Guest essay by Fred F. Mueller
While many people will agree that some of the stories recorded in the Old Testament might not be taken too literally, this book nevertheless deserves a lot of respect for the fact that is represents the collective wisdom and historical records of a nomad populace that roamed vast swathes of Egypt, Mesopotamia and adjacent regions before finally settling in what is now known as Israel.
These tribes were highly intelligent and had a remarkably good understanding of many basic rules governing their daily life. Given the hygienic knowledge and standards of these times, rules determining how to prepare kosher food certainly had the beneficial additional effect of preventing the spread of diseases such as trichinosis or salmonella infections.
The old Jews had a basic but efficient set of laws called the Ten Commandments and, by observing the Shabbat, also practiced a very early form of work hour limitation. And, over a time period probably spanning back thousands of years into the fogs of unrecorded early human history, they kept the collective memory of key weather events and natural disasters such as Noah’s flood or the (probably volcanic) annihilation of Gomorrah. A very remarkable exploit of the Old Testament is the description of the Ten Plagues affecting Egypt. One can view them as a line-up of the worst natural incidents these people ever had lived and recorded over a period of probably several thousand years. Which now brings me to the decisive point: the list does not include freezing temperatures and deep snow.
Hail, but neither snow nor subzero temperatures
While the Ten Plagues included hail storms, the records clearly limit their impact to the destruction of crops and the battering to death of cattle and humans alike. Such events are extremely violent but also very ephemeral. The Bible makes no mention of bitter cold or of lasting snowfall. Given the high intelligence and excellent observation skills of the ancient Jews, one might feel enticed to suggest that during hundreds if not thousands of years, weather events of this type simply did not occur in their habitat.
Which now brings me to the decisive point: while the proponents of the theory of catastrophic anthropogenic global warming (CAGW) insist that the temperatures of the planet are set to rise in an accelerating mode that we won’t be able to control least we adopt drastic climate protecting measures a.s.a.p., we just learn that in the Sinai desert, a region to the south-west of Israel, four hikers have died in a blizzard. They lost their way and sadly froze to death in deep snow at temperatures well below the freezing point. Pictures in the internet show camels knee-deep in snowdrifts.
If one pieces together this information and biblical records, one might feel entitled to draw the conclusion that such a weather event hasn’t been observed in the region for several thousand years. Not exactly an indication of runaway temperatures, at least not a rush to the northern regions of the mercury scale. And this wasn’t a singular event. Over a prolonged time period and a wide area, the Middle East might have been experiencing its worst cold snap in several hundred if not thousand years.
This certainly does not harmonize with stories about runaway temperatures sizzling our planet. If the Bible is right, the CAGW theory seems to have hit some serious snag. Maybe it would be a good suggestion to tell these people to go back to the drawing boards and proceed to an in-depth makeover of their simulation software…
[Note: some commenters questioned why this essay was posted, I simply saw it as an interesting discussion of recorded historical events, something that scholars worldwide look to document. The Roman Warm Period is well known and also much studied, and it coincides with many writings in the Bible. Wikipedia says:
Theophrastus (371 – c. 287 BC) wrote that date trees could grow in Greece if planted, but could not set fruit there. This is the same situation as today, and suggests that southern Aegean mean summer temperatures in the fourth and fifth centuries BC were within a degree of modern temperatures. This and other literary fragments from the time confirm that the Greek climate during that period was basically the same as it was around 2000 AD. Dendrochronological evidence from wood found at the Parthenon shows variability of climate in the fifth century BC resembling the modern pattern of variation.[3] Tree rings from Italy in the late third century BC indicate a period of mild conditions in the area at the time that Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants.[4]
The phrase “Roman Warm Period” appears in a 1995 doctoral thesis.[5] It was popularized by an article published in Nature in 1999.
Anyone reading anything more into this posting, or thinking that I’m endorsing the idea that the bible “disproves global warming” should think again. – Anthony]
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>blockquote>M Courtney says:
The problem with ascribing absence of evidence as evidence of absence is that it may not be so.
Perhaps the 10 plagues of Egypt don’t mention extreme cold becasue that even didn’t involve extreme cold? A large volcano could have caused all of the first 9 plagues with just one cause – but it wouldn’t cause cold.
