Student cracks theologian's baffling religious code

www.bbc.com...

A divinity student from the University of St Andrews has cracked a religious code that has baffled academics for generations.

Jonny Woods has worked out how to read shorthand notes left by leading Baptist theologian Andrew Fuller.

Hundreds of pages of his sermon notes are held in archives, but until now they have been a mystery to academics.

The third-year undergraduate was able to decipher the shorthand after an academic traced a longhand equivalent.

So i'm not really religious. But the books and the history of religions has always fascinated me. Came across this and thought i'd share it here. I do always like when a good.mystery gets solved.

a reply to: dug88

I'm not really religious either, but I would read this!

a reply to: CaptainBeno
Cracked the code of an obscure Babtist Ministers sermon notes? Why was the sermon conducted using Codes; what was hidden; the truth is what needs speaking. The religious nadir of the idea of a fait accomplie success must go; no more false narratives that continue confuse and confound the truth. This narrative is ingenuous.

a reply to: vethumanbeing

It was no more a code than the shorthand journalists use. It's just that someone was finally able to understand the "cipher"

a reply to: dug88

Some dude back in the 1780’s had some opinions about what christianity oughta be? So he started his own kind of christianity. And was it better than all of the other kinds? Prob not eh? I can find a different version of every religion on these boards every day. There are soooo many different versions. It seems like they are just making that stuff up.

No thanks.

a reply to: wtfatta

Cipher - secret or diguised way of writing; a code.

So yes, it was a code. The minister used a method of notation known only to him and obscure enough that no one else was able to figure it out until now. That does indeed qualify as a code.

He probably never figured anyone else would care enough to make an effort to read his notes.

I know I have methods of notation I have used in the past that are cryptic, and I'm the only one who knows what they signify, but they don't mark things I figure anyone will ever care about, so it's no big deal. This guy was likely the same. He created his own private shorthand.

a reply to: Woodcarver

He was theologian, not someone who made up his own version of the religion. Most theologians don't end up doing that.

Instead he simply took notes in a way that made sense only to him ... until this kid came along and figured it out.

originally posted by: vethumanbeing
a reply to: CaptainBeno
Cracked the code of an obscure Baptist Ministers sermon notes? Why was the sermon conducted using Codes; what was hidden; the truth is what needs speaking. The religious nadir of the idea of a fait accompli success must go; no more false narratives that continue confuse and confound the truth. This narrative is ingenuous.

It was shorthand, did you miss the simplest of details or were you looking for some esoteric gnostic psychobabble
Do you know what shorthand is?
Are the Baptists ministers sermon notes any good, we may find out
There are no false biblical narratives just false teachers

a reply to: dug88

I’m guessing it explains in detail, how jesus turned water into wine, his mom’s recipe for fishes and loaves, how to make a balm that cures blindness and leprosy, how to make shoes that float on water?

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Woodcarver

He was theologian, not someone who made up his own version of the religion. Most theologians don't end up doing that.

Instead he simply took notes in a way that made sense only to him ... until this kid came along and figured it out.

This group of fellers were downright driven to spread christianity to all of the heathen hords... whether they wanted it or not. You should read up on them, they weren’t quite the angels that they are made out to be.

a reply to: Woodcarver
nor would they want to be made out as angels. The only people who want to make them out as angels are those who deify them after their death and try to hold them up as more than they were.

Rather interestingly enough most ministers make it very clear that they are not angels or even the best of people, as if they did they would make it harder to communicate with other people who are also far from perfect. This method of communicating their own flaws is very prevalent in the Anabaptist and Baptist movements.

A family member of mine was a Baptist minister that practiced his sermons on my family, furthermore another family member was a Methodist minister and did the same.

