Looking back at Reck’s blog (http://recksblog.townhall.com/ - see: The Word on Evolution) on this subject, I went through the comments looking to see if Stanley Rosenthal had commented on anything I had written in part 1 of this topic.  His direct reply to me was:

“got this far: Proving God’s existence requires two things: verifiable information and faith…

Faith basically means that you believe something.  I have faith that someone will give me a million dollars tomorrow.  Call me deluded, but I believe it!!!!”

I was disappointed that he didn’t take the time to read the entire blog.  In all seriousness, I’m sure he’s a good person, but it appears that he’s not really interested in reading something different than his own presuppositions.  I’ve found that most agnostics have the same attitude.  It’s okay for them to believe that the earth is much older than 6,000 years because some scientists say so, but if Creationist scientists say something different, then they’re dead wrong.  I wish more agnostics would at least admit that they can’t have it both ways.  Why is it that it’s okay to believe in one thing that requires verifiable information and faith, but not in the possibility that God does exist?  Nonetheless, I will continue the series.

In Psalm 22:12-18 we read:

¹¹ Do not be far from me,
       for trouble is near
       and there is no one to help.

 ¹² Many bulls surround me;
       strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

 ¹³ Roaring lions tearing their prey
       open their mouths wide against me.

 ¹⁴ I am poured out like water,
       and all my bones are out of joint.
       My heart has turned to wax;
       it has melted away within me.

 ¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
       and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
       you lay me in the dust of death.

 ¹⁶ Dogs have surrounded me;
       a band of evil men has encircled me,
       they have pierced my hands and my feet.

 ¹⁷ I can count all my bones;
       people stare and gloat over me.

 ¹⁸ They divide my garments among them
       and cast lots for my clothing. - NIV

Many bible scholars believe that these verses describe the agony that Jesus was going to go through on the cross, or that these were the words/thoughts actually used by Jesus on the cross.  Is this true?  Let’s examine.

In Matthew 27:46 we read:

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" – NIV (see also Mark 15:34)

Some critics ask, “If Jesus is God, why did he say this?”  First of all, Jesus was quoting Psalm 22:1 which says My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why?  To draw attention to that verse and to show that He was fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 22, particularly verses 11-18.  Skeptical?  Try this on:  This Psalm was written approximately 1000 years before Jesus came to the earth.  Crucifixion would not be invented until many centuries later.  Actually, the Phoenician's invented it and Rome got the idea from them.   So, when Rome ruled over Israel, it became the Roman (Gentile) means of capital punishment imposed upon the Jews whose God-given means of execution was stoning.  Nevertheless, Jesus is pointing to the scriptures to substantiate His messianic mission.

That in and of itself isn’t proof that those verses foretell of Jesus’ crucifixion, but consider this:  The term ‘dogs’ was used by the Jews to refer to Gentiles (see Matt. 15:21-28).  His heart had melted within Him (v. 14).   During crucifixion, the loss of blood would cause the heart to beat harder and harder and become extremely fatigued.  Dehydration occurred (v. 15).  Verses 16b-18 speak of piercing His hands and feet and dividing his clothing by casting lots.   This is exactly what happen as described in Matt. 27:35.

Jesus fulfilled several hundred Old Testament prophecies that were written about Him.  To give you and idea of how staggering the odds are of one person doing that, here’s something I found from Josh McDowell’s book entitled, “Evidence That Demands a Verdict:”

The following probabilities are taken from Peter Stoner in Science Speaks (Moody Press, 1963) to show that coincidence is ruled out by the science of probability. Stoner says that by using the modern science of probability in reference to eight prophecies, “we find that the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all eight prophecies is 1 in 10¹⁷.” That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. In order to help us comprehend this staggering probability, Stoner illustrates it by supposing that “we take 10¹⁷ silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep.

“Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man.”

Stoner considers 48 prophecies and says, "we find the chance that any one man fulfilled all 48 prophecies to be 1 in 10¹⁵⁷, or 1 in

100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

The estimated number of electrons in the universe is around 10⁷⁹. It should be quite evident that Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies by accident.” 

Some critics say, “Well, the New Testament writers were biased and wrote the NT to make it look like those prophecies were fulfilled.”  I could accept that argument except for this:  Why would someone be willing to die for something that wasn’t true?  And not just one Disciple/Apostle, but almost every one of them.  John, as far as we know, was the only one who died of old age, but only after having been boiled in oil and then later sent to the island of Patmos in exile.  Acts 12:2 records the death of James, son of Zebedee (not to be confused with the author of the book called James, the half-brother of Jesus.), that he was killed by Herod.  The other nine disciples of Jesus (later becoming apostles in Acts) were killed in various ways, albeit according to church tradition, all of who stuck with their story to the end.