I'm an Engineer and I have to deal with logical answers to problems everyday.
2007-03-15 06:56:27 · 17 answers · asked by Curious George 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
OK, how can Moses split the see, now there's a engineering feat.
2007-03-15 07:03:48 · update #1
2007-03-15 07:04:32 · update #2
hand I didn't say that I didn't believe, did I?
2007-03-15 07:07:20 · update #3
It might not be logical, but that's where the faith comes in.
2007-03-15 07:43:03 · answer #1 · answered by zil28ennov 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'm an engineer also (well, a Patent Attorney now). What in the Bible is not logical? With all due respect, your statement is so vague and open ended as to be meaningless.
Either you believe in miracles or you don't. If you accept the fact that God can override the laws of physics anytime that he wants to, thorough back-doors that he created, then it does not seem illogical at all.
If you don't believe in God, then I suppose that miracles are not logical, either.
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How did Moses split the sea? He didn't. According to the Bible, God did it. A miracle, by definition, is something that is physically impossible for a human to do it.
The text talks about an "east wind" that blows all night and splits the sea. There have been some attempts to explain this parting based on the text from a physics standpoint, from tsunamis to storms (see article below), but a miracle, by definition, does not require a scientific explanation (perhaps it shouldn't, because then it might not be a miracle anymore if nature did it).
2007-03-15 07:03:31 · answer #2 · answered by Randy G 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Perhaps God is above human logic? Or at lest transcends our understanding?
EDIT:
"OK, how can Moses split the sea, now there's a engineering feat."
It's a lot easier to believe that God was powerful enough to do that than to resurrect dead bodies. So why get caught there?
Clue: God does not need wall constructs with hydraulic cylinders and diesel engines to do stuff like that.
2007-03-15 07:05:09 · answer #3 · answered by Christian Sinner 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The question is that the very behaviors which we see as "normal", gravity, magnetism, strong force, occur also without reason or logic. We have declared them as real and as facts because we see them consistently, but to a bird born in the spring the first winter is inconsistent with all prior observation.
So it is not "illogic" that is the problem, it is the things which are inconsistent with a body of observation. As an engineer, you are in the business of making things behave in abnormal ways, using obscure ("unseen") features of a material to give atypical results - super conduction, magnalev, nanomachines.
So unexpected results are unusual but not illogical. I fully expect that if a group of engineers were to be employed to find a way to make waters part that they could do it (especially using what is now known about self replicating chemicals via the genome project and nano machines). With a bit more work I expect they could make such parting and restoring occur on command.
The fundamental question remains, "Is there a God?" Once one chooses a hypothesis of "yes", natural, logical conclusions follow. If one chooses a hypothesis of "no" then there is quite a bit more illogical in our world than what is written in the Bible.
2007-03-15 07:30:35 · answer #4 · answered by Mark Y 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
examples please?
add: in the story of the Bible the parting of the Red Sea is not supposed to have been achieved through means consistent with some body of laws of nature. It is claimed to have been achieved as a miracle, that is, in contravention of the laws of nature. This story would only be illogical if it claimed to be governed by the canons of logic. Even an outrageous claim (eg 'all the Israelites blew on the sea and it fell back) is not really illogical, just unreasonable.
In general, if something in the Bible strikes you as illogical, ask yourself 'what does this story claim about itself?'
2007-03-15 06:59:48 · answer #5 · answered by a 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is why you need a logical engineering set of tables to answer problems correctly.
Christians for thousands of years have Theologans that dissect the scripture. They live it, and match it up to the historical fact. From that comes the literal meaning, the contexual meaning and the application for the faithful to use.
After that time of discernment it is given to Vatican Theologians, for actual corrections, discussions and teaching to the homilists and educators.
The bible was passed down and was written in ancient times. To be logical we have to know the formula for the correct answers applied to the 21st century time. The calculations will never change but their way of thinking and their application of words to describe things will be challenged. After all their world was flat!
2007-03-15 07:10:50 · answer #6 · answered by hot wheels 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
75 years ago,
Would anyone believe that men could split atoms?
Would anyone have believed you could end a world war by splitting two atoms?
Would engineers have believe the deadliest bomb on earth would be created by splitting atoms?
Your lack of understanding of how the Lord split the Red Sea does not make it false....you will learn one day how it was done. And you will love what you learn when you learn it
2007-03-15 07:08:41 · answer #7 · answered by msender77 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I understand where you are coming from. Faith is not to be understood logically. The Bible starts out with a theistic proposition: In the beginning God. If you can believe by faith then you will know those hidden meaning will be answered by God eventually. May God be with you in your quest
2007-03-15 07:27:58 · answer #8 · answered by j.wisdom 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No, they are spiritual.
The Bible, and those of us who believe it, have never claimed it to be based on human logic. It is based on spiritual logic and faith...that understanding comes with prayer.
2007-03-15 07:01:20 · answer #9 · answered by Misty 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Do you honestly think that the creator of the universe couldn't split the sea?
2007-03-15 07:09:55 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
If you want conjecture I would say it had more to do with gravity and weather than with engineering. Jim
2007-03-15 07:08:39 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