TOTALLY GEEKED!

ed11563 · Guru

5 Famous Bible Stories With Logical Scientific Explanations

ed11563 · Guru

#4. God's Wrath Could Have Been Earthquakes

If Old Testament rules still applied today, Las Vegas would have been swallowed up by sandworms twelve times over by now. Because when God decided your city had turned south, he cranked his wrath dial up to 11. That's one more than ten. One more wrath.

Michelangelo
"You see, most deities, you know, will be wrathing at ten. Where can you go from there? Where?"

Jericho was the first city to fall when the Israelites, led by Joshua, conquered their promised land. After crossing the miraculously dried-up Jordan River, they marched the Ark of the Covenant around the city, blowing their horns until, on the seventh day, a particularly excessive horn-blow sent the city's walls a-tumbling down. And of course, we all remember Sodom and Gomorrah, where God rained fire and brimstone on every citizen -- man, woman, and child -- all because a few dudes were into butt stuff.

The Non-Miraculous Explanation:

Earthquakes, plain and simple.

Jericho was located smack dab in a rift valley, an unstable area prone to seismic activity. And according to Dr. Amos Nur, a Stanford University geophysicist, the events described in the biblical story are absolutely consistent with known earthquake activity in the region: "The combination, the destruction of Jericho and the stoppage of the Jordan, is so typical of earthquakes in this region that only little doubt can be left as to the reality of such events in Joshua's time." And if a convenient earthquake tears down the walls of the city you're currently laying siege upon, what do you do? Why, you march right on in, flick your thumb toward the devastation, and say, "We meant to do that."

To this day, North Korea claims credit for Godzilla.

Similarly, Sodom and Gomorrah are said to have been located in another earthquake-prone area along the edge of the Dead Sea. Forensic anthropologist Mike Finnegan has discovered Bronze Age remains of men who died via squishing there, indicating earthquake activity right around the time the story would have taken place.

British Museum
We'll leave to your imagination exactly what the men were squishing.

Furthermore, an earthquake could have destabilized the ground and put pressure on underground deposits of asphalt, which would in turn spew up, be ignited by surface fires and hit the city as thick, burning rain. The complete annihilation described in the Bible was recreated in models at the Cambridge University Centrifuge Laboratory in England, where it was proven that a quake of sufficient magnitude could cause the very ground under the cities to liquefy and carry them to the bottom of the sea.

Moral of the story? If you're planning on building a town infamous for its wickedness, don't do it right on the edge of a sea that has "dead" right there in its goddamn name.

ed11563 · Guru

(Here's the link, by the way ... )

http://www.cracked.com/article_22708_5-badass-stories-in-bible-explained-by-science.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter-weekly-20150820

#3. Jesus Could Have Walked On Water Thanks To A Layer Of Ice

Amedee Varint

After feeding a hungry crowd with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish (it's all about portion control, people), Jesus retreated to a mountaintop to rest up from a hard day of miraclin'. His rest would prove short-lived, however, when his disciples decided to cross the Sea of Galilee. Night fell, and a storm threatened to introduce them to their maker. But right when things looked most dire, they saw Jesus walking on surface of the water, coming to their rescue, presumably in slow motion and to the theme of Baywatch.

Francois Boucher
It was the second-coolest thing Jesus ever did with water.

The Non-Miraculous Explanation:

Jesus could have been walking on ice -- which, technically, is still walking on water. But anyway ...

According to a study by a team of U.S. and Israeli scientists, the salty springs near the generally accepted site of the "loaves and fishes" event, along with Game-Of-Thrones-esque cold spells lasting hundreds of years at a time, add up to the perfect conditions for "springs ice" -- patches of ice just under the surface of the Sea of Galilee that would be nearly invisible to someone observing from a distance. Doron Nof, professor of physical oceanography at Florida State University, places the chances of there being such ice on the water in the timeframe of the biblical story as "very, very high."

Ivan Aivazovsky
The only competing mundane theory is that the disciples were very, very high.

For a modern demonstration of what such a feat might have looked like, look no further than these two hikers who happened upon a transparently frozen lake in the mountains of Slovakia:

Jesus walks ~~with~~ like me.

