John the Outlier

In the 400 years before Jesus was born, there were no prophets thundering in Judah. Then, suddenly, there were three of them, including John the Baptist.

Last summer, Major League Baseball saw two perfect games tossed before June 15. Two perfect games in one season! It was the second time in three years that two perfect games had been tossed in the same season (not merely a no-hitter, but a perfect game -- 27 batters possible, 27 batters out). But here's the weird part: Before that, two perfect games in the same season had not happened since 1880! It's interesting how extraordinary things bunch up like that. And THEN, on Wednesday, August 15, Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners pitched the THIRD perfect game of the season. That has not happened EVER!

Now here's another little such oddity, perhaps not nearly as exciting, but still an interesting statistical "bunch-up," at least to students of biblical history. Jesus' appearance on the scene a couple millennia ago followed a 400-year period often known as the "silent years," i.e., the period of time between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. In that...