7.3: Was Nostradamus a prophet?
Description
This article is from the Scientific Skepticism FAQ, by Paul Johnson Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk with numerous contributions by others.
7.3: Was Nostradamus a prophet?
No. His supporters are very good at predicting events after the fact,
often relying on doubtful translations of the original French to
bolster their case. But they have had absolutely no success at
predicting the future. Up until a few years ago most Nostradamus
books were predicting a nuclear war between America and the USSR.
None of them predicted the breakup of the Soviet block.
Nostradamus was a Protestant in a time and place when the Inquisition
was torturing and burning heretics. To avoid their attention,
Nostradamus couched his political letters to other Protestants in
obscure symbolism. It is these writings that are now being
reinterpreted as prophecy, despite straightforward interpretations
which link them to the time Nostradamus wrote them. If you try hard
enough, you can find connections between the symbols and numbers used
by Nostradamus and almost anything else, particularly if you allow
multi-lingual puns and rhymes.
A good general reference on Nostradamus is:
The Mask of Nostradamus
James Randi
Charles Scribner's Sons
ISBN 0-684-19056-7
BF1815.N8R35 1990
This is now available from Prometheus in paperback.
Continue to:
My Books
