by waton 24 Replies latest social humour
here from New scientist magazine:
but remember, Jonah, was the one that was made to end up as a false prophet. so, what next, real talking snakes? and the acid test?
Whale sharks are filter feeders and couldn’t swallow a person even if they wanted to. They’re also not in the Mediterranean.
Whale sharks don’t hurt humans.
they’re also not in the Mediterranean.
J: that explains it, the encounter with the false prophet drove them away, just like many here on this site. they/we could not stomach it.
Whale sharks don’t hurt humans.
m: yes, Jonah, escaped unscased too, jesus himself vouched for it;
jonah was hurt though, when his prophecy did not pan out. makes you wonder whether Russel, Rutherford, Franz, Splane feel that way too.
Whales can have huge mouths, but their throat is the size of a quarter. Their mouth/teeth filter out anything wider than a blade of grass.
Whales do exist in the Mediterranean so the stories are based on folklore but not possible given their biology.
Jonah probable appreciated the too narrow passage into the stomach too, because if not lack of oxygen, digestive fluids would certainly make him think twice before refusing a "theocratic assignment". again.
Frankly, the whole bible story is hard to swallow.
Small blessings: Since Awake as at least suspended publication, if not completely shut down, we are spared the otherwise inevitable "Watching the World" blurb about whale sharks gulping air and the "this must be how Jonah survived" conclusion, despite the notes mentioned earlier: (a) they are not physiologically able to swallow a human, (b) they don't roam in the Mediterranean, and (c) the 586 other reasons why "man living inside a fish for 3 days" is impossible.
Oh wait, I forgot the WT trump card: "Jehovah performed a miracle". Huh, I guess Jonah's story was literal history after all.
Interesting info, I love marine studies, but I fail to see the connection to the JW world.
Correct me if I am wrong but I have read no article claiming that a whale shark swallowed Jonah. Mind you , a few years back the WTS did make a convention video af the Jonah book. In that they inserted a still photo of a whale shark at the point when he went down , I laughed out loud , knowing that these critters are filter feeders and despite having a large mouth, could not swallow a man if they tried.
Anony Mous:
Whales do exist in the Mediterranean
Unlike whale sharks, whales aren’t fish. But it’s not the case that all whales have tiny throats.
The Story of Jonah is recognised by all sensible people, and all Scholars, as Allegorical.
To try to justify the stuff in there and to say it could be a Story that is literal and true is to do it a huge injustice. It is a rather fine piece of Literature, with many lessons for us.
Read it, enjoy it, for what it is, not what it isn't.
