Jonah and the Whale
|
If Anyone Tells You That The Biblical Account Of Jonah Is Not True The Following Maybe Be Of Help
"In 1891 a seaman, James Bartley, from a ship named The Star of the East, was found missing after an eight-foot sperm whale had been caught. He was presumed drowned. The next day, when the crew cut up the whale, Bartley was discovered alive inside.
If Jonah's three days in the whale were counted as Christ's three days in the tomb, after the Semitic fashion--that is, parts of three distinct days, but perhaps only slightly more then 24 hours total--then it is possible that Jonah could have been coughed up by that great fish just as the story says." [Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Irving Wallace, People's Almanac - Garden city, N.Y. : Doubleday, 1975, 1339] Excerpt from "Catholicism And Fundamentalism" by Karl Keating
Some new evidence has come to my attention. It is only right that I share it. I will leave it up to the reader to draw their own conclusion.
I personnally tend to believe the new information, yet I am well aware of non-Christian efforts to cause doubt where our Faith is involved. Click here for more information on how anti-Christians try to distort truth such as with the Shroud of Turin. (Marino: There have been numerous articles and books that relate significant problems with the methodology and data of the C-14 dating.)
Also, Jesus told the story of Jonah to make a point in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke.
Matthew 12:40 Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.
If the story of Jonah was a "fairytale" as some would have us believe, then when Jesus uses the comparison it would have been like Jesus was using a fairytale to prove the validity of what He was saying. It would make no sense!
Jesus would be saying; "Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale for 3 days, which we know is a myth, so the Son of man will be in the earth for 3 days!" For more, see The Catholic Encyclopedia online, New Advent.