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1 posted on 04/01/2011 9:27:28 AM PDT by Palter
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To: SunkenCiv

Cool.


2 posted on 04/01/2011 9:28:17 AM PDT by Palter (If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it. ~ Mark Twain)
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To: Palter
Malta is not 200 miles long. The north coast of Sicily is roughly that length, but Sicily is a lot larger than Malta.

The New Testament doesn't say that the snake bit St. Paul, only that it fastened itself to his arm--it isn't said that fangs were used. Perhaps they were and that's why the barbarians thought he was about to drop dead.

The island is identified as Melite (Acts 28.1). There were two islands with that name--Malta and the island now called Mljet, near Dubrovnik off the Dalmatian coast. The last geographical pointer was in 27.27 where the Adriatic is mentioned. Mljet is in the Adriatic; the sea around Malta is not generally considered part of the Adriatic Sea. Constantine Porphyrogenitus thought the shipwreck was on Mljet.

There are poisonous snakes on Mljet; I don't think there are any on Malta. I was told by a high school classmate who was born on Malta that St. Paul drove the snakes out--sort of like St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland.

Pope Benedict XVI officially endorsed Malta as the place of the shipwreck, but he didn't announce that it was an infallible statement.

It could be that this guy is looking around the wrong island.

3 posted on 04/01/2011 12:58:28 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: Palter

additional, from the FRchives:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1567208/posts?page=2#2


5 posted on 04/01/2011 7:01:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Thanks Cincinna for this link -- http://www.friendsofitamar.org)
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To: Palter

I wish him the very best of luck on his search. I find this fascinating.


7 posted on 04/02/2011 12:41:53 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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