Jonah and the Whale - Is there any scientific proof that it is possible to survive in the belly of whale?
score:19
Cecil Adams (aka "The Straight Dope") did a lot to debunk later-day Jonah stories here: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2294/have-any-real-life-jonahs-been-swallowed-by-whales-and-lived
Basically, he says that while many would like to believe this is a phenomenon that has been reproduced, all the stories range from apocryphal to fraudulent. As such, yes, the fact that Jonah was preserved for three days in the belly of the whale, was in fact a miracle.
Theological Import
The fact that Jesus alludes to the same in Luke 11:32 (the sign of Jonah being given instead of a miracle) may lead one to a discussion of the difference between a sign and a miracle - but in both cases the effect is the same. It is a physical situation in which the natural human response is to see God's direct intervention. I would argue that the point of Luke 11:28 (A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miracle, but no miracle will be given it except the sign of Jonah) specifically points to the fact that people wanted a magical reproduction. Nowadays, we are not a magical culture, but rather a scientific one. As such, we ask not for a miracle but a scientific explanation. I suspect Jesus would say of his own resurrection, that no explanation would be given it, except the sign of Jonah.
Upvote:4
Well - you can easily answer this yourself. You need fresh oxygen every minute, and will die after about 3 minutes without fresh air.
Would you expect fresh air in the stomach of an animal? Of course not.
But if it happened every second week, that people get eaten by whales, and come back again - it wouldn't be a miracle. But what is the function of the big fish, eating the human? It shall convince you about something extraordinary happening here, and giving the words of Jonas more authority.
Upvote:8
I think there are two options:
- He survived, and it was a miracle. (The whole story is miraculous, from the storm that stops, through the fish spitting him out at a certain location to the repentance of Nineveh.)
- He didn't survive, he died and was resurrected, also a miracle. I think this is the implication of Luke 11:30.
Upvote:10
I think it's telling here that several translations (KJV, ASV, Darby, ERV, WEB at least) will use the word "prepared" rather than "appointed". That is significant. If a great fish is only "appointed" (chosen/selected), you could argue that we are limited to what can be selected from the natural world. If the fish was "prepared", however, then we should expect more supernatural intervention; it could be a species with a single member designed for the explicit purpose of swallowing Jonah. In other words, this opens the door to greater divine intervention.
Science is the study of the Natural Universe, and with the alternate translation the passage here now implies supernatural intervention. Since we have that intervention, as a believer I find the science in this case completely irrelevant... indeed, I might even be disappointed if a simple scientific explanation is found.
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