:: He believes that for billions of years Jehovah miraculously held up
a "heavenly ocean"
: That's not what I said.
Right, but that's what you actually believe, even though you don't know it.
You're forced to believe that by the logical consequences of your silly
line of 'thought'.
: Once a creative act is concluded, it is not necessary for God to continue
: to act.
Right, because he would have put in place "physcial laws", if you will,
that automatically cause physical things to act in predetermined ways.
Thus, gravity, whatever that is, automatically sustains planets in
their orbits about the sun without continuous real-time control by God.
: If that were the case it would be necessary for God to miraculously
: sustain every living thing since they came into existence by the very
: same word of God that also caused the waters to part.
Precisely my point.
Thus, if your 'explanation' is correct, God would have had to put in
place pre-flood physical laws that were quite different from today's
physical laws. Today it is impossible either for a vapor canopy to exist,
or for a shell of liquid water to exist around the entire earth. A vapor
canopy is unstable due to the action of the very physical laws that
govern the behavior of gases. A shell of liquid water is impossible
because of the "laws" of gravitation. It appears that you dimly
understand these things. That's good.
What you don't seem to catch on to is that God would have had to change
various physical laws -- including gravity -- during Noah's Flood in order
for the posited "heavenly ocean" to collapse at all, and then for such an
ocean not to be able to exist after the flood. God's massive change to a
basic, universal "law" like gravity is a miracle of huge proportions and
it has implications far beyond our local solar system. For example, all
evidence from astronomy indicates that gravity acts throughout the entire
visible universe -- which appears to be some 20 billion light years across --
which implies either that God somehow anticipated the coming of the Flood
and changed the light in transit from everywhere to the earth to be
consistent with the new law of gravity, or that your entire notion is
braindead.
: ... The folly of uniformatarians is in the assumption that the pre-flood
: waters were held in vapor form as rain clouds are presently.
That's what the Governing Body teaches, so you're admitting that they
teach folly. Of course, we know from observation how accurate your predictions
and other claims are, so we know that you know better than "God's anointed".
Actually, the Bible itself proves both your notions and those of the GB
quite wrong. According to Psalm 148:4, the 'waters above the expanse'
still existed in the Psalmist's day: "Praise Him, highest heavens, And
the waters that are above the heavens!" Therefore the 'waters above the
expanse' that were described in Genesis as an early creation still
existed after Noah's Flood. Poof! goes another Kingly nonsensical notion.
: And of course those sorts of assumptions are what has led scientists to
: conclude that it was impossible for the atmosphere to contain enough vapor
: to flood the earth.
Which is precisely why, if you discount continuous miraculous activity on
God's part, you have to claim that God miraculously changed many basic,
universal physical laws at the time of the Flood. But this is precisely
what Young-Earth Creationists do with the Flood, and with the Garden of
Eden myth. They in fact claim that God invented the 2nd law of thermodynamics
when Adam sinned, in order to make the universe begin to decay. So really,
the JWs and the Fundies are so close in their braindeadness that it's
obviously true, as James Penton has said: "Fundamentalists and JWs are
just pups from the same bitch."
: But a direct act of creation could suspend a compact ocean perhaps many
: miles, or even hundreds of miles up in a very thin band.
Why a thin band? If you can posit a universal change in gravity, why not
a trivial thing like a complete spherical shell of "heavenly ocean" above
the whole surface of the earth? Is God's hand short?
: ScientistS, for example, are not quite sure why the rings of Saturn are
: held in suspension above such a massive planet without collapsing
: Saturn-ward under the pull of gravity,
Of course they are. That's the way gravity and energy work in today's
universe.
It's obvious by the way you phrase this that you have absolutely no idea
what you're talking about. So what else is new? The rings are in no sense
"held in suspension" above Saturn. The rings are composed of ice and
perhaps rock particles, all of which are individually in orbit about
the planet. They are moving at precisely the speed at which their rate of
fall towards Saturn is balanced by their forward motion around it. It's
exactly the same as the moon going around the earth, the earth going
around sun, the solar system orbiting the center of the galaxy, and so
on. It's exactly the same as a satellite or the Shuttle orbiting the
earth. No mystery involved -- it's just the way gravity and conservation
of energy work. Just how gravity and energy and inertia and all sorts of
things work is an interesting question, but that's not what you're
talking about.
Where do get this nonsense? Oh I know -- you've admitted it in times
past: you carefully study "The National Enquirer" and other such astute
periodicals.
: so by the same token we cannot say that the earth was not at one time
: a shrouded by a heavenly ocean.
By the same token is right, as long as you understand that "we" is you,
and you're completely ignorant of science. Of course, that's to be
expected of an aging hippy who sailed through his college years soaked
with drugs to the extent that he later became an anointed JW.
: Even though presumptuous ridiculers like to pretend they have all the
: answers and can explain the natural world that existed before the flood,
: we know such ones that reject God's word are mere fools.
You sure provided solid explanations for your fairy tales there, Bobby
old bean. Do keep it up. It shows how out of touch you are not only with
real reality, but with the 'reality' of JW La-La-Land.
I'd love to see you instruct good old Teddie Jaracz on why he's screwing
up "God's organization" so badly that he and his toadies are soon going
to get a major comeuppance from God. I'm sure he'd take kindly to your
claim that his punishment was prophesied in Ezekiel or whatever. I
agree about a comeuppance, but it ain't gonna be from God.
AlanF
