Jonah and the Whale

[_subgenius]

The Bible just isn't very good at getting animals species right. It lists the hare as a cud chewer, it has asses that talk (no, not Jim Carrey) and whales listed as fish.

The buccal cavity of the fin whale (mysticete group), relatively common to the Mediterranean, is the most likely camping spot for Jonah. Its baleen feeding gives it a very large buccal space and a fairly narrow throat (can only swallow something smaller than grapefruit)...so no swallowing of human sized prey. It would have spit Jonah out.

Yup, Jonah is one of the most possible of Old Testament stories.

Some critics of the scriptures are skeptical...some are cynical...and some, as exhibited in most of the posts above, are just incapable. (simply put, the inability to understand the prescriptive nature of logic and the descriptive nature of natural laws is alarming among the critics here)


First let us consider Matthew 12:40 where we see that Christ was convinced of the "accuracy" in the story of Jonah and the "whale".

Now let us recognize that the actual text (Hebrew/Greek) actually translate as "a great aquatic animal".

The context of the times must also be recognized, for example - 3 days and 3 nights is a Hebrew idiomatic expression that could have simply meant 38 hours - or 3 day/night. It is not "impossible" within natural law that a man could survive 38 hours in such an environment.

Most likely this was just a "miracle"
one must realize that this is an occurrence of a "miracle" and by its very essence is something that a weak mind would definitely term as "impossible"..for if it were "possible" then it would not have been a miracle - this is the fundamental inadequacy of most of the quasi-intellectual who would bother to try and use information about a "buccal cavity" to disprove a miracle. Just as an exercise in basic logic it exposes the rather underdeveloped capacity of most "miracle" critics.
But hey, i suppose only me and Themis believe in the supernatural

If a man had no conception of a regular order in nature, then of course he could not notice departures from that order. When the disciples saw Christ walking on the water, they were frightened: they would not have been frightened unless they had known the laws of nature, and known that this was an exception. - C.S. Lewis

[_MCB]

It is the MEANING of the story, not its literal truth, that makes it valuable.

And it did prefigure Jesus.

[_Themis]

Some critics of the scriptures are skeptical...some are cynical...and some, as exhibited in most of the posts above, are just incapable. (simply put, the inability to understand the prescriptive nature of logic and the descriptive nature of natural laws is alarming among the critics here)

At least we can be consistently skeptical of all ancient religious claims from all the various ancient religious texts.

But hey, i suppose only me and Themis believe in the supernatural

At least I can recognize morals don't have to come from the supernatural/metaphysical.

[_gdemetz]

Maybe the tale seems strange to some, but remember, Christ apparently believed it as well as the great flood, and He is reputed to have been able to do some pretty marvelous things Himself!

[_ludwigm]

I always thought that God made a special fish to hold Jonah. After all He made millions of different animals why not one more special one.

So where you look to the creation for your answers I look to the power of God.

No. Every time facts don't fit your belief, you have God playing the magic card even if the Bible never mentions it. This is an extreme method of self delusion.

[_Shulem]

Maybe the tale seems strange to some, but remember, Christ apparently believed it as well as the great flood, and He is reputed to have been able to do some pretty marvelous things Himself!

What do you mean, "Maybe"? It is a bizarre tale for sure, a myth that was devoured by the Christians, hook, line, and sinker. Jesus fell for it as did all the others in his circle of friends. And don't forget that Jesus was also going around telling people not to worry about washing their hands before they eat. His message was outrageous and utterly insane. Jesus pissed a lot of people off and he paid the ultimate price. But i can assure you, his own blood being spilled has nothing to do with God's ability to forgive sin. It's a cult with a lot of stories and made up lies in it's own covers.

And, just as Jonah was not really swallowed up by a whale for 3 days, neither is there a king's name in Facsimile No. 3 as Joseph Smith claimed. Both stories are lies. Do you believe the lies? What's the name of the king? Riiiiiiiiiiight.

Paul O

[_subgenius]

...we can be consistently skeptical...

actually you guys are neither consistent nor skeptical.
But implying that one apple spoils the whole bunch is illogical when applied to the scriptures, primarily due to the various authors and various time periods and locations involved in its authorship. Perhaps you could argue, in this instance that there is cause to be skeptical about the issue of Jonah and the "whale", but only from a biological science perspective - and last time i checked the scriptures were never intended to be a primer on that topic just as they were never intended to be a geologic survey.
The scriptures are a theological text and of that your attempted skepticism is misapplied.
It would be a similar error for someone to criticize the Pythagorean theorem with 1 Kings 7:23.

At least I can recognize morals don't have to come from the supernatural/metaphysical.

ummm....you have already conceded that any concept of "right and wrong" are super/meta, unless i missed your scientific evidence that right/wrong actually exists.......but thanks for playing

[_subgenius]

and there you have it

[_Drifting]

ummm....you have already conceded that any concept of "right and wrong" are super/meta, unless i missed your scientific evidence that right/wrong actually exists.......but thanks for playing

Is killing people right or wrong?

[_Themis]

actually you guys are neither consistent nor skeptical.

I suppose saying this helps you to believe it. Now say it over and over again 10,000 times.

But implying that one apple spoils the whole bunch is illogical when applied to the scriptures, primarily due to the various authors and various time periods and locations involved in its authorship. Perhaps you could argue, in this instance that there is cause to be skeptical about the issue of Jonah and the "whale", but only from a biological science perspective - and last time i checked the scriptures were never intended to be a primer on that topic just as they were never intended to be a geologic survey.

You might want to ask questions before you make incorrect assumptions about others. I gave up a belief in the literalness of some biblical stories decades before finding out Joseph was making it up.

The scriptures are a theological text and of that your attempted skepticism is misapplied.
It would be a similar error for someone to criticize the Pythagorean theorem with 1 Kings 7:23.

I understand what the text was about. I am just commenting on the likely truthfulness of Jonah and the whale.

ummm....you have already conceded that any concept of "right and wrong" are super/meta, unless i missed your scientific evidence that right/wrong actually exists.......but thanks for playing

So do you have a reading comprehension problem or are you lying? It can only be one of those two. They exists only as concepts, so no they are not metaphysical/supernatural regardless of how much you want to believe they are.