(Replying to my own post)
In a message dated 1/20/01 6:24:38 PM Mountain Standard Time,
SteamDoc@aol.com writes:
> Friday's Denver Post had a column (from a Christian writer who often makes
> me
> wince) which included the following:
>
> "Think Jonah's whale of a tale is a fable? Check out Marshall Jenkins and
> James Bartley, who separately shared similar and documented gastronomic
> adventures and lived to tell about it."
>
> I know that the James Bartley story is the one that commonly circulates and
> that was so well dealt with by Ted Davis in his 1991 PSCF article:
>
Ted Davis informed me that the similar but 100 years older "Marshall Jenkins"
story is mentioned in his article, just not by name (in regard to an
"Edgartown whaler"). So it is nothing new. As far as I know it hasn't had
the thorough investigation that the more widely circulated James Bartley
story has; being over 200 years ago it would likely be difficult to
investigate. Maybe if Ted is looking for a challenge ... :-)
Following is the letter I sent to the Denver Post. If they print it, Ted
Davis and PSCF will get a little publicity:
--------
Ellen Makkai’s January 19 column commending the Bible’s educational value
contained at least one fish story – that a James Bartley, like Jonah, was
swallowed by a whale and survived. This legend, in circulation for over a
century, has been investigated (most thoroughly by Professor Edward Davis of
Messiah College in a 1991 article in Perspectives on Science and Christian
Faith, viewable at http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1991/PSCF12-91Davis.html),
and found to have no basis in fact. As a Christian who is commanded not to
bear false witness, I am distressed when my fellow believers unwittingly
spread such tales; other falsehoods include a story about NASA computers
finding a “missing day” from the time of Joshua and the misrepresentations
of “creation science.”
We trivialize the Bible and its important truths if we try to use it as a
science text or defend it with phony stories. The book of Jonah can educate
us, but not about whales. It teaches us that rather than wishing destruction
on our enemies, we should desire that they turn, receive healing, and be
reconciled. The world needs that message more than any lesson on whale
anatomy.
Sincerely,
Allan H. Harvey
Boulder
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Dr. Allan H. Harvey, Boulder, Colorado | SteamDoc@aol.com
"Any opinions expressed here are mine, and should not be
attributed to my employer, my wife, or my cats"
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