Liberty University MATH 201 Project 4
Discussion Board Forum 2 solutions answers right
Discussion Board Forum 2/Project 4 Instructions
When performing a
hypothesis test, you must make an assumption in order to perform it. Assume
that the hypothesis you are testing (the null hypothesis) is true. This
assumption allows you to calculate the probability of the test results. You
then use that probability to decide whether or not to accept the hypothesis and
the claim associated with it. The more likely the results, the more readily you
accept the hypothesis.
This kind of analysis
can be used to evaluate any idea for which there are enough facts or data. For
example, what about the premise that Jesus is the Son of God? Josh McDowell
takes a similar approach to answering this question in his book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict (Campus
Crusade for Christ, 1972).
In his book, McDowell
collects a variety of information that attests to the Bible’s validity and
Jesus’ claims to being the Son of God. He includes the interesting results of a
large volume of research. In the section about messianic prophecy, he quotes
the probabilistic analysis of Peter Stoner in Science Speaks (Moody Press, 1963). Stoner used the assumption that
Jesus was just a man and not the Son of God to perform a probability analysis and
hypothesis test on some messianic prophecies. In this case the hypothesis was
that Jesus was not the foretold Messiah or the Son of God. He then examined the
probability of a selection of prophecies coming true if Jesus was in fact not
divine.
Using a selection of 8
prophecies, Stoner estimated that the probability of all 8 prophecies being
fulfilled is 1 in 1017. Using the language of hypothesis tests, this
means that you would reject the hypothesis that Jesus is not the Messiah for
any α > 10-17. To put it another way, α > 0.00000000000000001.
The smallest α that is normally used for a hypothesis test is α = 0.01. This
means that you can safely reject the hypothesis that Jesus is not the Messiah or
the Son of God.
For more on this, see
Josh McDowell’s book Evidence That
Demands a Verdict. Peter Stoner’s work can be found in Science Speaks, published by Moody press. Stoner’s book has
recently been rereleased in e-book format. You can find it in the Module/Week 4
Additional Materials folder.
The references for
the 8 Old Testament prophecies that Peter Stoner analyzed are listed below
along with the verse references for their fulfillment. It is likely that most
students in this course believe that Jesus Christ is divine, so listing
probabilities of Him doing certain things is irrelevant. However, Stoner says
to the skeptical, “Okay, let’s have it your way for a second. If Jesus of
Nazareth was just an ordinary man, what is the probability that he could
fulfill all the prophecies by chance?”
Old
Testament Prophecies New Testament Fulfillment
Micah 5:2 Matthew
2:4–6
Malachi 3:1 Mark
1:2-8
Zechariah 9:9 Matthew
21:4–11
Psalms 41:9 Luke
22:21
Zechariah 11:12 Matthew
26:15
Zechariah 11:13 Matthew
27:3–10
Isaiah 53:7 Mark
14: 60-61
Psalms 22:16 John
19:17–18
In Discussion Board
Forum 2, post a thread that includes the following:
1. Type out each Old Testament prophecy with the verse reference
followed by the New Testament verse with the fulfillment. (10 points)
2. Which one of the 8
prophecies and its fulfillment spoke to you the most? Write at least 150 words
about this verse and your thoughts about it. (10 points)
3. These prophecies and their fulfillment are definitely evidence
that Jesus is the Messiah. People have different opinions about whether or not
there is absolute proof of this. Do you think these verses prove that Jesus is
the Messiah? Write at least 250 words about your opinion on this. Be sure to
explain the reasons behind your thinking. Whether you believe that Jesus is the
Messiah or not, please give your honest opinion. Any honest, thoughtful opinion
will receive full credit. (12 points)
4.
Submit replies of at least
50 words each to 2 classmates. (8
points)
This
course utilizes the Post-First feature in all Discussion Board Forums. This
means you will only be able to read and interact with your classmates’ threads
after you have submitted your thread in response to the provided prompt. For
additional information on Post-First, click here for a tutorial.
Submit
your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Saturday of Module/Week 7. Submit your
replies to 2 classmates’ threads by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of the same
module/week.
No comments:
Post a Comment