Of course, death of the first-born is more inexplicable but the book say that that was the most persuasive catastrophe.
This may be Thera:
The Minoan eruption of Thera, also referred to as the Thera eruption or Santorini eruption, was a major catastrophic volcanic eruption with a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 6 or 7 and a Dense-rock equivalent (DRE) of 60 km3 (14 cu mi),[1][2] which is estimated to have occurred in the mid second millennium BCE.[3] The eruption was one of the largest volcanic events on Earth in recorded history.[4][5][6] The eruption devastated the island of Thera (also called Santorini), including the Minoan settlement at Akrotiri, as well as communities and agricultural areas on nearby islands and on the coast of Crete.
There are no clear ancient records of the eruption; the eruption seems to have inspired certain Greek myths,[7] may have caused turmoil in Egypt,[8][9] and may be alluded to in a Chinese chronicle. Additionally, it has been speculated that the Minoan eruption and the destruction of the city at Akrotiri provided the basis for or otherwise inspired Plato’s story of Atlantis.[10][11]
Death of the firstborn is when an underwater eruption of carbon monoxide mixes with the cold water and makes a cold, ground hugging monoxide fog. Such things have been known to wipe out whole villages. In ancient Egypt, the family slept on the roof, except for the first born son, who slept in a special low crib on the ground floor…
Zaphod Beeblebrox (Part time Galactic President)
It appears you are completely devoid of knowledge of Arabic and Muslim scholars across the board one can only recommend that you educate yourself.
Zaphod Beeblebrox (Part time Galactic President) says:
February 25, 2014 at 7:24 am
“Does Santorini explain how a wooden ship the size of an aircraft carrier is claimed to have ended up run aground 12,000 feet up Mt Ararat?”
No, for the very good reason that so far as we can determine the story of Noah and the ark refers to events that occurred roundabouts 5500 BC, while Santorini exploded about 1500 BC. The reference to 12 000 ft up Mt Ararat is a modern myth based on someone’s misinterpretation of the text. “On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark grounded on a mountain in Ararat.” (Genesis 8:4 – New English Bible translation).
“ferdberple” February 25, 2014 at 6:47 am has got it right – the story of Noah is the story of the breaching of the Bosphorus, and the filling of the Black Sea.
The Egyptian architecture that has come down to us is one of massive stone buildings, plus mud brick dwellings and tombs. In a land without too much rain, it is not surprising that the stone buildings have largely survived (though chopped up a bit by later builders who waned to reuse the stones) and some of the mud brick dwellings and tombs have survived. In Palestine, SFAIK, the Davidic and Solomonic architecture was very largely wooden – some stone survivals are there, such as town walls and gates – but most wooden buildings would have been destroyed by fire or decay. Not surprising that there are plenty of ‘archaeological’ remains in Egypt for people to ponder over, while very little remains in Palestine.
The first 9 plagues are allegedly heightened accounts of what happens in Egypt in the summer months (or so some commentators have alleged) but the 10th appears to have confounded them, hence the references in previous comments to the 9 plagues. However the story of the 10th plague is understandable when one notes that the word for “first-born” is very similar to that for “chosen” (my references not readily to hand) and if one substitutes “chosen” the 10th plague becomes easily explicable. A major earthquake toppled the stone buildings and killed the ‘chosen’ people – the top levels, so to speak – of Egyptian society. The Egyptian records of the plagues refer to the events in terms which are more explicit. Stone buildings collapsed and killed the top brass, Egyptian society was then leaderless. The Israelites lived in mud huts or straw huts – slaves aren’t entitled to better – and many were killed, but the likelihood of surviving was better, and then was the ideal time to escape. An earthquake is of course quite reasonable as the cause of the tsunami – as is popularly supposed – relating to the parting of the waters of the Reed Sea. And the Israelites were not the Hyksos – the latter were recorded in the Bible as the “Amalekites”, who entered Egypt after the Israelites left..
Bible – a collection of books, part myth, part legend, part history, written down probably about the time of the Babylonian captivity from zealously preserved oral history – it would not be surprising that there were some stories that had collected errors in transmission, but not to be thrown out as worthless.
