Mythbusters: The Bible

[The Stranger]

This is a "Project" to try to find a logical explanation for some events described in the Bible. Like the fact that Jesus could walk over water. Maybe he walked over ice? Or the Flood, maybe a tsunami?

If there are any members that would like to participate, please post your ideas here.

[Gurkhal]

I don't think walking on ice could've explained the "water-walk-thing".

If I remember correctly there was a storm at the lake where the walked. His apprientices were sitting in a boat in the very lake and it (the boat) was threathing to turn over. I don't think that an ice layer would be thick or stabile enough to walk on in those conditions.

Also a tsunammi in Mesopotamia seems a bit, odd. Perhaps a extrodinery big flood of Tigris and Euphrate.

[The Stranger]

Oh yeah i know it wouldnt be ice, but i read something about a tsunami that entered through the Arabic sea into the Gulf of Oman into the valley of the Euphrate and Tigris. They found a big layer of sediment in that vallay around the time the Flood was dated.

But I think it is interesting, maybe people have things to share or we could get to ideas together

[Stig]

The Flood happened in what is nowadays Turkey, some book about all sorts of these things, can't remember the name just now. It has 40 mythes from the ancient world.
Dreamtime, the Flood, Inca (or something) ruins, Polynesians, Jason and the Argonauts, the first Alphabet, language, etc.

[Dol Guldur]

The "Flood myth" - as it is called - can be found in cultures around the world, showing it had a common origin.

But are not miracles, perhaps, merely the application of laws we do not yet understand? An aeroplane would be a miracle to people 200 years ago. We can try and think of what we currently know to explain miracles but we should not close off the door to the possibility that man has not yet discovered the laws which were in operation when a miracle occured.

I do not believe in a God who is a magician. I believe He works according to eternal laws, some of which we understand but most of which, imho, we do not.

[Stig]

I don't believe in any god at all, everything written in either bible or koran or whatever can be proven wrong. Some are easy, some more difficult, but we can bust all myths

[King of Atlantis]

The "Flood myth" - as it is called - can be found in cultures around the world, showing it had a common origin.

It actually proves people think along the same tangents. The story of Achilles is for example extremely similiar to a germanic legend. It ultimatly proves we are all humans and can come to the same conculsions through observation.

[DukeofSerbia]

This is a "Project" to try to find a logical explanation for some events described in the Bible. Like the fact that Jesus could walk over water. Maybe he walked over ice? Or the Flood, maybe a tsunami?

If there are any members that would like to participate, please post your ideas here.

Here we go again... After so many threads in Frontroom or Backroom about religion, creationism, atheism, ... you opened this in Monastery.

Jesus Christ walked over water. So what? For me, true.

P.S.
I saw several wonders by my eyes.

[The Stranger]

I don't want to know if God exists, I don't want to know if Jesus Christ existed, I don't have anything to do with the pro's and cons of religion. I just want to know whether or not there can be found a "logical" explanation for some bible events. I'm talking about posts like that of Kraxis. I'm now interested in this because we study the impact of the Bible and stuff... It is just interesting, it has nothing to do with politics. Everyone that believes in God, believes in God, everyone that does not, does not. I'm not Christian but i do believe in a "God", not necesary the christian one...

[DukeofSerbia]

I have theology books at home (Orhodox Christianity) and yes, I have explanations about miracles, but I don't have time to translate and it is very hard to do it.

[Avicenna]

Quite frankly, the most logical explanation is that none of this happened and was just written down by some guy with a big mouth, spare time, ink, paper and a bad/strange nightmare.

[Derfasciti]

I do call myself a Christian and I don't think I'm stupid or naieve because of it. Jesus DID walk on water. For me, it's fact, and it's not because I just accepted it as a child. In fact, I was a very big atheist in my early teenage years and about two years ago(about 16 years old or so) I really did start believing there is a God. Those that call Christ's miracles myths are trying to scientifically explain what is probably not scientifically explainable. It was God's WILL that allowed these things to happen. Placing faith in anything so supernatural as this is very hard, but for salvation imho it is a necessity.


As for the "tsunami" idea: Give me a break! You need more faith to believe that then you would in God and Jesus' miracles!

[Ares]

This is a "Project" to try to find a logical explanation for some events described in the Bible. Like the fact that Jesus could walk over water. Maybe he walked over ice? Or the Flood, maybe a tsunami?

If there are any members that would like to participate, please post your ideas here.

I think the whole Flood story has some ancient Babylonian origins. Basically, all the miracles and supernatural events described in the Bible have more ancient origins. They are not exclusive to the Bible or anything.

[The Stranger]

i know but the bible clustered them all together...

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

The Plagues cast down by god onto Egypt:

rivers and other water sources turned to blood
well red sands from ethiopia and other mid african areas were drawn into the nile, creating a blood colored river

reptiles (commonly believed to be frogs)
easy, as the river filled up with the red dirt, the insects and fish started to die. the insects moved out, not giving the frogs a source of food, so they moved out.

lice
same as above (without the frogs)

'Arov', meaning either flies, wild animals or beetles
this was a plague that destroyed livestock. another easy one to explain, the insects moved out the of the nile, carrying disease that affected livestock.

Pestilence
see above

Boils
insects

Storm (fiery hail)
my best guess would be volcanos

Locusts
same as frogs and lice and Arov

Darkness
now this has two possibilities.
1. volcanos (fiery hail) ash blocked the sun
2. the locusts came in huge crowds and swarms blocking out the sun

Death of Firstborn
now this one is unexplainable. my best guess is disease from cattle and insects. the hebrew first born were protected because they moved out of the area.

as for the walking on water, i doubt judea snowed

[The Stranger]

i just read an interesting piece about this in the yesterdays newspaper... ill post it as soon as possible

[Glaucus]

About Jesus walking on water... I've always had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with the salt content in the Dead Sea. Maybe he just floated in the water, and the story got magnified by many people telling it over and over. I don't know the story that well so I can't really pass jugement... I'm a Jew