A “scientific report” came out about a year ago claiming that Jesus may have walked out to the disciples in the Sea of Galilee on a small sheet of ice instead of the biblical account of him walking on the water. You know how "science" always has to have a natural explanation for things, as they can't accept anything supernatural as a possibility. If you remember the story from the bible, Jesus goes off to pray alone, and the disciples get in a boat and row out. Storm comes up. Jesus catches up to them by walking across the water. They’re scared, and think it’s a ghost. Jesus says to have courage, and identifies himself. Peter says, “Lord if it’s you, then let me come to you.” He gets out of the boat and begins walking across the water towards Jesus. Becomes afraid of the waves beneath him and starts to sink. Jesus grabs him and lifts him out of the water. When they get back to the boat, they worship Jesus. You can read the actual bible text in Matthew 14:22-33.
Below is the text from the article being discussed:
Rare conditions could have conspired to create hard-to-see ice on the Sea of Galilee that a person could have walked on back when Jesus is said to have walked on water, a scientist said today.
The study, which examines a combination of favorable water and environmental conditions, proposes that Jesus could have walked on an isolated patch of floating ice on what is now known as Lake Kinneret in northern Israel.
Looking at temperature records of the Mediterranean Sea surface and using analytical ice and statistical models, scientists considered a small section of the cold freshwater surface of the lake. The area studied, about 10,000 square feet, was near salty springs that empty into it.
The results suggest temperatures dropped to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 degrees Celsius) during one of the two cold periods 2,500 –1,500 years ago for up to two days, the same decades during which Jesus lived.
With such conditions, a floating patch of ice could develop above the plumes resulting from the salty springs along the lake's western shore in Tabgha. Tabgha is the town where many archeological findings related to Jesus have been found.
"We simply explain that unique freezing processes probably happened in that region only a handful of times during the last 12,000 years," said Doron Nof, a Florida State University Professor of Oceanography. "We leave to others the question of whether or not our research explains the biblical account."
Nof figures that in the last 120 centuries, the odds of such conditions on the low latitude Lake Kinneret are most likely 1-in-1,000. But during the time period when Jesus lived, such “spring ice” may have formed once every 30 to 60 years.
Such floating ice in the unfrozen waters of the lake would be hard to spot, especially if rain had smoothed its surface.
"In today's climate, the chance of springs ice forming in northern Israel is effectively zero, or about once in more than 10,000 years," Nof said.
The findings are detailed in the April 2006 Journal of Paleolimnology.
Okay, so they pick a part out of a bible story and then attempt to discredit it (although maybe not maliciously), but don’t include any supporting details. Here’s why I have a problem with this: Other than the fact that I believe the bible is the infallible authoritative Word of God, they leave out any analysis of the story that would contradict their findings. Let me set the scene using the biblical story combined with their hypothesis and tell me if it sounds plausible:
You have the disciples out in a boat, rowing like mad in the midst of this storm. Now, the boat isn’t embedded in ice, or they wouldn’t be rowing like mad. So they don't see any ice. However, Jesus comes walking or floating out to them on a sheet of ice. Disciples are afraid and think He’s a ghost. So Jesus says not to be afraid. Peter tells the Lord to call to him. Jesus does. Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk to Jesus. On what? Ice? How would the disciples be rowing in fluid water if Peter can get directly out of the boat onto ice strong enough to support his weight? Did they dock at an ice floe?
And if it were a thin sheet of ice Jesus was walking on, when Peter stepped out and realized that it were ice, wouldn’t he say, “Aw, Jesus. We thought you were walking on the water. This is ice.” But he doesn’t. He keeps walking, and then starts to sink. Jesus, on this sheet of floating ice just beneath the surface walks immediately grabs him and says, “You have so little faith. Why did you doubt me?” Does that sound like something Jesus would say to someone who had just fallen through ice? It takes “faith” in the natural to walk across ice, just as it does to drive your car across a bridge, but it takes faith in the supernatural to walk across water.
Two other points: 1) Peter was a fisherman from Galilee by trade. He knew the seas. He had been doing this for years. Even if this was the only time in 60 years that it had frozen over, he would understand that it was ice. 2) If this never happened, then Jesus is a fraud in the miracles department. Of course, Peter would realize this, and would not have been bold enough to die for the name of Jesus later in his life.
Also amazing is how this guy knows pretty much how many times the sea of galilee has frozen over in the last 12,000 years. What data is he analyzing? I mean, what sort of scientific tests is he running to make this determination, and what historical data is he looking at? It's all bullkrap, which is why you shouldn't swallow everything "science" feeds you.
P.S. Don't think I'm anti-science, because I keep putting it in quotes. I am all for the Law of Gravity, and for all the things that can be proven through the scientific method, and for historical happenings (although though the events happen as fact, they are reported/interpreted subjectively quite often - revisionist history).
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