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Meet Michael Drosnin
Author, "The Bible Code"

Moderator: In just a moment, we expect to be joined by Michael Drosnin, author of The Bible Code.

Lynn: Once we get started, we'll close the floor and you'll need to send your comments via private message to Moderator

Moderator: Mr. Drosnin is about to join us!

Moderator: in just a moment, we'll be closing the floor.

DROSNIN: Hello, I'm Michael Drosnin

Moderator: If you would like to ask a question, please send it via private message

Moderator: we're going to close the floor now

DROSNIN: My book THE BIBLE CODE is about a hidden text in the Old Testament that reveals the details of events that took place long after the Bible was written

Moderator: Hello everyone and welcome to our Drosnin chat. Please feel free to start sending your messages to the moderator now. Thank you.

Jennifer: Where and when did you discover the Bible Code?

DROSNIN: It has predicted in advance events that then took place in the real wrold the code was discovered not by me, but by an Israeli mathematician, Dr. Eli Rips. I found out about it by chance on a trip to Israel.

Karoli: What text was used to ascertain the code, and why was it chosen?

DROSNIN: There is one accepted Hebrew text of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, that religious people believe God dictated to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Karoli: Do you have any comment about Dr. Rips' attempts to distance himself from the book?

DROSNIN: Dr. Rips is my friend, and he is only saying that this is my book, not his book. It expresses my point of view, not his, except to the extent that it quotes him. He told me this morning that he is quoted accurately.

Jennifer: Is this the first book about the code ?

DROSNIN: It is the firtst widely published account. There have been two self published monographs in Israel. My book is also the first the reveals the predictions that came true -- like the Rabin assassination and the Gulf war, and the collision of a comet with Jupiter.

Karoli: As I understand it, the earliest known Hebrew text of the Torah is dated well after the date Moses would have been given it, and that there are variances between the different manuscripts. That is what I am trying to ascertain.

DROSNIN: No one knows, of course, whether God actually dictated the Bible to Moses, or what was the first form it took. the Bible itself says that God gave Moses the text, and Moses wrote it down. But there is no doubt that all the Hebrew language Torahs that now exist are the same letter for letter.

MrEntropy: Mr. Drosnin, are you familiar with the occurrences of "Yeshua is my name" in Isaiah 53 and other places?

DROSNIN: No.

Jennifer: Was there a prediction about the Holocaust?

DROSNIN: Yes. An Israeli researcher found detailed statements of the Holocaust, and Dr. Rips is right now doing further research in this area.

Jennifer: Can you tell us about any other future predictions included in the Code?

DROSNIN: I don't think the code makes predictions. I think it might tell us all our possible futures. that appears to include a warning of a possible nuclear war.

Jennifer: Kind of like Nostrodamus?

DROSNIN: No. Not at all like Nostradamus. not vague statements that you can pretend foretell events after they happen, but detailed statements found in advance -- with names and places and dates.

Karoli: Tell us more of the specifics of the code and why you believe it indicates or details future events.

DROSNIN: Because I found Rabin's assassination encoded a year before he waskilled, and warned the Prime Minister, and then he was killed, as the code warned, when the code warned

Nostro: What was the most startling revelation?

DROSNIN: Rabin, because I found it mysdelf in advance. But of course also the Gulf War, also found in advance, or the collision of the comet with Jupiter,also found in advance.

Jennifer: Why did you leave the Wall Street Journal and begin this type of research?

DROSNIN: I left the Wall Street Journal long before I began doing this research. I wrote a book about Howard Hughes that was a New York Times bestsller l0 years ago, and I've wriutten two screenplays since then.

Nostro: Have you tried running this same program on other books for comparison of results?

DROSNIN: Yes. Dr. Rips compared ther Bible and War and Peace and two other bopoks, and I checked the Hebrew translation fo Crim,e and Punishment. The code only exists in the Bible.

Jennifer: This seems much different from a 9-5 job:)

DROSNIN: Very different. More like a 7 day a week, five year job, 12 hoiurs a day.

