Monday, April 10, 2006

Talk about the Weather and Faith

This certainly boggles the mind. CLICK ME
I mean, honestly... could I be that lame as to believe this?

Quoted from the link above:

*According to Florida State University oceanographer
Doron Nof, Jesus may have been walking on ice that
formed under special circumstances on the lake.

In his research of the history of lakes published in the
April issue of The Journal of Paleolimnology, Nof said
temperatures dipped low enough in Jesus's time in the
region to freeze parts of the Sea of Galilee.

Nof said the ice could have been thick enough to walk
on, although the frozen area would have been
surrounded by slightly saltier water emanating from
salty springs along the lake's western shore -- salt
water freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water.*


Insert Wayne's World quote:

"Shyahhh, right. And monkeys might fly out of my butt."

This guy is just full of scientific facts...

Quoted from the link above:

*In 1992, Nof suggested that the parting of the Red Sea that
allowed the Jews to flee Egypt in the Exodus may have been
caused by very strong winds that created an unusually low
tide exposing part of the sea bottom.*

Sounds like someone using science to explain miracles...

First off... I am a Christian, and secondly, I am also a US Navy trained meteorologist and Oceanographer.

Ice thick enough to walk on... hmmm...

The average salinity (how much salt it contains) of sea water is around 3.5 grams per liter of salt water. (35%)
At that salinity value, it takes a temperature of 28.5 degrees F in order for it to begin to freeze...

The Sea of Galilee is fresh water, and is fed by some salty springs along the Western shore. So, the salinity values of the water would definitely be lower than that of sea water, but would they be cold enough to allow ice to begin forming? Maybe the ice was already there, and was in the process of melting. We know from Matthew's account that this miracle occured in the spring time. In John's account the disciples were at least 3 to 3 and 1/2 miles out, which is nearly halfway across.

This doesn't explain scientifically how Jesus was able to get out to the disciples, who were out that far. If the water near the shore had been frozen enough to stand on... (very unlikely, as we all know that water near a shoreline is subject to daily temperature changes because it is shallower and would heat faster, and be more likely to have thinner if any ice was present at all).

I would have to say, if the ice was not mentioned in the bible, it probabaly was not important enough to worry about or to argue over, and therefore shouldn't be taken very seriously as an explanation. Faith comes into play here... you cannot explain faith by proving it with science.

A great example of faith is found in John chapter 8, verses 5-13.

Faith is not easy to come by.

More on this tomorrow...