Furthermore, Fuller has other published works that are still available to this day, including The Gospel Worthy of all Acceptation, The Nature and Importance of Walking by Faith, and A Few Persuasives to a General Union in Prayer for the Revival of Religion.

a reply to: ketsuko

Hence the quotations around "cipher"...saying his work is a cipher spits on cryptology. KRYPTOS is a cipher lol

a reply to: ketsuko

Hence the quotations around "cipher"...saying his work is a cipher spits on cryptology. KRYPTOS is a cipher lol

originally posted by: Woodcarver

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Woodcarver

He was theologian, not someone who made up his own version of the religion. Most theologians don't end up doing that.

Instead he simply took notes in a way that made sense only to him ... until this kid came along and figured it out.

This group of fellers were downright driven to spread christianity to all of the heathen hords... whether they wanted it or not. You should read up on them, they weren’t quite the angels that they are made out to be.

What group of fellas, do you know what you are talking about. Another Woodie failure in the offering

Funny how you live in a Western society based on Christian ethics not heathen ethics
Though in your defence the ethics in your country are on the decline with its christian values arnt they Woodie

Come on Woodie, step up, this will be fun, I love fun, you are an easybeat

Anyway, we have to suffer you spreading your religion of atheism at every opportunity

originally posted by: wtfatta
a reply to: ketsuko

Hence the quotations around "cipher"...saying his work is a cipher spits on cryptology. KRYPTOS is a cipher lol

Oh good grief, I'd say his notes were pretty darn cryptic if no one was able to figure them out til now. Just because he accidentally created a difficult form of shorthand for others to decipher doesn't mean they aren't a good code. And you have no idea how many people have tried to figure them out. If you are talking about someone who is a famous theologian, then there are likely many people who wanted to see his thought process which these notes would have given them insight into.

originally posted by: Woodcarver
a reply to: dug88

Some dude back in the 1780’s had some opinions about what christianity oughta be? So he started his own kind of christianity. And was it better than all of the other kinds? Prob not eh? I can find a different version of every religion on these boards every day. There are soooo many different versions. It seems like they are just making that stuff up.

No thanks.

You are completely missing the point.

You see, at one time, loooong ago, in the PAST (wow!) religion wasn't snubbed quite so effectively as you have demonstrated here today. You see, what we call "religion" was basically "the Government".

You might not care about Jesus and the Bible, but you would still have to follow the laws man based on things like Jesus, and the Bible.

The point I'm getting at, wait for it, is that religion had an effect, a major effect, on the lives of a good many of our ancestors.

And therefore, these "stupid Jesus wine recipe" notes possess something academics and scholars like to call (say it with me class) "a HISTORICAL INTEREST".

See, some of us like to learn about the things that happened in the past. It can give a clearer perspective on, you know, casual little playful concepts like um, HOW WE GOT TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY!!!!

Not all of us can be such great geniuses like you and just reject learning about anything which displeases us.

originally posted by: Woodcarver

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Woodcarver

He was theologian, not someone who made up his own version of the religion. Most theologians don't end up doing that.

Instead he simply took notes in a way that made sense only to him ... until this kid came along and figured it out.

This group of fellers were downright driven to spread christianity to all of the heathen hords... whether they wanted it or not. You should read up on them, they weren’t quite the angels that they are made out to be.

WAIT A MINUTE.

You mean to tell Me, that someone who identified as being a Christian behaved in a manner unbecoming of a holy man/woman?

BURN THE NOTES! Who cares what they say!?

Are there any statues of this guy we can tear down? We need to remake history so that it stops offending people!

a reply to: ketsuko

So what you're saying is anyone can write down gibberish and that qualifies as not only a cipher but also as a good "code" because it can't be figured out?

Why do you spit on cryptology? Someone's illegible shorthand is no more a cipher than a child is a doctor. Sure the kid can put on a bandaid, but that doesn't make the kid a doctor....

originally posted by: wtfatta
a reply to: vethumanbeing

It was no more a code than the shorthand journalists use. It's just that someone was finally able to understand the "cipher"

Why not just tell the truth instead of "encoding" it. The Bible is famous for these diversionary Rabbit Hole tactics.