Nostro: How far into the future do the predictions reach?

DROSNIN: I assume forever, or as long as the world will exist, but no one knows.

Jimg: If the code gives specific dates, etc. what are some specific predictions in the next 5 years?

Jennifer: Do people seem skeptical about the Code?

DROSNIN: I don't think the code makes predictions. I think it reveals probabilities. so I can't say what will happen in the next five years. also it is not a crystal ball -- you can't sjust ask the Bible to tell you about tomorrow or next year. You can only find what you know how to look for -- you must have some idea of what you're looking for.

Burger: Do you think the code was written to be discovered by a computer?

DROSNIN: Absolutely. It had a kind of time-lock on it. It could not be found until the computer was invented.

Karoli: I'm not understanding how it reveals these probabilities. Are the words or letters reduced to some numeric value?

DROSNIN: No. Words are revealed by as simple skip code. Skip 5 letters and 5 letters and 5 letters, etc., and the hidden word is revealed. It can be any skip, as long as the skips are always equal.

Jennifer: Do people seem skeptical about the Code?

DROSNIN: Of course. Anyone who is not religious must be.

Todd: Sounds like this code was tailored to the bible. Maybe the code could be tailored to the Hebrew version of Crime and Punishment?

DROSNIN: Of course not. A code can't find what is not there

Karoli: I don't think it has anything to do with religion.I think the skepticism would stem from the notion that these events are foreordained.

Tricia: If you have any questions for Michael Drosnin, please send them to the Moderator.

DROSNIN: Of course. No layman can believe the future can be known. But Sir Isaac Newton did -- in fact he searched for a code in the Bible that would reveal it. And Einstein siad that the past, present and future are all one.

Jennifer: I am religious and I'm not so sure I believe in codes

Moderator: If you have any questions for Michael Drosnin, please send them to the Moderator.

DROSNIN: In some ways it's easier if you are religious, because you believe in a higher intelligence that is all knowing. In some ways it is more difficult, because you accept a Bible set in stone, and an interactive code is unsettling.

Nostro: What is your religion?

DROSNIN: I am Jewish. But I am not at all religious, and don't believe in God.

Karoli: Here is what's bothering me about this: You say that you can't know what's in there till it's happened, so it's not a crystal ball. And further, that it is ascertained by varying lengths of skips and jumps through the text. If it were a consistent length, I could understand it, but probabilities dictate that I could find a text that would conform to similar groupings.

DROSNIN: Try it in Moby Dick. Find a real event in advance in the Manhattan Telephone Directory. No code used by the CIA or KGB uses on simple skip sequence. Why should the Bible code?

Barabas: Does the code/events relate to the Jewish people specifically?

DROSNIN: Possibly. It does seem to center on Israel, but so does the plain text of the Bible. But events in the US and Japan and the rest of the world are also cleasrly encoded.

Anonymous: If you don't believe in G-d, how do you explain the codes?

DROSNIN: I can't.

Tricia: Have you gotten any positive or negative feedback from religious leaders about your book?

DROSNIN: Some rabbis and priests seem to be disturbed by it. Others seem to support at least the idea of the codes.

Burger: Do you think a time traveler could have written the bible (and the code)?

DROSNIN: I've thought about it. I don't know. I'm a reporter and can't go past the hard evidence. There is a code, therefore there is an encoder. I don't know who or what it/he/she is.

Barabas: Are you familiar with the way that the great pyramid in Egypt has also been de-coded?

DROSNIN: I don't take it seriously, but I have not investigated it closely.

Karoli: Any reaction from Christian scholars?

DROSNIN: The book is just published. There have been comments by theologians from all religions. I think this is frightening to them -- because it allows everyone to open his or her own dialogue with the Bible.

DROSNIN: I've got to leave now. Many thanks.

Moderator: Thank you Mr. Drosnin for participating in our chat.

Moderator: We also thank everyone else who participated, your questions were appreciated!

Moderator: Please join us tonite at 10:00 for our nightly news chat on the days hot topics!

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