This weekend the biblical blockbuster film Exodus: Gods and Kings opens, and, well, meh. You might think that clergy types would be enthused about movies telling biblical stories but they are usually schlocky, at best.
This film is directed by Ridley Scott of Gladiator fame, so there should be plenty of swash and buckle of the highest order. This is the story of Moses and stars Christian Bale because everyone knows that the liberator of enslaved Israelites was a white Welshman. Move over Charlton Heston.
Of course there will be a parting of the Red Sea, because how much more dramatic an event can you get. Moses raises his hand and the sea parts. Enter Carl Drew, a software engineer, who argues that the parting of the sea is neither a myth, nor a miracle, at least not in the traditional depictions of the story. He maintains this was a weather event at the Sea of Reeds in which the water of a marshy area is pushed back by exceptional winds.
While this hypothesis may surprise you, Drews' research was conducted for his atmospheric and ocean sciences master's thesis at the University of Colorado, Boulder, published in a peer reviewed journal (PLOS One), and then promoted by his employer, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a top U.S. research center. In other words, the guy isn't just a crackpot. He is a Christian, but the sort that is okay with evolution and likes to consider scientific possibilities for biblical stories. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/08/no-really-there-is-a-scientific-explanation-for-the-parting-of-the-red-sea-in-exodus/?Post+generic=?tid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost
Hey, this makes more sense to me than the Welshman as Moses. What do you think? Should we bother speculating on biblical stories thousands of years old? Does this intrigue you? If you want to read more, check out the link above.
An interesting conjecture. OK, so let's admit the plausibility as a given. What does this story mean for us, this day and in this time?
ReplyDeleteI think that this is the question that we need to ask ourselves, regardless if any "miracle" in question actually happened as an historical event or not.
I agree Frank.
ReplyDeleteMy feeling about many of these stories is that something occurred which convinced God's people that God was at work, both in blessings and in curses. Their worldview included both the sacred and the superstitious, but the key is the conviction that God is present. We can ask how deeply we believe that God is present in the events of day-to-day. And if God chose to work through a weather event such as a strong east wind, I can live with that!
I read an article once that explained how the Nile was "turned to blood" as well ... red soil in the riverbed being stirred up to the point where the roiled muddy waters looked like blood ... that is why I always try to read Bible stories metaphorically....the language and expressions of the culture and times in which the stories were written were not the same as in ours today...and don't we occasionally experience "serendipitous" events that we feel are in our favour, against all odds? God at work? I like to think so.
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