[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Where's the Middle?[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]By Brian Hargis, Youth Pastor of Charity Baptist Church[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
In 2005, the 7th, 8th, & 9th grade Sunday School teens took on the challenge of finding the middle of the Bible. "Why?" you may ask. Because there are so many preachers, evangelist, and websites that claim that Psalms 118:8 is the middle of the Bible! So we wanted to find out for sure.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Some say that there are 31,000 verses, 31,101; 31, 102; 31, 170, or 31, 175 verses in the Bible. So which one is correct? You would think it would be easy enough to count, especially with a computer! Most claim that Psalms 118:8 is the middle which says, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." What a dynamic verse! If you count the words in the verse you'll come up with fourteen. That's seven plus seven! We all know that God's number of completeness is seven! Now look at the middle two words of the verse...."the Lord". Imagine that! The entire Bible is centered around the Lord![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Every since I was young I heard and believed that Psalms 118:8 was the middle verse. Of course, we didn't have the computer technology back in the late 70's and 80's like we have today...so not many people took the time to challenge it! After all, it made for good preaching![/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Last year I received an e-mail about Psalms 118:8 being the middle verse of the Bible, so I did some internet surfing to verify it. I ran into more problems than solutions! Numerous sites claimed that Psalms 118:8 WAS NOT the middle verse. Boy, that blew my theory away! Just trusting their research did not solve the problem. What if they were wrong? After all, taking someone's opinion for granted is what got me into this investigation in the first place! I wanted to know for sure. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
That's when I presented the challenge to my Sunday school class. I divided them up into three teams. Each with a researcher, a scribe, and an adder. Without the use of a computer, they spent 6 solid weeks researching the King James Bible, with piles of scratch paper, and three office calculators. When the dust settled and the smoke cleared, all three teams came up with the same conclusion...that Psalms 118:8 is not the center verse of the Bible.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
By verse count, there are 31,102 (3+1+1+0+2=7) verses in the King James Bible (which, by the way, is the only version that is inspired by God and does not have a copy write). By dividing 31,102 in half, you get 15,551. There is no single, middle verse, therefore there are TWO middle verse of the Bible...not one. Research (and our verification) will tell you that Psalms 103:1-2 are the two middle verses of the Bible.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Psalms 103:1-2 has 28 words. 28 divided by two equals 14. The number is even, so there are two middle words in these verses..."his holy." the middle quote of the middle verses in the Bible (by verse count) is, "bless his holy name." That's both fitting and biblically proven.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]Other good websites about this subject:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
King James Bible Statistics
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
The Center of the Bible? - BreakTheChain.org
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Bible Statistics - Marsh Bible Commentary
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
King James Bible Statistics
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Middle of the Holy Bible
[/FONT] [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Websites claiming Psalms 118:8 is the middle verse of the Bible:
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
About the Bible - Christian Answers® WebBible™
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Bible Verses
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
Bibleinfo.com | Bible: Facts and Trivia
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
http://www.greaterthings.com/Word-Number/CenterofBible/Psalm118.htm
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
http://mccsa.tripod.com/pastor_alice2.htm
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]
The Center of the Bible
[/FONT]