I don’t agree with those who are dismissive of Mr. Mueller’s whole approach. I might pick holes in some of his assertions but the idea is still valid. I’m an atheist (for those who might think my religious beliefs might colour my assessment). Religious texts and, for example, carvings on the walls of religious remains can provide valuable information about many things including climate. The longest instrumental record we have dates back thousands of years and was maintained by temple priests.
The occurrence of flora and fauna in religious texts or art can also yield more clues, especially if it clashes with the known ecology of the same regions today.
We might not have discovered that solar variability was creating “wiggles” in the amount of radiocarbon in the atmosphere, if historians had not pointed out that the then new-fangled carbon dating was making some Pharaohs younger than their grandsons.
The fact that ancient peoples might ascribe some extreme weather event or series of them to a deity, or even as a manifestation of his wrath, doesn’t diminish the utility of such records. The same rules apply. Can corroborating evidence be found? Can it be dated? And so on.
Well, if you die in a freak blizzard in the Sinai, you don’t live to write Scriptures. Q.E.D.
Jan Smit says:
February 25, 2014 at 10:34 am
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highflight56433 says:
February 25, 2014 at 10:38 am
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@ur momisugly Jan Smit…very nice, I see that we share similar views.
@ur momisugly highflight…another great comment. It is good to remember that the Romans took over the banner of Christianity, and with that they imprinted some of their ways of handling affairs. Did the original Christians preach by the sword? Was that the teaching from Christ? We know the answer to my last question.
Thought I’d toss in some Dickens for no particular scientific reason. I just remember being “stared at” by many a country road in my foolish hitch-hiking youth.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/963/963-h/963-h.htm#link2HCH0001
LITTLE DORRIT
“The old Jews had a basic but efficient set of laws called the Ten Commandments”
Actually, there are 613 Commandments.
http://www.jewfaq.org/10.htm
As another comment pointed out:
Jeremiah 18:14
Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes?
Assuming Wikipedia is accurate: (LOL)
In the Lebanon Mountains the gradual increase in altitude produces colder winters with more precipitation and snow. The summers have a wider daily range of temperatures and less humidity. In the winter, frosts are frequent and snows heavy; in fact, snow covers the highest peaks for much of the year.
Taking the origin into account: (Jeremiah’s ministry ~ 626 – 587 BC).
”It is likely that the various sections of Jeremiah were put together in the form of a “book” soon after the catastrophe of 587 b.c. “
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/asbury-bible-commentary/Structure-Authorship-Date-904
Assuming the question is meant to be rhetorical with the answer being “no” then we would have to conclude that modern temperatures are slightly warmer than what the ancients were experiencing circa 600 BC since the snow covers apparently do not cover the highest peaks for the entire year and therefore do vanish.
Assuming the question is meant to be rhetorical with the answer being “yes” then we would have to conclude that modern temperatures are about the same as what the ancients were experiencing circa 600 BC.
Jenn Oates says:
Eh, the fall of man?
Does anyone else find it amusing that it was an apple from the Tree of Knowledge that was the cause of the fall. And it was the fall of an apple that inspired Newton about gravity. Incidentally, the force exerted by the weight (mass) of an average apple is about one Newton.
OK the Bible didn’t specifically say “apple”. That is just a Eurocentric thing (and a bit of Latin mal/malum wordplay). And the Newton story is apocryphal, just like George Washington and his cherry tree, about which he could not lie.
You can go on pilgrimage to Newton’s apple tree (at Grantham), just as you can to Buddha’s Bodhi (fig) tree.
Science also has its mythologies just like religion and popular history.
In a similar spooky connection vein. It was a dove, released from Noah’s ark, that found dry land and it was a man called “dove” that “discovered” America.
Columbus (Latin: columba “a dove”).
P.S. Lighten up folks. This is a science blog.
Dave N says:
February 25, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Sad that a number here claim to be skeptics, yet apparently completely dismiss the Bible out of hand, rather than consider that it contains historical records, regardless of the intent.
That a text might not agree with your ideologies does not automatically exclude any of it from being true.
Sincerely, an atheist.
