Hard to understand I am

One of the most unusual books in the world, and definitely the most difficult to understand is the Voynich manuscript, an ancient epistle "written" in the 15th century by a person or persons unknown. It's a 240-page work on vellum parchment; most pages are illustrated with strange hand-drawn diagrams and colorful renditions of plants that do not match any known species. To add to the confusion, it's written in an unknown language that no one has been able to decipher. 

It's been carbon dated to between 1403 and 1430, and appears to be a compendium of herbal, biological, astronomical, pharmaceutical and mathematical philosophies, with a few recipes thrown in for good measure. Such is the mix of information contained within its covers that many experts who have studied it have come to the conclusion that the original author may have been an alchemist, or possibly a Medieval wizard.

One of the more bizarre suggestions of authorship arises from fact that as many diagrams appear to be of astronomical origin, combined with the unidentifiable biological drawings, is that the book may have an alien origin.  ET write home! 

One thing most theorists agree on is that the book is unlikely to be a hoax, given the amount of time, money and detail that would have been required to make it.  

The manuscript is  named after the Polish-American antiquarian bookseller Wilfrid M. Voynich, who acquired, from an unknown source, it in 1912.

An even more ancient "written" mystery could have come straight from an Indiana Jones movie. The Phaistos Disc, discovered by the handsome, wealthy and adventurous Italian archaeologist Luigi Pernier in 1908 in the Minoan palace-site of Phaistos. The disc is made of fired clay and contains mysterious symbols that may represent an unknown form of hieroglyphics. It is believed that it was produced sometime in the second millennium BC.

The Phaistos Disc, front and obverse

 
The disc remains undecipherable to this day, even intensive computer analysis of the hieroglyphics has failed to throw any light upon its meaning. At various time Pernier has been accused of fraud, deception and archeological heresy, but his contribution to archeology is undisputed, and widely acknowledged.

These are just two of the many mysteries that perplex and puzzle the minds of us moderns; conspiracy "junkies" fill the internet with millions of pages trying to solve such enigmas; we all love a good mystery!      

There are a series of ancient manuscripts, written by perhaps as many as 40 authors, that should be a confusion of ideas and conflicting philosophies, and yet in the increasingly secular age that we live in, still remains the biggest selling book ever. Its been translated into almost 500 languages; there is even a Lego version of this ancient tome (I kid you not)

I am of course writing about the Bible, The Word of God, The Good Book, Holy Writ, The Book of Books.

Three verses in the Gospel of John leaves room little to dispute the unique nature of this wonderful and life-changing book. 200 hundred years of archeology have confirmed the historical accuracy of the Bible's many claims about ancient events and peoples.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 MKJV

And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth. John 1:14 MKJV

For the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 MKJV

Most "casual" readers of the Bible usually excuse their lackadaisical reading by saying that "it's too hard to understand" or "it doesn't make sense"... The Bible will reward the diligent reader with its deep knowledge, but that knowledge is not hidden in an undecipherable way...

The glory of God is to hide a thing; but the honor of kings is to search out a matter. Proverbs 25:2 MKJV

We are promised blessings for our continued study of God's Word... This book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it by day and by night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall act wisely. Joshua 1:8 MKJV

The Word of God is food for our spirit.... But He (Jesus) answered and said, It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4MKJV