannot be 'forced' to fit, and nor can they simply be ignored or 'compressed' as is the usual case with historians and archaeologists.
If any King's Calendar chronological determination disagrees with anything in the history books, it must argue the case as to why the history books are wrong, or why the evidence for an assertion is untrustworthy. If the King's Calendar successfully defends its' position, then the history books cannot be treated as definitive, and if the King's Calendar is 'proven' wrong, then every other chronological reference it provides is also wrong.
Because of this, the King's Calendar Chronological Reconstruction of Israel's history is unique, in that its' methodology can be scientifically (mathematically) tested and demonstrated to be either true or false. Its' chronological predictions are able to be 'proved' or 'disproved'.
Copyright 2013 is held by the nominated authors on this article page.
About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been dramatically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
He has been teaching Conversational English in China since 2003 and currently (2013) is teaching in Suzhou City Jiangsu Province.