Now, try to forget all the knowledge that two millennia of collective human experience has imparted onto your brainsmarts, watch that video again, and imagine how it would have affected a casual observer back then. In those circumstances, "God did it" is pretty much a foregone conclusion

ed11563 · Guru

Link to walk on water ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WBqX7MSqWw

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#2. The Dead Could Have Risen Because Medical Knowledge Was Basically Nonexistent

Duccio

In the New Testament, Jesus brings three people back from the dead before reanimating himself like some sorta meta-Frankenstein. "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many." Luckily for said saints, all this took place a couple thousand years before Night Of The Living Dead, so they weren't greeted with machetes and headshots.

Instead, they were greeted with trumpets and tubas ... which is maybe worse.

The Non-Miraculous Explanation:

Keep in mind that, until relatively recently on the human timeline, it wasn't all that unusual for a presumed corpse to jump up and find themselves in attendance at their own funeral. In the early 20th century, English businessman and OG antivaxxer William Tebb decided to create a ledger of such events, and he found "219 instances of narrow escape from premature burial, 149 cases of actual premature burial, 10 cases in which bodies were accidentally dissected before death, and two cases in which embalming was started on the not-yet-dead."

Matthias Kopp
The hills were alive with the sound of coffin scratching.

This isn't relegated to ancient times, either; it totally still happens today. As recently as January of 2015, in fact. A young Kenyan man who swallowed insecticide woke up in a morgue 15 hours after being declared dead, sending the staff running and screaming for the door. And if modern doctors can still utterly fail to distinguish a living guy from a dead one, imagine how common it must have been a couple thousand years ago, when medical science consisted of poking a guy, waiting for him to say "quit poking me," then, if he didn't, pronouncing him dead.

ed11563 · Guru

#1. The Ten Plagues Of Egypt Were An Environmental Disaster

Iconographic Collections

When Moses approached the Pharaoh to demand his people be set free, the Pharaoh seemed to need a bit of encouragement in the matter. Which God happily delivered in the form of ten plagues: water turning into blood, frogs, lice, flies, diseased livestock, boils, thunderstorms and hail, locusts, darkness, and finally, the death of all the firstborn sons in Egypt. God's methods may be questionable, but the dude is a serious motivator.

Paramount Pictures
Second only to Charlton Heston.

The Non-Miraculous Explanation:

According to a whole plethora of scientists, the ten plagues could have been the result of a string of environmental disasters. By studying the makeup of stalagmites in Egyptian caves, climatologists have determined that Rameses II ruled during a period when the climate was warm and wet ... but then came a drastic change. Things dried up and temperatures rose, leading to the Nile shrinking and being overrun with a freshwater bacterium known as Burgundy Blood algae. To a people who didn't know a bacterium from a boil on their ass, the water would have appeared to become blood.

Seriously, every miracle featuring water is a lie.

These conditions could also have directly led to plagues two through six: The toxic water caused the frogs to abandon ship, the lack of frogs caused an explosion in insects (lice and flies, for instance), and insects have a tendency to spread disease, thereby leading to all the sickly livestock and unsightly boils.

It would take something bigger to kick off plagues seven through nine ... like "one of the biggest volcanic eruptions in human history." Four hundred miles from Egypt, on the Greek island of Santorini, a volcano named Thera puked billions of tons of ash into the sky. Atmospheric physicist Nadine von Blohm says that the volcanic ash combining with thunderstorms could have caused horrific hailstorms. Biologist Siro Trevisanato says that the higher humidity from the volcanic fallout would have caused a veritable baby boom in the locust population. And the billions of tons of ash would obviously account for that darkness.

Rolfsteinar/Wikimedia
Legally, still an act of God.

The tenth and final plague would be created by a snowball effect of all those before -- should the food supplies become contaminated, the firstborn of each family would be the first to chow down on poison, thanks to a custom dictating that they would be the first to receive their deadly share.

Rocky Mountain Laboratories
The Angel of Death has a name, and that name is E. Coli.

Of course, there are a few ways of looking at all this stuff:

A.) Uneducated people saw a ton of bad luck and wrote it into the Bible as God's will.

B.) God made all this stuff happen and we're just trying to explain it now with science.

C.) These are a bunch of fun theories and conjecture that only provide entertainment and ultimately don't affect anybody's daily lives in a serious way.

D.) It's time to fight about religion on the internet. Again.

Stian Hansen works as a journalist for the newspaper Finnmarken. When he isn't busy making sexy dance videos, he takes pictures of the many beautiful sights in Northern Norway.

OutlawJoseyWales · Newbie

I could believe the earthquake. The rest are reaching.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

All I have to say is God is omnipotent.

All the science in the world can't explain Him. Can't quantify Him. Can't begin to understand Him.

