Scientist claims to explain parting of the waves

Ananova ^ | Wednesday 21st January 2004

[presidio9]

"But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left." -Exodus 14:29

[Califelephant]

God works in mysterious ways. Another "natural miracle" took place when Atila the Hun was about to invade Rome. Pope Leo I interceded with prayer and diplomacy. At about the same time, Attila's army was hit with a bad case of some kind of plague (possibly malaria). For this and other reasons, Attila withdrew and Rome was saved.

[Finalapproach29er]

Behold, His mighty hand!

[Lazamataz]

He says there is a riff six or seven metres under the water that runs from one bank of the Gulf of Suez to the other at the spot where the Exodus occurred. He said depending on the movement of the tides and if there was a strong wind it was possible to cross the Red Sea keeping your feet almost dry. A drop in the wind though and the water would flood back over the riff in large waves, explaining why they would have come crashing down on the Egyptians when they entered the seabed.

And it was all just a big honkin' coincidence that it happened right when Moses commanded it.

Scientists can be real morons sometimes.

[mywholebodyisaweapon]

Yeah. Sad that Prof. Wolzinger will become a believer some day -- the hard way, too late!

[RightWhale]

depending on the movement of the tides and if there was a strong wind it was possible to cross the Red Sea keeping your feet almost dry.

It would aid the scientist's hypothesis if he or someone has actually recently observed this happening at some time.

[winodog]

Yes maybe everyone would be happier if God had snappend his fingers and a huge hoover dam popped up then as the last hebrew crossed the dam were to vanish.

[MississippiMan]

I've seen variants of this explanation offered up before. IIRC, this underwater "bridge" is a hard reef of some sort. As others have already pointed out, maybe this is how God chose to do it. Still a miracle of course. Or maybe this brilliant scientist would like to recreate the event as it happened, allowing the Israelites to cross precisely when they needed to, then bringing the water back in on the Egyptians precisely when they needed to be stopped. :-)

MM

[Sacajaweau]

Heard this about 30 years ago from a theology student. The truth is...believe what you wish.

[steve8714]

seven years federal funding...

[ZULU]

EXACTLY. Knowing the "how" doesn't necessarily answer the "why".

This is the trap the - gasp - dare I say it - dare I start another thread lost in the morass of EVOLUTION?? Yes. I'll say it.

This is the trap that athestic scientists who study evolution fall into. Evolution is a scientific fact. Species change over time from one species to another. Scientists believe this is due to natural selection action to favor certain genetic changes to a greater degree in certain environments as these environments changes. So far so good. Then the scientists say ergo, man is the product of a series of accidents and that God didn't create him.
They confuse the "how" with the "why".

[El Gran Salseron]

So Moses didn't raise his "stick" and part the Red Sea?

What he did was raise his "stick" so that the winds would blow the tides out? Sounds good to me! Either way it works out. :-)

You mean Charlton Heston wasn't really there?

I'm SHOCKED, I tell you.....just SHOCKED!

[JOAT]

He says there is a riff six or seven metres under the water that runs from one bank of the Gulf of Suez to the other at the spot where the Exodus occurred.

So the wind blew strongly enough to part the water to a depth of over 20 FEET and the Israelites could still stand up and walk along?

The underwater bridge is a well-documented fact. One now deceased researcher photographed the gold overlays of chariot wheels that were unique to that period of Egyptian history on that bridge, along with coral encrusted skulls.

[El Gran Salseron]

My brother is a scuba diver and a very religious person. He claims that researchers have sent down camera robots in the Red Sea and these cameras have recorded what appears to be decayed chariot pieces.

[My2Cents]

I think it's fair to say that scientists are trained to ask "How?", not to ask "Why?" That is left to the philosophers and the theologians. This being said, the scientists would be well to stick to "How?" and not delve into "Why?", where they are ill-equipped to intelligently speculate.

[plain talk]

Evolution is a scientific fact.

Right, they have a theory they claim as fact. Amazing how sure man can be on selective topics.

[Ranxerox]

And it was all just a big honkin' coincidence that it happened right when Moses commanded it. Scientists can be real morons sometimes.

IIRC the Israelites pulled off a similar "miraculous coincidence" when crossing the Jordan for the first time.

[JOAT]

IIRC the Israelites pulled off a similar "miraculous coincidence" when crossing the Jordan for the first time.

Correct. Also when Elijah and Elisha were preparing for the transition between them, when Elijah was taken up in a fiery chariot to heaven.

[FourPeas]

Scientist claims to explain parting of the waves

Whoa, what a coincidence, I can, too. My explanations just a bit more plausable, though: God.

[JOAT]

Also when Elijah and Elisha were preparing for the transition between them, when Elijah was taken up in a fiery chariot to heaven.

2 Kings 2:6-15

6 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to the Jordan."
And he replied, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So the two of them walked on.
7 Fifty men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied.
10 "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours-otherwise not."
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart.
13 He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
14 Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD , the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

That funny Jordan river just kept parting, on at least 3 occasions, and the people in question were walking on dry ground. Not almost dry.