Subtitled: The Bible and Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park Mansion
In 2005 one of the first things I did when we arrived in the UK was visit Bletchley Park. It was just across the railway line and up the road a little from where we lived. As I didn’t have a car, it was an easy visit that I could tick off my list of things to see.
Bletchley Park was/is home to to the first programmable computer – the Colossus (in recent years it has been restored). It was utilised to decipher the German Enigma Code, a sophisticated encryption machine used to encrypt secret messages to be sent around the Reich – particularly to ships. Cracking the code made a huge difference to the Allied war effort.
The Turing Bombe
Where does the Bible fit into the picture? Many people I come across treat Scripture like an encrypted German message and they respond in a variety of ways. Some tell me the Bible is too complicated and they can’t be bothered decoding it. Others spend a lifetime searching for the key. Like some human “Colossus,” their brains are whirring away trying to decipher a secret code that underpins the Bible. If it is not a form of numerology, it is another scheme they try to develop by which the “truth” may be found. Countless hours have been spent and many books written on aspects of Scripture that, sadly, do not draw us closer to the truth.
In fact, the truth of Scripture is quite plain. Maybe it is too easy! The truth of the gospel is
quite simple. We are sinners. We cannot in our own strength be reunited with God, so God sent His own son to take the punishment we deserve, by which the affront to His holiness is dealt with and we can be restored to God. And even at this point God applies this truth through the amazing person of the Holy Spirit. In short, we have a triune God dealing with our deepest needs. All we need to do is believe and accept the gift He offers.Now how complicated is that?! There are no spiritual gymnastics required and any efforts on our part to obtain salvation are of no use.
The apostle John wrote nearly 2000 years “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16) It was true then. It is true now.
Yes there is more, There is the Kingdom of God, there is the call of God on the life of His children, and many other wonderful qualities. All of these extra truths are anchored on the simple gospel truth mentioned in John 3:16 (above).
One final anecdote: I had a wonderful cousin who had Down Syndrome. Stephen understood the gospel and was in love with his Saviour. The gospel message was simple enough and clear enough for him to understand and clasp to himself. He loved telling people about God’s love for them. He did not need a secret code book, or a spiritual decrypter. All he had was a simple faith. That was all he needed.
Travels from Ur 