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Comments on Does the Bible ever talk about futuristic concepts which the original authors and audience would know nothing about?

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Does the Bible ever talk about futuristic concepts which the original authors and audience would know nothing about?

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Note: I have already posted this on Biblical Hermeneutics SE

Some time ago I read a book where the author was doubting the divine inspiration nature of the Bible by using the following reasoning:

  • Since the Bible is inspired by God who is able to know the future, it should contain some concepts from times long after those parts were written
  • There is no such concept in the Bible and the authors use only words (concepts) that are understood by the persons back then

I am wondering about the second statement (since it is hard to prove a negative) and it could be simply refuted by finding such a concept. To make it clearer what I am looking for is something like the following:

  • a word or expression that is very similar to a concept developed (found) by humans a long time after the Bible was written (e.g. imagine "laser" is written more than 1000 years ago)
  • that word or expression would have had no meaning for the writer

Question: Is there a word or expression in the Bible that confirms that God can know the future?

P.S. Not 100%, but I think the book containing this idea was 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I will try to locate the exact part containing what I have described.

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General comments (7 comments)
General comments

Skipping 2 deleted comments.

qohelet‭ wrote about 4 years ago

Welcome to Christianity! Unfortunately, this question needs a bit more focus and clarity to be answerable. Do biblical texts teach that God knows the future? In general: yes (although the Son may not not know the time of the end [or didn't at one time] based on certain passages). That is answerable. But the rest of the question makes this pretty confusing with "the alphabet" and such. Could you clarify/simplify?

qohelet‭ wrote about 4 years ago · edited about 4 years ago

For example, by "word or expression" I assume you mean specific statements in biblical texts, but "objectively" is a bit more challenging as different Christian groups interpret stuff differently. Is there are a particular Christian tradition you belong to and/or would like to hear from to focus this more? Thank you!

curiousdannii‭ wrote about 4 years ago · edited about 4 years ago

Can you please name the book you were reading and provide a quote from it? I think almost all Christians would say that the argument from the book is nonsensical, and that God would not have inspired the Biblical authors to use words from the future which would to them sound like gibberish. You're asking about the wrong premise - it's the first one you should be questioning.

qohelet‭ wrote about 4 years ago

I’ve reopened the question after the edit. Thanks for clarifying!

Alexei‭ wrote about 4 years ago

Thanks for the edit that made the question more clear and reopen.

mattbrent‭ wrote about 4 years ago

I think this is an interesting question and the subject is largely open to interpretation. Im commenting because im not willing to invest in an answer but i've often wondered at some of the more obscure passages/prphesies and visions. Including the eschatological visions of John in Revelation, there is certainly an aspect of trying to describe things with a language that fails to translate well the things seen

mattbrent‭ wrote about 4 years ago

Often animals/known materials are used to describe things but for example, how would John react to seeing a modern fighter jet or a tank? Just thinking out loud here but interesting nevertheless.