Since God created the heavens and the earth and all its inhabitants, it stands to reason that He can do make what ever He wants happen.

It's called Faith.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

I love you, ed.

flan

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

It seems that those of you who claim to believe in God in some way really don't. If you really believed in God then none of these things are hard for Him flan. You don't seem to really believe there is a God flan.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

I believe the earthquake thing. I can even believe the gigantism thing. I mean, we have those people now. True they are rare but we have them. As far as the rest I don't believe. And the walking on water thing? No way. No freaking way. You cannot tell me that those people were so stupid that they didn't realize water froze and that furthermore they didn't realize you could walk on ice. By the way, in the Bible it says water and not ice.

ed11563 · Guru

Some people were taught from childhood to question everything about their (my) religion.

Some people were taught from childhood to accept.

I think that's an important part of belief.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

So because we don't believe the way you believe we are not smart enough to question our beliefs?

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Questioning my beliefs always gets me right back to my Faith. Makes my Faith stronger.

The Bible also calls the land the Jews were to have as "flowing with milk and honey". If we want to get scientific, I guess it isn't real because no where is milk and honey going to flow. I mean really, let's use our heads for more than a hat rack.

Yes. It's hard to believe miracles. We want to know how everything happens.

I've asked this before, would you (general you), even recognize a miracle if you saw one?

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

Dona Worry Be Happy · Vette's SS!!

Whybdi scientific explanations detract from the Bible instead of strengthen it?

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

OutlawJoseyWales wrote:
I could believe the earthquake. The rest are reaching.

And the earthquakes were easily caused by God.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

Nobody Just Nobody wrote:
I believe the earthquake thing. I can even believe the gigantism thing. I mean, we have those people now. True they are rare but we have them. As far as the rest I don't believe. And the walking on water thing? No way. No freaking way. You cannot tell me that those people were so stupid that they didn't realize water froze and that furthermore they didn't realize you could walk on ice. By the way, in the Bible it says water and not ice.

But Goliath's giant-ness isn't really the point of that story, now is it? It was about David's faith and courage in taking him on alone.

lilyofcourse · My spirit animal is a pink flamingo.

That's what gets missed most of the time.

David's Faith was the point.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

It seems as if some of you believe that God is simply not capable of doing much of anything. It seems that unless science has some pat explanation then you don't believe. You dont seem to believe that God can act outside of Science. And it is generally accepted by Christians that the Miracles are events outside or beyond the Natural.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Lawyerlady wrote:
Nobody Just Nobody wrote:
I believe the earthquake thing. I can even believe the gigantism thing. I mean, we have those people now. True they are rare but we have them. As far as the rest I don't believe. And the walking on water thing? No way. No freaking way. You cannot tell me that those people were so stupid that they didn't realize water froze and that furthermore they didn't realize you could walk on ice. By the way, in the Bible it says water and not ice.
But Goliath's giant-ness isn't really the point of that story, now is it? It was about David's faith and courage in taking him on alone.

Exactly. Its like oh this somehow discredits the Bible when it does no such thing.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

If science could explain one single thing regarding their theories, I might take them more seriously. So here is the question-

If we are evolved from apes - why are there apes and why are there people, but there is no in between? I mean right now - why are there not any "in betweens" right now? What? Certain apes evolved and then nature just stopped the evolution once people became? One thing I do know and agree with science is that evolution doesn't stop - it adapts. So, if we were evolved from apes, there would either be no more apes, or there would be "in betweens".

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

I think Each Species after its own kind is how creation happened. Birds are birds. Dogs are dogs. Humans are humans. Apes are apes. One didn't magically turn into the other. Yhey always start with a chemical soup and then there are apes. They don't scientifically explain anything except to say " evolutipn".

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

It's just such a simple, basic question that every scientist in the world should be asking it.

huskerbb · Guru

Who frickin' cares why Goliath was a giant. He was NOT a "cripple". He is described as a "champion", which is easily inferred to mean he had bested many men in battle. He also didn't have an "attendant", but a shield bearer, but that's irrelevant, too, and does NOT have the meaning the writer of this nonsense attributes to it. The best Knights of medieval Europe all had men at arms, shield bearers, foot soldiers, or whatever you want to call them accompany them into battle, and they were not all cripples.

huskerbb · Guru

Science can not explain why beavers build dams. Oh sure, they spout stuff off about being necessary for survival and all that--but what would have ever given the first little water dwelling mammal the idea to pile sticks and mud up to made a body of water?

