Jesus Jerseys

The full explanation is fairly lengthy. Try forcing yourself to see the number 7 everywhere you can in the Bible and the result will be something like this piece. Do the same thing with the number 3 and the result will be similar.

If you seek it, ye shall find. The number means nothing.

Actually it does Hemant. These folks aren’t off base with this. Numbers are very significant in ancient Jewish literature (and not just them – in pretty much any ancient culture, and many modern ones too). In most cases, as with the number 7, they are symbolic of certain theological concepts. 7 symbolizes completeness and perfection because in the Genesis story God created the world in 7 days.

Other significant Biblical numbers include 12 (for the 12 tribes of Israel), 40 (for the 40 years of wandering), and 3 (for the Trinity).

Wikipedia even has an article on Biblical Numerology. It’s a legitimate part of biblical hermeneutics.

The Satan jersey is 585 intergers too low!

It’s a legitimate part of biblical hermeneutics.

Are there any illegitimate parts?

Dissertations on terpsichorian angels’ choreography, including but not exclusively on sewing impliments, perhaps?

( I know, it just our old discussion, Mike C… my contention always is that there’s nothing agreed to be false about any old thing anyone sees in religion… at least within that religion. Hey, numerology, bible-codes, random word-searches… I could be a millionare if I could figure out a way to turn the Bible into a sudoku puzzle.)

I think you guys may be misunderstanding me. The point is not that there is anything magical or mystical about the numbers in the Bible. The point is that they have symbolic theological significance. It’s no different than other kinds of symbolism in art or literature for instance.

Of course, I can’t speak for these jersey makers. It may be that they are trying to claim some kind of spiritual “power” in the numbers themselves… probably for marketing purposes. But serious Bible scholars (even conservative ones) would certainly not make any claims of that sort about symbolic numbers in the Bible. They are meaningful, but not “magical”.

Funny anecdote:

When I first got into hockey back in ’97, I went to a Red Wings game here in Detroit. While in the concourse grabbing a severely overpriced beverage, I ran across a guy wearing a Satan jersey. As a Christian I got all upset and indignant that someone could be that forward about worshiping Satan so openly. Thankfully, I didn’t SAY anything about it. I just sucked it up and assumed the guy was going straight to hell (if he got hit by a bus on his way home from the game or, better yet, if he got hit by a stray hockey puck DURING the game–yes, this is how I thought back then). A couple weeks later, I found out the jersey was supporting the Russian Satan, not the Judeo-Christian one.

Note to self: Don’t assume anything about anyone. More importantly, if you’re going to be ignorant about something, don’t do it in such a way that you’d look utterly stupid for it.

Ha! My parents have no idea about John Calvin, despite my name. LOL! Oh well. It was funny, though.

Good call, ash. “Rock me, Joe.”

It’s pronounced “Hay-SOOS.”