The Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt is recognized internationally by various cultures and peoples. The story focuses around Moses, a Hebrew adopted by an Egyptian royal family (ignorant of his affiliation with the religion) who freed his fellow Hebrews and led them to the Red Sea where God parted the waters, allowing Moses and his gang to cross the sea. The story’s legitimacy has been a subject of question since its distribution in ancient times. But despite the long held arguments over the subject, Carl Drews of the National Center for Atmospheric Research believes he has cracked the nut. The Book of Exodus provides information regarding the meteorological settings of the day, stating, “The Lord drove the sea away all night with a strong east wind and turned the sea-bed into dry land.” Drews used this information to develop a computer simulation, recreating the event. He found that a 63-mile-per-hour wind would be able to push the water to the point where wide, mud flats would be exposed, creating a land bridge in the water that would last for up to four hours. Though the occurrence of these winds would be extremely coincidental, it is plausible.
Max H. Period 7
8 comments:
This is an interesting speculation. I never even considered that these myths might actually be plausible, I only assumed that the parting of the sea could not be accomplished. If this theory could be proved, it would change the way people view history.
Not only would it change the way people view history, but it would also bring legitimacy to a source of information that is viewed by the public to be inaccurate and not historically proven, the bible. Peoples own views of the religion may change, but using the bible as a historical source would be highly controversial. However, the facts of the time period given in the bible could be used for historical reference if proven true, but actual accounts from people would be considered subjective and religiously biased.
This is a really good topic to bring up. Many people when trying to prove the accuracy of the Bible use the Bible itself to make a point. Not everyone views that as a reliable source. However, using scientific fact-something that many critics of the Bible turn to- is a good way to prove its truthfulness. It is important to come from the person that you are trying to convince's point of view and use what they think is reliable to make a strong point.
It is interesting, but there are actually two different versions of Moses's upbringing. The more popular version is the one depicted in The Prince of Egypt, where Moses doesn't know he was Jewish until he was an adult. However, the way the story is told by my rabbi is that when Moses was found in the river by the pharaoh's daughter, she needed a wet nurse. Moses's sister Miriam heard this and suggested their mother. In this version, Moses knew of his heritage when he was a very young child because he knew his birth mother.
Because the notion of parting a sea is so unfathomably inconceivable, that fact that it is scientifically proven to be plausible can really change the public's view on a long debated topic. The fact that the story had been scientifically proven to be possible opens new possibilities for how society views the legitimacy of the bible's version of history.
I remember hearing this story as a kid and I always thought it was quite impossible to part the sea. But reading this proved me wrong. Seeing that these events actually happened or could possibly happen in the future changes my view on a lot of these old "stories".
Nice blog, not to be biased or anything, I never thought that the parting of the sea was possible, but after reading your blog I'm very intrigued by this. This theory has always been a big controversy, now with this new evidence many positions of people on this dispute would change, no doubt about that...."gang" LoL
This is an interesting theory. However, I still think it is not enough to prove that the whole bible is accurate or has any legitimacy. Although science is said to have proven it, I still think that in order for me to whole-heartedly believe that it was possible for the sea to be split for a few hours that it would need have happened not so long ago and have legitimate documentation (Not the Bible's "documentation").
Post a Comment