A Summer Mystery To (Try To...) Solve

Adelphe

Posts: 28,569

like reading a novel, for your summer enjoyment.

But it's a true mystery!

It's got it all--intrigue, powerful people, ciphers, cryptography, people paying big money for it, covertness, maybe Roger Bacon (and/or other scientists), perhaps alchemy, Holy Roman Emperors, Jesuits (of course, LOL!), the period up through the Reformation/Counter-Reformation (although even if you don't care in the least about any Christian setting, it's still very relevant and secular historians and scientists obsess over it), the inability of the best minds in cryptography to ever crack it. It now sits in Yale University's Rare Book and Manuscript Library and it is...

"The Voynich manuscript, described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript",^[3] is a work which dates to the early 15th century, possibly from northern Italy.^[1]^[2] It is named after the book dealer Wilfrid Voynich, who purchased it in 1912." (wiki)

More.

And the HuffPo on it:

Voynich Manuscript Dated: Makes 'DaVinci Code' Look Lackluster

"The Voynich Manuscript, a book seemingly written in an "alien" language, has stumped scientists and historians for decades."

And an interesting forum where it's discussed in more depth, including all the existing theories:

Cipher Mysteries
The latest news, views, research and reviews on uncracked historical ciphers...:

"It's spooky, freaky, unsettling, and extraordinarily hard to pin down, and thoroughly deserves its inevitable place near the top of any unsolved cipher list. For if an unreadable 200+ page handwritten book with pictures of unidentifiable plants, strange circular diagrams, and small naked women doesn't stimulate your imagination or curiosity, you probably do have a heart of stone, right? You might also be surprised by just how many novels stir the Voynich Manuscript into their plot to add some 'cipher mystery spice'. Alternatively, you can profit from all the haziness surrounding it and reinvent yourself as a 'world-class VMs expert' in a mere five minutes (might look good on your CV).

So, the mystery is... why the best codebreakers in the world have no idea how to decrypt it, when (at 550-odd years old) the Voynich really ought to be simple to crack... "

It had me engaged for days. I put it aside but know I'll pick it up again.

Comments/thoughts if you are interested in such things?

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

Utilyan

Posts: 3,742

I'd get a musical expert to take look. might be musical notes.

Also one of the images isaw had this like 3d looking sphere.....the whole thing looked like a huge question mark.... "?"

Maybe its 3 demensional where you gotta go from one page thru to the next just to get a word.

Give us pictures =)

Daldianus

Posts: 30,302

Ah, the good, old Voynich document!

My bet is on aliens! ;)

>> Feed your brain with awesome!
“After your death you will be what you were before your birth.” - Arthur Schopenhauer
"Eternity is very long, especially towards the end." - Woody Allen

Miguel_de_servet

Posts: 16,877

Could the starter of this thread explain what has this "summer mystery" got to do with the Discuss Christianity forum?

Thanks.

MdS

Revelation is above, not against Reason

“The everlasting God is a refuge, and underneath you are his eternal arms ...” (Deut 33:27)
“Do you have an arm like God, and can you thunder with a voice like his?” (Job 40:9)
“By the Lord’s word [dabar] the heavens were made; and by the breath [ruwach] of his mouth all their host.” (Psalm 33:6)
“Who would have believed what we just heard? When was the arm of the Lord revealed through him?” (Isaiah 53:1)
“Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:38)
“For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.” (Romans 2:13)
“Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”(Romans 13:8)

Daldianus

Posts: 30,302

Jun 26, 2012 -- 4:59AM, Miguel_de_servet wrote:

Could the starter of this thread explain what has this "summer mystery" got to do with the Discuss Christianity forum?

Thanks.

MdS

Good question.

>> Feed your brain with awesome!
“After your death you will be what you were before your birth.” - Arthur Schopenhauer
"Eternity is very long, especially towards the end." - Woody Allen

Adelphe

Posts: 28,569

Jun 25, 2012 -- 8:57PM, Utilyan wrote:

I'd get a musical expert to take look. might be musical notes.

Also one of the images isaw had this like 3d looking sphere.....the whole thing looked like a huge question mark.... "?"

Which one?

Maybe its 3 demensional where you gotta go from one page thru to the next just to get a word.

Now that's an intriguing idea! And I'm not surprised it comes from you given your intuitive style of thinking rather than plodding along...discursively.

btw, your guess is similar to this guy's:

William Romaine Newbold sensationally claimed that the VMs was written by Roger Bacon in a multi-layered micrographic cipher, and described using telescopes to view galaxies.

University Affiliation:

A.B. 1887, Ph.D. 1891, LL.D. (hon.) 1921
Instructor in Latin, 1889-1891
Lecturer and Professor of Philosophy, 1890-1891, 1892-1907
Dean of Graduate School, 1896-1904
Adam Seybert Professor of Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, 1907-1926

Biographical Summary:

Author and antiquarian

Give us pictures =)

Voila!

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

Adelphe

Posts: 28,569

Jun 26, 2012 -- 2:30AM, Daldianus wrote:

Ah, the good, old Voynich document!

My bet is on aliens! ;)

Ah yes. The ol' "aliens of the gap" argument.

Anyway,

Dan Burisch claims that the VMs was written down in enciphered Hebrew by Roger Bacon, and that it describes some kind of alien technology from the future for creating DNA with sound. [See this Cipher Mysteries blog entry.]

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

Adelphe

Posts: 28,569

Jun 26, 2012 -- 4:59AM, Miguel_de_servet wrote:

Could the starter of this thread explain what has this "summer mystery" got to do with the Discuss Christianity forum?

Thanks.

MdS

Could the responder to the OP read it? Or is his sole interest in stalking... and disruption?

A Summer Mystery To (Try To...) Solve (112 Views, Replies)

By Miguel_de_servet on June 26, 2012 at 3:59AM

Could the starter of this thread explain what has this "summer mystery" got to do with the Discuss Christianity forum?Thanks.MdS

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People who believe the Bible to be entirely true, can only oscillate between two extremes: literalism vs figurativism. The above post —and other similar recent posts— are a symptom that a swing is in process for Adelphe from one extreme t

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By Miguel_de_servet on June 25, 2012 at 4:01PM

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Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

Ebon

Posts: 7,879

Have you been trawling Cracked.com? They've had several articles on Voynich too.

Personally, I have no idea but I'm intrigued by the idea of a multi-source cipher.

He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. ~ Proverbs 14:31

Fiat justitia, ruat caelum

Adelphe

Posts: 28,569

Jun 26, 2012 -- 5:57AM, Ebon wrote:

Have you been trawling Cracked.com? They've had several articles on Voynich too.

I can't remember how I stumbled on it--surfing, I'm sure.

Have they? What's their (satirical?) assessment?

Personally, I have no idea but I'm intrigued by the idea of a multi-source cipher.

What do you mean? As in a cipher of ciphers? Or one cipher but several writers? (It seems to be established that there were at least two--or maybe only two, if I recall.)

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason, my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, for to go against conscience would be neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

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