———————————-
Seeds of understanding can come from many different sources. Consider Eric von Daniken and his many books in which he is able to ‘find’ the footprint of aliens everywhere he goes in his travels, painted on cliff walls, under rocks, over rocks, hiding in the oceans, in trees, out in the open, everywhere and anywhere. So he gets a bit carried away with his thoughts. Yet at the same time he has brought hundreds of millions of readers to places around the world that most might not ever hear about. And in many of those places there is indeed a bit of mystery hidden there. The influence of all of his prolific imagination has probably sparked the imagination of some to go on reading from other sources. Perhaps, even to develop further interests serious enough to where they turned to archeology and real science to learn more. I remember where he talked about roads on the western coast of South America that go into the ocean. Now that I have expanded my understanding to know about how much the ocean levels changed due to the influence of glaciations/ice ages, it makes perfect sense as to why those roads lead into the ocean. Of course on the other hand Daniken also created a hundred million folk +/- who avidly believe in aliens, but that is how life can be. At the least, he made many people aware of parts of this world that they otherwise may never have heard about. His writings sparked my imagination at times with the places that he took me to without the need to develop a belief in aliens. On the other hand, this global warming debate now has me wondering about a few of the hard core warmingbelievers. Could they be the real aliens? Has this been a long term strategy before the takeover becomes apparent, hidden under the perfect guise?
Flavius Josephus, History of the Jews, Book XIII: (in the link page 308):
In the mean time the garrison at Hierosolyma sent word to Tryphon, begging him to come immediately to their assistance, and send them provisions. Tryphon prepared a body of horse for the journey, as if he had intended that very night to go to Hierosolyma. But a deep snow falling in the night time, blocked up the roads and made it impossible for the horses to travel, so that his design was prevented. Tryphon finiding this, moved from thence and marched into Caelo Syria, and having made a sudden inroad to Galaaditis, where he put Jonathan to death, and having ordered him to be interred, he returned back to Antioch.
http://books.google.nl/books?id=WtFCAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA308&lpg=PA308&dq=Tryphon+Galaaditis+snow&source=bl&ots=2rf4hExXvH&sig=XuLqMuu2CzXBE7hnVocMFE7uwbg&hl=nl&sa=X&ei=kR0NU5zOKKSM0AXT34CQDg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Tryphon%20Galaaditis%20snow&f=false
Screw the Bible.
So, more snow then?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/holiday-guide/holiday-survival-guide/your-new-years-horoscope-whats-in-the-stars-for-2014/article16128894/
rules determining how to prepare kosher food certainly had the beneficial additional effect of preventing the spread of diseases such as trichinosis…
All available evidence indicates that trichinosis was unknown in the ancient Near East. Apparently pig meat was considered bad because the animals were scavengers rather than grazers.
Fascinating subject. It would be a supreme act of silliness for modern humans to dismiss earlier humans and their vast achievements across the board. We stand on their shoulders – they don’t stand on ours. Our science today will be considered rudimentary, as some do now with earlier man, in two thousand years. I see the dismissal words here from atheists when referencing the Bible and it embarrasses me. Yet there are the same folks who seem to talk tree rings and other methods used with little to no context other than what those who do choose to highlight. Here the Bible is a reference to living people in a living environment with daily weather patterns little different then ourselves. Few if any of us record our daily weather, what we call “extreme” other than talking heads use on television. Yet careful reading from 2000 year old farming, and so on allows us to gleam climate knowledge, Nile flow rate knowledge, and so on. Remarkable. Foods they ate. During the same period Roman records and combat reports across vast stretches of the known world at that time. Shipping and so on. Dismissing of any ancient knowledge, whatever the source, is highly recommended. And yes if there were ancient periods of bitter snows or ice during that time frame that would have been recorded – Hannibal did. As did many other ancient sources. You get a good idea of how entire areas lived, ate, flourished, and why.
jorgekafkazar,
“The basis for the Christian religion is not ‘convert or be punished’, as ignorantly alleged above; it is simply the teachings of Jesus, whom some call the Christ: love everyone, judge not, render good for evil.”
Oh for Christ’s sake. Here’s the condensed version.
1 God makes Man.
2 Man pisses God off.
3 God tosses Man from Garden.
4 God kills a bunch of people.
5 God has Man kill a bunch of people.
6 God sends Son to die on stick for Man’s “sins”.
7 If you repent and accept number 6 you go to heaven with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit
8 If you don’t accept no 6 “loving” God burns you for eternity.
Jesus mentions hell 46 times in new testament.
