Water cloud over the earth? Anyone remember this teaching?

by QuestioningEverything 24 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Leolaia

  PS I could never work out how stars could be seen through this canopy, the slightest wisps of cloud blocks them out!

  That's one reason why the book Seola was rewritten as Angels and Woman, in order to accommodate the story to the water canopy theory.

  These venomous beasts always come forth in the night; we must leave this place and retire to my chamber, where, beneath the inscribed talisman, we shall be safe...The charm hath wrought; the serpent cometh not; but it is growing dark; now must we go within. O glorious golden hours! O smiling yellow moon! (SEOLA, p. 11-12).
  
  These venomous beasts always come forth in the night; we must leave this place and retire to my chamber where Ø we will be safe...The power of the name of God hath wrought; the serpent cometh not; but it is growing dark; now must we go within. O glorious golden hours! O smiling yellow moon, which I watch as through a silken veil! (A&W, pp. 18-19).

  Here, from the little window, I looked out long and earnestly into the darkening sky. No trace of the storm remained; the moon, now in its second quarter, was scarcely obscured by fleecy clouds stretched over the whole heavens; and through a thousand soft openings was disclosed the dark blue vault studded with twinkling stars. The anxious tumult in my breast was calmed; all nature seemed to bend over me with a smile and benediction (SEOLA, p. 54).

  Here, in the quiet of my room, the anxious tumult in my breast was soon calmed. All nature seemed to bend over me with a smile and benediction as I looked out from my window upon the calm earth and sky (A&W, p. 66).
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  notverylikely

  It's not an old teaching that hasn't been rescinded, it's promoted in one of the new brochures on life and evolution, er, creation!

  Seriously, they use it explain how ligh could be created before the sun.
• 

  hamsterbait

  The amount of water vapor above the earth would be pulled down by gravity, resulting in air pressure of 10 000 lbs per square inch at sea level.

  So there should be evidence of animals exploding as the air pressure plummeted on the day Noah entered the ark.

  At that pressure the water vapour would turn back to fluid. To prevent it the ground temperature needes to be about 900 lbs per square inch.

  Genesis also states clearly that the sun was put in the gap between the upper waters and the earth. Ge 1: 16, 17.

  The problem of colliding molecules in a continuous canopy is the other problem. They could not stay in orbit unless they orbit the entire center of gravity of the earth. Only a belt of water around the eaquator would remain. But this is not what the BIBLE SAYS.

  If read in line with the writers concept of the universe it makes sense, simply as a statement that God created the universe in an orderly fashion.

  HB
• 

  Lozhasleft

  I also remember being told that God froze the poles at North and South to break the water canopy..hence why they found frozen animals intact under the ice there earlier in the last century...anyone else relate to this?

  Loz x
• 

  carla

  My jw said that other religions have taught that so gosh it must be true! see? jw's can agree with other religions.
• 

  bohm

  To elaborate a bit on hamsterbaits post, there are two models for the canopy.

  • Lots of water vapour which float around; the "very big cloud" model: Suppose the canopy contain enough water to cover the earth in 500 meters of water (a rather modest estimate). Basic physics tell us a number of things: First that the preasure at ground level is at least that of 500 meters of water and secondly, physics also tell us that water need to be damn hot not to condense at that preasure. Anyone who have seen a video of diving at that depth know that ordinary air at that preasure is highly toxic and need to be mixed just right with inert gasses like helium to not kill the diver instantly; he will still get very ill though. So to believe this model, we must explain how noah build the ark in total darkness in a giant preasure cooker while he inhaled toxic fumes.
  • Water orbiting the earth as ice: In this model, the water is a frozen shell which orbit the earth. There are a couple of minor problems: Like hamsterbait made clear, such a structure is not gravitationally stable and the water would gather around equator like the rings of Saturn. Secondly, high-energy particles from the sun would cause it to be destroyed and blown away. However, these are rather trivial problems when one consider a kilogram ice which deorbit from a modest 400km height would contain enough potential energy to heat it up about 1000kelvin; that would not freeze the mammoths, it would cause them to burn up instantly.
• 

  notverylikely

  So to believe this model, we must explain how noah build the ark in total darkness in a giant preasure cooker while he inhaled toxic fumes.

  Miracle. Why do you hate miracles?

  Secondly, high-energy particles from the sun would cause it to be destroyed and blown away.

  Duh, ice is reflecting, that's why we can see Venus and Saturn so well. It REFRACTS the particles.

  I may have been making all of that up.
• 

  hamsterbait

  Notvery -

  Alleluiah!

  The Lord moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform...

  The moment scientific refutation of the Noah fairy story is presented, the true believer always falls back on the miracle argument.

  Forgetting all his "proofs" that have just been demolished.

  Genesis states clearly the sun moon and stars were placed in the space BETWEEN the earth and the water canopy.

  ??? What temperature is the sun? The stars?

  Dont use the argument "it doesnt mean what it says - IT SAYS WHAT WE MEAN". Nobody has satisfactorily explained away this statement. (GE 1: 16, 17) The writer is quite clear.

  HB

  By the way DUH - Venus is molten hot and the upper atmosphere is sulphuric acid, not water ice. Saturns upper atmosphere is methane, not water ice.

  Bohm is right: over millions of years, any orbiting ice would be blown away by the solar wind. This happened to the atmosphere of Mars.
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  moshe

  It's too bad that high school science classes don't touch on this topic in an oblique manner- just enough to educate the kids that Newton's laws don't allow all this imaginary water vapor to exist above the Earth without crushing almost every form of terrestrial life.
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  ex-witness

  @Hamsterbait- Well said.

  @Notverylikely - "Why do you hate miracles?" Because I am an intelligent creature with reasoning skills beyond that of the common housecat or monkey. I see science, not god, in every day life. It is miraculous in the sense that it is a wonder to behold. From the tone of your question, it seems that miracle=intervention from a deity. That is another Tooth-Fairy I've outgrown.