Says Richard Price, the founder and CEO of Academia.edu, on his podcast In Depth With Academia:
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Welcome to In Depth With Academia. We dive into fascinating research papers and unravel the mysteries they present. I’m Richard Price, your host for this academic adventure. You know, there’s something about diving into the past, peeling back layers of history to tell a story that just, well, it really captures the imagination, doesn’t it? Today, we’re going to explore a truly intriguing piece penned by W. Kent Smith titled The Book of Tales: Stories That Confirm the 5,500-year Prophecy Given to Adam About the Coming of Christ. Okay, so the crux of this paper is something known as the Prophecy of the Great Five and a Half Days. This prophecy claims that 5,500 years after the fall of Adam and Eve, a Messiah, who is believed to be Jesus Christ, would come to rescue humanity.
Smith argues that this timeline aligns with the historical appearance of Jesus, which is pretty wild, right? I mean, talk about an ancient prophecy setting the stage for everything. Now, what’s fascinating here, apart from the timeline itself, is how Smith ties in various texts, specifically texts outside the traditional biblical canon. This isn’t about just one book. No, no, no. Smith draws from a tapestry of narratives, ancient manuscripts lost to time and rediscovered only in more recent history. And these, by the way, are texts that traditional academia often turns a skeptical eye to, like The Book of Enoch, The First Book of Adam and Eve, and others.
These texts have been argued to fill in some critical gaps about biblical figures and events. So how does Smith back this up? Well, he doesn’t just take one approach. Oh no, that would be too easy. Smith delves into different tales that collectively strive to corroborate this 5,500-year prophecy. He points out how certain versions of biblical texts were removed or altered, ostensibly to suppress this prophecy, particularly around the time after Christ purported fulfillment of said prophecy. It’s a bold claim, one that’s bound to stir the pot in religious scholarship, given its implications on how religious history has been interpreted and presented throughout time.
Here’s the thing about these kinds of studies, though. They really require us to question what we know. What I find compelling is this notion of hidden wisdom. I mean, right? Who decides what gets hidden and what gets revealed? Smith suggests there’s a wealth of knowledge that’s been tucked away, only to reemerge when we’re ready to look at it anew.
Now, I have to say, because we cover research here, this isn’t about endorsing Smith’s findings as fact, but rather pondering what they might tell us about how we view prophecy, history, and fulfillment. It’s about engaging with the possibility. What could these texts tell us if we opened our minds a bit more to these alternatives?
You might be thinking, but Richard, why does it matter if some hidden texts support a prophecy? Well, it might give us a new perspective on how integral timelines and prophecies were to people back then, shaping faith and belief systems in profound ways. It’s like uncovering a critical piece of the puzzle that might reshape the entire picture.
Moving on to the narratives themselves—look, these aren’t dry academic discourses. They’re stories filled with drama, with archetypal struggles between good and evil, between destiny and free will. Could this be why stories persist, unsilenced by time, just their potential to move us, challenge us, bring history into living detail? Smith envisions these tales as potential cinematic experiences, akin to something like Lord of the Rings, bold ambition for scripts, right? Imagine the magnitude, seeing ancient prophecies unfold, these hidden narratives brought to life on the big screen. The implication here, if you really want to dig deep, is that these texts, even if not canonized, hold stories that captivate and contain what could be interpreted as divinely inspired truth.
As we draw this conversation to a close, I’ll leave you with this. Aren’t research stories like The Book of Tales, kind of like archaeology for the mind, picking up fragments of insights from the past and trying to see the bigger picture? That’s where it gets really interesting, because you get to play detective in the greatest story ever told. And while academics like Smith lay out maps for us to follow, it’s ultimately a journey of discovery for each listener to walk their own path.
Thank you for tuning in to In Depth With Academia. Keep questioning, stay curious, and consider the stories behind the stories. Until next time, remember, knowledge is a journey, not a destination.
A CASE FOR THE TALES—to read a work that sheds light on long-lost truths that the majority of modern Christians know nothing about.
ROLL CALL OF THE INTREPID—to see that, this work was only possible because of the visionary efforts of a great cloud of discoverers, translators, and scholars.
ARGUMENTS FOR AUTHENTICITY—to learn that many of the apocryphal accounts exist in perfect harmony with the canonical record.
A MATTER OF STYLE—to ask, if Jesus never spoke in iambic pentameter, then why do Bible translators depict Him as doing so?
THE CURTAIN RISES—to learn how literary treasures from antiquity provide the West with a glimpse into humanity’s spiritual origins and destiny.
THE MAN FROM FOREVER—to see how the story of Enoch as a type of Christ provides the building blocks for countless mythological motifs.
DAWN OF TIME—to learn of a story that reveals how God nurtured Adam and Eve during every phase of their lives.
FIRE AND BLADE—to learn of a story of the man whom God told to sacrifice his son and how Satan reacted to his attempt.
TRIAL BY FURY—to learn of a story of Pontius Pilate that reveals why he acted the way he did during his encounters with Jesus.
A HERO FOR THE AGES—to learn that even in our fallen state, our brains are hardwired to interpret the frequency of the Divine.
And of course, if you like what you read, please tell others about the book by posting a positive review on Amazon Books. Thanks for your interest, and enjoy the plunge!
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