Researchers: Asteroid Destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah

[O'Dannyboy]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343674,00.html

I'm not exactly sure how to feel about this since scientists have been trying for so long to disprove or find natural causes for biblical events.

[OneLight]

Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven

Sounds like Asteroids, don't it! Let them talk ... God know what He did.

[MorningGlory]

Where's the contradiction? The Bible tells us those cities were destroyed by fire from the sky. Wouldn't that describe an asteroid or meteor?

[AndrewA]

I understand where you are comming from, certainly there are plenty of events in Bible that are of a supernatural occurance using nature direct.. Parting of the Red Sea and the plauges for example. Science does not want God in the equation, so yes science does try to find explanations that fit the rules of physics and common sense logic.

However God still uses natural events, in case of Sodom and Gomorrah it could well be an asteroid that hit the place. I watched a documentary a while ago that showed the sites of the cities were littered with pummice like stones and molten rock, amazingly non of the natural geology for hundreds of miles around contained this type of rock, so where did it come from?

It was suggested at the time that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by a meteor storm, the rocks so hot they set fire to everything and then melted in the ground etc. Now, the question still lies, is the meteor discovered from the stone disc one that actually did destroy the two cities? it is suggested form the data retrieved that it impacted in Austria, it is possible that fragments from this continued to destroy the cities which would explain the places littered with small impacts, if a huge meteor hit the cities we would see a huge crater, not little impacts, so this asteroid is certainly is a good candidate for the destruction.

[nebula]

Not sure how an asteroid landing in Austria would cause a rrain of fire over just a tiny area of the Mid-East.

[Guest Biblicist]

Not sure how an asteroid landing in Austria would cause a rrain of fire over just a tiny area of the Mid-East.

Only by the hand of God...

[AndrewA]

Not sure how an asteroid landing in Austria would cause a rrain of fire over just a tiny area of the Mid-East.

Only by the hand of God...

Exactly

This is difference between science and us, we accept that the red sea did part, but science can not come up with a plausible explanation, God can easily manipulate an asteroid to reign havoc down on Sodom and Gamorah.

however science is agreeing that this is the possible way in which the two cities were destroyed. Austria is only 1500 miles from Holy Lands, just a stone throw for an asteroid . we read how the asteroid most likely hit the mountain in Austria, which resulted in the Asteroid fragmenting into pieces, these would have been flung far and wide the report says:

About one million sq kilometers (386,000 sq miles) would have been devastated and the impact would have been equivalent to more than 1,000 tons of TNT exploding.

if the debris field was scattered in a square area along its trajectory path, ie after hitting the mountain then this field would be just 2000x2000 miles square which EASILY encases the dead sea area. If the debris field was narrower and the path was in line with Holy Lands, then the range would e even greater bringing the cities well within range.

SO yes even without God it is possible for a genuine accident to have wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah in this way, however God hand was definitely in it as a punishment, so God used nature to carry out this act, just as we have seen in recent years.

[Reuben Hick]

Not sure how an asteroid landing in Austria would cause a rrain of fire over just a tiny area of the Mid-East.

Only by the hand of God...

Exactly

This is difference between science and us, we accept that the red sea did part, but science can not come up with a plausible explanation, God can easily manipulate an asteroid to reign havoc down on Sodom and Gamorah.

however science is agreeing that this is the possible way in which the two cities were destroyed. Austria is only 1500 miles from Holy Lands, just a stone throw for an asteroid . we read how the asteroid most likely hit the mountain in Austria, which resulted in the Asteroid fragmenting into pieces, these would have been flung far and wide the report says:

About one million sq kilometers (386,000 sq miles) would have been devastated and the impact would have been equivalent to more than 1,000 tons of TNT exploding.

if the debris field was scattered in a square area along its trajectory path, ie after hitting the mountain then this field would be just 2000x2000 miles square which EASILY encases the dead sea area. If the debris field was narrower and the path was in line with Holy Lands, then the range would e even greater bringing the cities well within range.

SO yes even without God it is possible for a genuine accident to have wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah in this way, however God hand was definitely in it as a punishment, so God used nature to carry out this act, just as we have seen in recent years.

Ge 19:27-28

"And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace."

Amazing how it just happened to hit those five cities and Abraham just casually walks up to the "place" and saw the isolated damage.

But what is even more amazing is this:

Ge 19:18-22

Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords! Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live." And he said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there."

Two things come to mind. Here we have Lot and his family after dealing with the murderous crowd outside their door, and after hearing from the two angels that everything that they knew and owned would be totally destroyed in the morning, managed to have such a good, sound sleep that the angels had to wake them. Even still, they were ***** off and had to be forcefully dragged out of the city. Now if this asteroid hit the mountain in Austria, the debris was probably on its way from the ricochet and was intended to wipe out all of the cities. Then Lot makes a last second plead for a change in plans, to spare a little city among all of the other cities. And it is granted to him. The second point is the one I highlighted. This junk would land ONLY after Lot was safe.

The miracle wasn't so much the how, but the perfect timing and the anticipated change in the debris field.

Of course this catastrophism is not new. Immanuel Velikovsky's "Worlds In Collision" beats this article by getting Mars and Venus involved in a classic mother of all camp fire stories. Even before that Plato was talking about planetary catastrophism.

I guess with an illiterate society, "researchers" can keep recycling news from previous generations without fear of anyone recognizing the plagiarism. Its why children still laugh at "why did the chicken cross the road?" jokes, Old Joke. New audience.

Edited April 1, 2008 by Ovedya
Watch the language

[O'Dannyboy]

But there more to the event at Sodom and Gamorah than raining fire from heaven. I don't remember the details and it's too late to look them up but those who survived were told not to look back or they would be turned to stone or they would surely die. Something along those lines. I understand how the event could explain what happened at those cities but I don't understand how the details fit.

[AndrewA]

But there more to the event at Sodom and Gamorah than raining fire from heaven. I don't remember the details and it's too late to look them up but those who survived were told not to look back or they would be turned to stone or they would surely die. Something along those lines. I understand how the event could explain what happened at those cities but I don't understand how the details fit.

Gen 19:23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

Gen 19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;

Gen 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Gen 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Gen 19:27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:

Gen 19:28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

You are going down same road as atheist scientists etc. Details of what fit? The only thing to happen from the above is that it rained fire down upon the cities, wiped them out, along with all the land, so when Lot looked over the land it was completely devastated with smoke pouring up from it.

Yes Lots wife was turned to Salt for disobeying the instructions from God not to look back at what was happening. Remember God can do anything to anything or anyone , many things just happen that defy our knowledge of science and understanding, these things we see as Gods work, which infuriates science and is rejected by science, because it is something that can not be explained by a theory.

The Asteriod mentioned in the story might not even been the asteroid responsible. Sodom and Gomorah is only mentioned in title to bring peoples attention to it and make people read it, from the news story there is no conclusive proof that this asteroid destroyed the cities, however it is plausible.

It would be just as easy to simply make it rain fire , fire bolts from heaven etc, but certainly God could have used and controlled the fragmenting asteroid to land upon the cities and wipe them out, on other hand God could have sent a meteor shower as early studies of the city sites indicated.