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

I love the ten plagues of Egypt one. So what's the explanation for knowing about that 10th plague before it happened and all the Jewish first borns being spared that marked the doors with lamb's blood.

People put so much work into trying to disprove the Bible and not enough into trying to prove their own theories.

huskerbb · Guru

Lawyerlady wrote:
I love the ten plagues of Egypt one. So what's the explanation for knowing about that 10th plague before it happened and all the Jewish first borns being spared that marked the doors with lamb's blood.

People put so much work into trying to disprove the Bible and not enough into trying to prove their own theories.

Plus they all happened one right after another in the exact same location on the globe in a short period of time? The odds against that would have to be astronomically staggering.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

huskerbb wrote:
Lawyerlady wrote:
I love the ten plagues of Egypt one. So what's the explanation for knowing about that 10th plague before it happened and all the Jewish first borns being spared that marked the doors with lamb's blood.

People put so much work into trying to disprove the Bible and not enough into trying to prove their own theories.
Plus they all happened one right after another in the exact same location on the globe in a short period of time? The odds against that would have to be astronomically staggering.

I know. LOL. And yet that's somehow easier to beleive for some. The extent some people's denial goes is mind-boggling.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

The walking on ice one had me cracking up.

huskerbb · Guru

Nobody Just Nobody wrote:
The walking on ice one had me cracking up.

Plus, poor Peter sank like a stone.

OutlawJoseyWales · Newbie

I would like a scientific explanation for turning walking sticks into snakes and talking snakes too. There is none. Faith.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

huskerbb wrote:
Nobody Just Nobody wrote:
The walking on ice one had me cracking up.
Plus, poor Peter sank like a stone.

I have no doubt that a few things in the Bible could be explained by modern science. But not all. Not even half. You cannot tell me Jesus walked on ice and then tell me everyone else around him was too stupid to know what ice was. That just makes YOU an idiot. Not the Bible.

Dona Worry Be Happy · Vette's SS!!

I don't know, I have never thought the science detracted from the bible at all. I feel it lends the bible more credibility, actually. Not sure why this article is getting such ire, I thought it was neat.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

I think for me it generates ire because of the people who put it out there. If others want to believe the Bible is false than go right ahead. People talk about Christians shoving their beliefs in others faces but then you get articles like this and people just run with it wanting to discredit the Bible. The science doesn't irritate me as much as the same old people trying to tell me what I believe isn't right.

Dona Worry Be Happy · Vette's SS!!

But it doesn't say that at all. It isn't discrediting the bible, it is saying hey, this stuff IS all possible, and almost certainly happened!
This adds to the bible. People want to deny the plauges happened because not possible? It is and was possible, and here is why!

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:
But it doesn't say that at all. It isn't discrediting the bible, it is saying hey, this stuff IS all possible, and almost certainly happened!
This adds to the bible. People want to deny the plauges happened because not possible? It is and was possible, and here is why!

I didn't clearly state why this irritates me. I'd rather not go into details here.

huskerbb · Guru

Nobody Just Nobody wrote:
Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:
But it doesn't say that at all. It isn't discrediting the bible, it is saying hey, this stuff IS all possible, and almost certainly happened!
This adds to the bible. People want to deny the plauges happened because not possible? It is and was possible, and here is why!
I didn't clearly state why this irritates me. I'd rather not go into details here.

Spill it evileye

OutlawJoseyWales · Newbie

Disagree. No one is forcing anyone to read articles that question their beliefs. I'm not threatened by an article. Why would you say publishing an article for discussion is tantamount to running around and shoving it in your face? People have been attempting to discredit the bible for generations. Some folks have done a helluva job with it too. Feeling threatened by a discussion reflects more on you than on those who can maturely look at other perspectives and determine if it warrants more investigation.

Don't be offended or threatened. Be open to knowledge. Science isn't threatening your beliefs. It comes across as being insecure in your faith.

It's an interesting amusing article that is fidgeting with biblical mysteries. No danger.

Nobody Just Nobody · Rib-it! Rrrib-it!

Again, it's not the article per se. I didn't explain my reasoning well.

OutlawJoseyWales · Newbie

Until there are books discrediting the bible in every hotel next to the gideon bible, there's no need for ire.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

I think the main problem with this article is the same problem that always happens. People pick and choose things out of context and try to discredit things a verse at a time. Like the walking on ice theory. Yes, it is quite possible that someone walking on water is doing it because it ice. But, taking the whole of that story together where others were sinking, and no one mentions ice at all - it's kind of an absurd explanation.

