Not long ago I was browsing in the Christianity section my favourite bookstore. This man comes along and starts talking to me nonstop about Biblical Numerology and how priests and pastors would warn you to NEVER touch it because it could distrupt the very foundations of Christianity. What the heck was he on about?? Needless to say I am a very new Christian and had nooo clue what he's talking about. He talked hours and hours to me but it was quite long ago and I can't remember a thing now...
Oh one more thing he talked about the foundations of Christianity is of Hinduism?? Is he a conspiracy nut??
Does anyone have any clue at all??
Numerology is a way of using numbers to divine future events (which is occult (hidden) and is forbidden to Christians, who rely on God), or to find hidden messages (which is gnostic (secret knowledge) and has no support in mainstream Christian thought).
These are the two types of numerology used with the Bible. Both are considered fringe ideas, and don't have much to do with mainstream Christian ideas. Just so you have a bit of understanding of them, here are the two ideas:
First: There are some people who focus on the numbers in the Bible, and claim that there are hidden messages from God in them. For instance, the numbers 40 and 7 come up over and over again. Some folks spend a LOT of time and effort looking at these numbers and trying to make them "work together" to find a message or to divine the future.
Second: There are those who count the number of characters, syllables, and words in various Bible passages, and try to find a hidden message within those numbers. They think God has placed a "secret code" within the Bible and that those who crack the code will reveal messages from God.
Both ideas are, IMO, bunk at the very least and dangerous at worst. God has revealed Himself in the Bible and in nature and through His Son. No where has He shown Himself to be interested in hidden messages, able to be found only by an elite group of people (in this case the code crackers) and passed on only to the most worthy. He is a God for all people, and reveals Himself as fully as He wishes to in the pages of the Bible. To say that He has left some hidden message for some elite group is the sort of "inner circle" mentality that much of the New Testament and the Early Church Fathers rallied against.
So don't bother with it. Know enough to be warned, and to realize it's crap... err.. bunk..
Don't be fooled by it. But don't be scared by it, either.
As to the claim that Hinduism influenced Christianity, that is another of those out-there claims. This one rests on spurious ideas that Jesus visited India during the time between his presentation at the temple as a boy of 14 or so and the beginning of his ministry as a man of 30. This legend can be traced back to, of all things, a Muslim teacher in the 19th century. Proponents of this idea look at some of the ideas of Hinduism and say "oh, look, there is a doctrine or idea in Hinduism that is similar to this or that doctrine in Christianity. Therefore it proves there's a connection between them." It's a load of hogwash, with no Biblical or historical evidence.
I've actually met a Bible-reading Baptist who believes this bunk. *sighs* I guess it takes all kinds.