So, again tell me how my synopsis “convert or be punished” isn’t a pretty good back of the envelope run down of your Christianity.
Lancifer666
You have your two Books mixed up. BTW – what God or Jesus did was not the thrust of this article, the written words of man, where they lived, the periods they lived in what environments their words mentioned, certainly NOT the religious context.
highflight56433,
“For not having time for all this, you certainly have wasted some.”
I said I “didn’t have patience” for silly claims, like the bible describing evolution and the Big Bang “in amazing detail”.
Not to mention your false claim that Christianity “saved” Europe from Hitler, especially since he was a Christian and his close ally, Italy, was helping him with the full blessing of Pope Pius XI and the Roman Catholic Church.
Lancifer666 says:
February 25, 2014 at 3:48 pm
——————————————
You are the one bringing up the religious context. The main point of the thread is is supposed to be about what potential understandings of ancient climate can be derived from the Bible.
To your point though, it was the Romans who added that twist into the story. Although, it would be likely that given the nature of the average person of that day, once they took to heart the teachings then those teachings become susceptible to manipulation. That is an age old process which has relevance to today,s global warming believers. Look at how the acolytes of global warming will embellish the story due to their almost complete ignorance of the reality of climate change, which is a complex story. Look at how willing some of these acolytes to show utter disrespect towards others for holding a different understanding. Some of them could probably bring themselves to kill others over their intense belief, and fully consider themselves right in doing so as they would be saving the future world in their mind.
God asked job if he know of the treasure of snow and hail he had save for the end time.That end time is now ?
Ian M,
“Got some good news for you. It [the Bible]was the basis for the laws and mores of our society.”
Bull, here’s James Madison on the subject.
“Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise.”
“Ecclesiastical establishments tend to great ignorance and corruption, all of which facilitate the execution of mischievous projects.”
Here’s James Adams,
“As I understand the Christian religion, it was, and is, a revelation. But how has it happened that millions of fables, tales, legends, have been blended with both Jewish and Christian revelation that have made them the most bloody religion that ever existed?”
And finally Thomas Jefferson,
“I almost shudder at the thought of alluding to the most fatal example of the abuses of grief which the history of mankind has preserved– the Cross. Consider what calamities that engine of grief has produced!”
And perhaps most apropos, also T.J.,
“The priesthood have, in all ancient nations, nearly monopolized learning. And ever since the Reformation, when or where has existed a Protestant or dissenting sect who would tolerate A FREE INQUIRY? The blackest billingsgate, the most ungentlemanly insolence, the most yahooish brutality, is patiently endured, countenanced, propagated, and applauded. But touch a solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and you will find you have disturbed a nest, and the hornets will swarm about your eyes and hand, and fly into your face and eyes.”
You, my friend are one of the hornets. What a shame the “sting” of your logic is so minor and ineffectual.
goldminer,
“You are the one bringing up the religious context.”
No, look again. My comments were direct replies to the idiotic claims of Christian commenters.
“Look at how the acolytes of global warming will embellish the story due to their almost complete ignorance of the reality of climate change, which is a complex story. Look at how willing some of these acolytes to show utter disrespect towards others for holding a different understanding. Some of them could probably bring themselves to kill others over their intense belief, and fully consider themselves right in doing so as they would be saving the future world in their mind.”
We, at least, agree on that much.
Now, now. let us be precise: We were only explicitly promised that the world would not be destroyed (again) by “water.”
That does leave fire, freezing, feast, and famine on the “active” list. Meteor, comet or asteroid impact, ice and extreme cold before or after such an impact, excess body fat and illnesses, or lack of food entirely because of such an impact could still happen!
Lancifer666 says:
February 25, 2014 at 3:48 pm
So, again tell me how my synopsis “convert or be punished” isn’t a pretty good back of the envelope run down of your Christianity.
You are implying that punishment is immediate and coming from those demanding conversion.
In that, you are confusing Christianity with Islam.
Christianity (like Judaism) has concept of “Free will” – you are free to do anything you like and face consequences at the end.
In Christianity you will get punished, but in afterlife.
And Judaism doesn’t demand any conversion at all, in fact just the opposite – it is quite hard to convert to Judaism.
the bloodshed of christainty has nothing to dow with the teaching of chjrist and everything to do with the love of power wich is a sin