What Are the Odds?
It has been stated that there are at least 456 Old Testament prophecies which pertain to a future person. For example, this person would be born in Bethlehem of a virgin; would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver by a friend; crucified among criminals; hands and feet would be pierced; none of his bones would be broken; and he would be resurrected from the dead. The Old Testament prophecies were clearly focused on Jesus for only He fulfilled these and the hundreds of criteria.
How do skeptics respond? First, they erroneously claim the prophecies must have been written after the time of Jesus, and therefore, fulfill themselves. However, the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) was translated 250 years before the birth of Jesus and these same prophecies are included there. Furthermore, the recently-discovered Dead Sea Scrolls, which date 150-200 years before Jesus lived, also include the prophecies.
Second, the most common objection is that the fulfillment was coincidence or chance. Science and mathematics professor Peter Stoner has estimated a reasonable probability that one man might have coincidentally fulfilled just 8 of these 456 prophecies is one chance in 1017. How can we understand that?
Take 1017 silver dollars, which would cover the entire state of Texas two feet deep. Mark one and stir the whole mass thoroughly. Blindfold a man, and send him throughout Texas, instructing him to pick up only one silver dollar, and hope that one coin would be the marked one. This is the same chance the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man. (Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks, Moody Press, p. 107.)
These odds don’t account for the other 448 prophecies, also fulfilled in the person of Jesus!
