The Walk on Water!

[brownie]

From AP:

SCIENTIST: JESUS MAY HAVE WALKED ON ICE

By BILL KACZOR, Associated Press Writer

Jesus walked on water, according to the Bible, but a Florida State University professor says he may have actually walked on a hard-to-see patch of ice.

Doron Nof, a professor of oceanography, said a rare combination of water and atmospheric conditions in the Sea of Galilee 2000 years ago may offer a scientific explanation for one of the miracles recounted in the Bible.

Nof said a patch of ice floating in the Sea of Galilee — which is actually a freshwater lake — would have been difficult to distinguish from unfrozen water surrounding it.

"I'm not trying to provide any information that has to do with theology here," Nof said in an interview Wednesday. "All we've thought is about the natural process. What theologians or anybody else does with that, it's their business, so to speak."

According to the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark and John, Jesus' disciples were out on the Galilee at night when a storm came up. Jesus walked to the terrified men, who thought he was a ghost, according to the accounts.

Darrell Bock, a professor of New Testament studies at the Dallas Theological Seminary, lightheartedly dismissed the idea that Jesus walked on ice.

"I'm just cold to the theory," said Bock, author of "Breaking the Da Vinci Code," which defends traditional Christian beliefs challenged in Dan Brown's "Da Vinci Code."

"I tend to treat it as a real miracle," Bock said. "Almost all the nature miracles are challenged in one degree or another."

Other reaction to the theory has not been so restrained.

"I get hate e-mail on the average every three minutes," Nof said. One e-mail called him "the most stupid person on the planet" and closed by wishing that he "go to hell where you belong."

Nof's research appears in the April issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology, a publication on the reconstruction of lake histories. Nof's co-authors are biostatistics professor Ian McKeague of Columbia University and atmospheric science professor Nathan Paldor of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

They came up with the theory after studying records of long-ago water temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea, based on core samples of shells and other animal remains taken from the bottom.

The records indicated that two lengthy periods 2,500 to 1,500 years ago were chilly enough for ice patches to form during cold spells on the Sea of Galilee, said Nof, a native of Israel.

The unfrozen water surrounding the ice would have come from salty springs along the lake's western shore, he said. Salty water freezes at lower temperatures than fresh water.

[Claude]

The whole paper can be found on Doron Nof's homepage

http://doronnof.net --> "Walking on ice"

[Rooster_Ties]

[GA Russell]

I don't have a problem with people who think that the Bible is baloney and that Christianity is bunk.

But I have no time for people (including theologians) who say that the authors of the Bible were sincere but didn't really mean what they said, and that the things they were reporting actually happened in a slightly different manner than what they said.

[Jazzmoose]

Well, there isn't any actual "reporting" in the Bible, as none of the books were written by on-the-spot eyewitnesses, but in general I agree. I find this kind of story pretty silly...

[JSngry]

Walking on ater/ice is easy. It takes a real Diety to go...

[JSngry]

Well, there isn't any actual "reporting" in the Bible, as none of the books were written by on-the-spot eyewitnesses...

Agreed overall, but a fair, if not exactly air-tight, case can be made for the Gospel of John, which, regardless of all that, is one of, if not the, most beautiffly written books of the NT, as well as the only gospel that shows no signs of its literary content being "derived" from previous sources.

[GA Russell]

Well, there isn't any actual "reporting" in the Bible, as none of the books were written by on-the-spot eyewitnesses, but in general I agree. I find this kind of story pretty silly...

What about Matthew? He was an apostle. Wasn't he a witness to what is included in his gospel?

Mark was Peter's secretary. I think it's fair to consider Mark's gospel to be Peter's eyewitness account.

[BERIGAN]

Gospel of Judas' Authenticated, Translated After 1,700 Years

[porcy62]

A f***ing water pipe broke this afternoon, my parquet flooring is damaged (no kidding)

...and I was walking on water. Now tell me: am I Jesus?

[Alexander]

Well, there isn't any actual "reporting" in the Bible, as none of the books were written by on-the-spot eyewitnesses, but in general I agree. I find this kind of story pretty silly...

What about Matthew? He was an apostle. Wasn't he a witness to what is included in his gospel?

Mark was Peter's secretary. I think it's fair to consider Mark's gospel to be Peter's eyewitness account.

The earliest gospel was written an estimated 60 years after the alleged crucifixion.

I don't believe that Jesus existed as either man OR god...but you all know that...

[Big Wheel]

In other news, scientists have hypothesized that the water-to-wine miracle may have actually been accomplished by "some guy named Gary," according to James F. Lifshitz, professor of chemistry at Western Idaho University. "Ancient scrolls recently discovered around Beersheba mention that Gary was a big hit around the punchbowl."

[Jazzmoose]

And finally, throwing confusion upon the history of literature, an early scroll of Homer's The Illiad found last month contains a bizarre, unknown section concerning the consumption of donuts, beer, and a new character referred to as "the little spike haired bastard". Experts claim this proves that the Oddessy may have been written by Sir Francis Bacon...

[Jim Alfredson]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm... bacon.

[GA Russell]

The earliest gospel was written an estimated 60 years after the alleged crucifixion.

I don't believe that that is correct. I read in The Wanderer last year that pieces of two documents, one of which was St. Matthew's Gospel, have been found which suggested that they were written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

[John Tapscott]

It's not correct. Most likely 30 years. Probably all the Gospels were essentially complete by 70 AD, though they they may not have been in the compiled form in which we have them now. Other writings in the New Testament, esp. Paul's letters, are earlier than the earliest Gospel. And of course, there are eyewitness accounts in the Gospels, details that have been confrimed by archaeolgy that only an eyewitness could have known.