Posted on 04/04/2006 9:50:23 AM PDT by charming_harmonica
The New Testament story describes Jesus walking on water in the Sea of Galilee but according to a study led by Florida State University Professor of Oceanography Doron Nof, it's more likely that he walked on an isolated patch of floating ice.
The study points to a rare combination of optimal water and atmospheric conditions for development of a unique, localized freezing phenomenon that Nof and his co-authors call "springs ice."
In what is now northern Israel, such ice could have formed on the cold freshwater surface of the Sea of Galilee -- known as Lake Kinneret by modern-day Israelis -- when already chilly temperatures briefly plummeted during one of the two protracted cold periods between 2,500 and 1,500 years ago.
A frozen patch floating on the surface of the small lake would have been difficult to distinguish from the unfrozen water surrounding it. The unfrozen water was comprised of the plumes resulting from salty springs situated along the lake's western shore in Tabgha -- an area where many archeological findings related to Jesus have been documented.
"As natural scientists, we simply explain that unique freezing processes probably happened in that region only a handful of times during the last 12,000 years," Nof said. "We leave to others the question of whether or not our research explains the biblical account."
It isn't the first time the FSU researcher has offered scientific explanations of watery miracles. As a recognized expert in the field of oceanography and limnology -- the study of freshwater, saline and brackish environments -- Nof made waves worldwide in 1992 with his oceanographic perspective on the parting of the Red Sea.
His latest research appears in the April 2006 Journal of Paleolimnology, a scientific publication that addresses the reconstruction of lake history.
Using paleoceanographic records of the Mediterranean Sea's surface temperatures along with analytical ice and statistical models, Nof and his colleagues focused on the dynamics of a small section of Lake Kinneret comprising about 10,000 square feet near the salty springs that empty into it. Their analysis supports the likelihood that a brief blast of frigid air descended over the lake and dropped to 25 F (-4 C) for at least two days, coinciding with the chill that had already settled in for a century or more and quite possibly encompassed the decades in which Jesus lived.
If these atmospheric conditions existed simultaneously over a lake such as Kinneret, a floating ice patch could develop above the plumes generated by the salty springs.
Such a perfect combination of conditions on the low-latitude Kinneret might well seem miraculous. In the last 120 centuries, Nof calculates the odds as roughly once in 1,000 years. However, during the life of Jesus the prevailing climate may have favored the more frequent formation of springs ice -- about once in 30 to 160 years.
Floating springs ice partially or entirely surrounded by unfrozen water could be virtually impossible for distant observers to discern, particularly if subsequent rains had smoothed its surface; and 2,000 years ago, even those with a better view might not have recognized a natural phenomenon so rare in their corner of the world.
"In today's climate, the chance of springs ice forming in northern Israel is effectively zero, or about once in more than 10,000 years," Nof added.
Among numerous honors throughout his career, Nof won the prestigious Nansen Medal from the European Geosciences Union in 2005. He is FSU's Distinguished Fridtjof Nansen Professor of Physical Oceanography and a member of its Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Institute.
In addition to Nof, the co-authors of "Is There A Paleolimnological Explanation for 'Walking on Water' in the Sea of Galilee?" are Professor Ian McKeague (Columbia University biostatistics department and formerly of FSU's department of statistics) and Professor Nathan Paldor (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, department of atmospheric science).
Aw come on we all know he was surfing.
Wait until this idiot 'Nof' sees King Jesus appearing in the sky, how will he explain THAT away?
Oh wait, he'll be trying to scramble under the nearest mountain, begging for it to come down on him so he won't have to look.
Bwahahahahaha! Why don't they just scientifically conclude he walked on a slightly submerged narrow land bridge like Peter Sellers in "Being There"?!
In other BS news - Moses parted the Red Sea by having everyone blow on the surface of the water at the same time.
I guess Peter was on a thinner patch when he walked on the water and lost it when he took his eyes off Jesus....Then, maybe Jesus used his trolling motor to move his patch of ice over to rescue Peter....
I may be getting my Gospels mixed up, but weren't the apostles out in the water fishing in a boat? How would hte boat have put out to sea if there was ice sufficient for a man to walk on it?
So, then this was a really big chunk of ice, because when Peter jumped out of the boat and walked out towards Jesus, he was walking on water, too.
Also, isn't it somewhat miraculous that Jesus would be able to find and catch this piece of floating ice to cross the water. 'cause the disciples left with the boat and had no other way to get across.
This doesn't explain how Peter was able to get out of the boat and walk on water, too, unless they were floating right smack against this "ice slick"... or whatever they want to call it.
I think it would be easier to walk on water than a floating patch of ice in Lake Galilee.
I will never understand these rationalists' animus to Christianity and the Bible. Why don't they waste their time trying to explain away how Venus emerged from a shell or how Muhammad rode into heaven on a horse?
In other words, it was a miracle.
Gee, we already knew that.
bunk science
Good grief. When they try to explain such things scientifically they are in the wrong ballpark. How do they explain the loaves and fishes? Or any of the rest of the curious events throughout the Bible?
Oh, you haven't heard? They had crude motors back then that ran off of olive oil....;^)
They're fools. Jesus walked on water. Period. He also raised the dead and cured the sick. He made water into wine, and very good wine at that. But that's the small stuff. He died on the cross and saved mankind, then rose from the dead and went straight to Heaven. I'd like to see them explain that as floating patches of ice or levitation because He suffered from gas, etc.. The kicker in all this is that He forgives all our sins, even now. Everything. Believe.
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