OutlawJoseyWales · Newbie

People pick and choose and take things out of context whilst establishing biblical superiority and supporting their beliefs as well. To disparage those who disagree with my interpretation is not wise. For example, I've chosen to ignore Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

It was a deliberate choice to get a tattoo, even though I know it is expressly forbidden. I pick and choose. Don't you?

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

OutlawJoseyWales wrote:
People pick and choose and take things out of context whilst establishing biblical superiority and supporting their beliefs as well. To disparage those who disagree with my interpretation is not wise. For example, I've chosen to ignore Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

It was a deliberate choice to get a tattoo, even though I know it is expressly forbidden. I pick and choose. Don't you?

I certainly try not to. Hair cutting is probably questionable, but that's open to interpretation. My pastor says the verse means women shouldn't cut their hair to look like men.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

Of course, that's not to say I don't knowingly sin - but I know it's a sin and I ask forgiveness.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

I am intrigued by tattoos as a sin, though. I don't really think that applies to today's decorative tattoos. The context of Leviticus there relates to pagan practices. If you are not getting a tattoo as a form of pagan worship - that verse is not going to apply to you.

Interpretation based upon taking the verse out of context.

OutlawJoseyWales · Newbie

I'm understanding you to say you consciously sin but ask forgiveness. Interesting. So, do you repeatedly sin? Example would be gluttony. Do you ask forgiveness each time you partake in gluttony knowing that it won't be your last time? That seems like you're taking advantage of a loophole. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. You sin, ask forgiveness, repeat. So do I.

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

OutlawJoseyWales wrote:
I'm understanding you to say you consciously sin but ask forgiveness. Interesting. So, do you repeatedly sin? Example would be gluttony. Do you ask forgiveness each time you partake in gluttony knowing that it won't be your last time? That seems like you're taking advantage of a loophole. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. You sin, ask forgiveness, repeat. So do I.

Well, in my younger days, I certainly did just that. I hope I've gotten a bit better as I've gotten older. I TRY not to sin, but who is capable of not sinning? To assume you are not going to sin again would be rather arrogant. Gluttony really isn't my weakness. Pride is always a bugger.

And I should clarify - I don't go out intent on sinning on purpose.

-- Edited by Lawyerlady on Friday 21st of August 2015 02:31:37 PM

OutlawJoseyWales · Newbie

No. You can't pick and choose which verses are no longer relevant based on social mores unless you're willing to allow all verses and other people that same interpretation.

Is a frog tattoo is less sinful than a tribal tattoo? They are equally defying a verse that specifically states one is not to make marks on ones skin. There isn't a caveat that says it's ok if it isn't pagen. Pagen is up for interpretation too. No. Much better to take it literal and not justify my decision. I chose to mark my skin. I chose to defy a direct order.

chef · Guru

Lawyerlady wrote:
If science could explain one single thing regarding their theories, I might take them more seriously. So here is the question-

If we are evolved from apes - why are there apes and why are there people, but there is no in between? I mean right now - why are there not any "in betweens" right now? What? Certain apes evolved and then nature just stopped the evolution once people became? One thing I do know and agree with science is that evolution doesn't stop - it adapts. So, if we were evolved from apes, there would either be no more apes, or there would be "in betweens".

Apes and humans share a large amount of DNA. A lot of DNA is shared between species but it's the part of the DNA that's different that makes each species what it is. There's a lot of talk about there being a common ancestor between apes and humans but one hasn't been found yet. I think science gets hung up on most of the DNA being the same between apes and humans and is seeking a common ancestor. There certainly could've been interbreeding way back when but any offspring would've been sterile.

I believe in evolution but I do not believe that humans evolved from apes. I believe each species evolved within itself over time.

chef · Guru

Dona Worry Be Happy wrote:
I don't know, I have never thought the science detracted from the bible at all. I feel it lends the bible more credibility, actually. Not sure why this article is getting such ire, I thought it was neat.

Science does a good job of proving the Bible is true. There is a lot of archaeological evidence in support of the Bible. But people still don't believe.

TOTALLY GEEKED!

5 Famous Bible Stories With Logical Scientific Explanations

#5. Goliath's Gigantism Could Have Been Due To A Medical Condition

#4. God's Wrath Could Have Been Earthquakes

#3. Jesus Could Have Walked On Water Thanks To A Layer Of Ice

#2. The Dead Could Have Risen Because Medical Knowledge Was Basically Nonexistent

#1. The Ten Plagues Of Egypt Were An Environmental Disaster