耶穌平息了風浪?還是平息了狂燥的弟子？

(馬可福音4:35-41；路加福音8:22-25；馬太福音8:23-27）

羅倫斯-G-柯林斯博士

 摘要在亞當-漢密爾頓Adam Hamilton所寫的《道路》一書中，有一章討論了馬可福音4:35-41中記載的耶穌平息風暴的事。伴隨著這本書的是一段視頻，其中亞當展示了一艘漁船，它可能就像耶穌和他的門徒所乘的那艘船。傍晚時分，在對眾人講話之後，耶穌突然決定去加利利海的另一邊(其實只是一般的小般內陸湖)。很可能，天空中沒有一絲雲彩，天氣也很好。如果當時有可能出現地區性的風暴，在湖上航行會很危險，耶穌不會建議在這種條件下航行。傍晚出發的時間，從西海岸的某處駛向加利利海最寬的地方，以及觀察到船上十五個人的重量會導致船側的上邊緣可能只比海平面高一英尺(30.48公分)，這些都是重要的事實。在這種情況下，來自加利利海以西的山頂（山頂離海面2000英尺）的寒冷、相對密集的空氣可以突然向東流向大海，取代海面上溫暖、密度較小的空氣。由這種冷空氣排水產生的風可以創造出一英尺高的波浪，可以濺到船側的上邊緣上並淹沒船隻。此外，冷空氣排水可能不會超過一個小時，而且在冷空氣流下山后會很快停止，這樣海面就會突然變平。因此，突然產生的風浪有一個科學的解釋，耶穌可能是在告訴狂燥的門徒們要冷靜下來，不要害怕，而不是斥責風和浪。馬可福音》4:35-41。那日，到了晚上，他對他們說："我們到對岸去吧"。他們撇下眾人，把他帶在船上，就像他一樣。其他的船也和他在一起。這時起了大風，海浪打到船上，船已經被淹沒了。但他在船尾，在墊子上睡著了，他們把他叫醒，對他說。"老師，你不關心我們正在滅亡嗎？" 他醒過來，斥責風，並對海說： "平安! 靜一靜!" 於是風停了，出現了死一般的平靜。他對他們說："你們為什麼害怕？難道你們還沒有信心嗎？" 他們就滿心敬畏，彼此說："這是誰，連風和海都聽從他？" 首先的關係，設置了一個場景。理論上，讓我們用起重機和連接在船上的纜繩將漁船從水中吊起，然後再將船放回水中。

當船沉入水中時，它的形狀和體積開始取代水的位置。當它被放得更遠時，它將繼續下沉，直到船的重量與被取代的水的體積的重量相等。當這種相等發生時，船就會浮起來，不會再下沉了。現在讓我們把一個漁夫和一個船員以及亞當-漢密爾頓（代表耶穌）放在船上。(漁夫需要一個船員來説明操縱船和調整船帆）。) 這三個人的重量增加會使船沉入水中更遠。現在，船舷（船舷的頂部）將高出加利利海的水面約2.5英尺（如視頻中所示）。我認為值得注意的是，當耶穌對他的門徒說："我們到另一個地方去吧！"時已是晚上。"我們到對岸去吧"。這個時間點可能解釋了所發生的事情。我認為我們還可以假設，當耶穌做出去另一邊的決定時，天氣很好，也許天空中沒有一朵雲。也就是說，當時沒有看到風暴，因為在加利利海的惡劣地區風暴中去另一邊會很危險。我們還可以假設，他和門徒們不是從加利利海北端的迦百農出發，而是在西岸的某個地方，可能是在離加利利海最寬的某個地方。所以，現在12個門徒和耶穌、漁夫以及船員一起爬上了船。他們增加的重量會使船沉入水中更深。(亞當-漢密爾頓建議，船可以坐12個人，所以船有15個人可能會有點擁擠)。最後的結果（在離開海岸之前）可能是，船的船側的上邊緣現在只高出水面1英尺，而不是2英尺半。船仍在漂浮，但會在水中移動得非常遲緩，因為增加了重量，而且水對水下更大的表面積產生了阻力。好了，船終於被推離了岸邊，開始向東航行。相關的事實。波浪是由風產生的，風通過對水面的摩擦力拖動，將水推到風的前面並堆積起來。波浪的高度是三個特性的函數。1. 風的強度。風越大，浪越高。2. 風的持續時間。風吹的時間越長，浪就越高。3. 風所經過的水面。風吹過水面的距離越大，在這段距離結束時，波浪可以堆得越高。(我曾見過在加州州立大學北嶺分校一個50英尺長的反射池的末端，在與池壁相撞之前，產生了1.5英寸高的波浪）。) 時間關係和其他事實。亞當-漢密爾頓說，穿越到加利利海的另一邊只花了大約2個小時的航行時間。然而，由於當時是晚上，耶穌很累，他沒有保持清醒，而是在船尾的一個墊子上睡著了。我的猜測是，在離開岸邊的半小時內，當船仍然接近西邊的海岸時，發生了暴風（從西邊吹來），風從岸邊到船上的總距離（fetch）相對較短（也許不到一英里，因為船在緩慢地移動）。請注意，三位福音書作者說，風暴只是由風引起的。也就是說，這不是一場伴隨著下雨、打雷和閃電的區域性風暴，它將持續數小時。此外，我懷疑風產生的波浪有3至4英尺高，正如一些藝術史學家所描述的那樣，也許不超過1英尺高。如果波浪有3到4英尺高，那麼船就會被劇烈搖晃，而耶穌不可能在如此劇烈的運動中睡覺。相反，海浪可能是輕輕地拍打著船。也許，這場風暴持續了不到一個小時（正如下一節所解釋的）。然而，由於這些1英尺高的海浪濺到了離水面僅一英尺（或更少）的船舷頂部，船被淹沒了，耶穌不得不被喚醒。風暴是如何開始的？沿著加利利海的西側是一座山脈，其峰頂離海面有2000英尺。

風暴的產生是因為這些山頂上空氣的低溫和加利利海低處空氣的溫差。傍晚太陽落山后，如果溫差足夠大，山頂上寒冷、稠密、沉重的空氣會從山谷中流向湖面，取代加利利海上空溫暖、膨脹、密度小的空氣。這種冷空氣的排泄大約需要一個小時，一旦排泄完成，風就會突然停止。(我在加利福尼亞的西拉山露營時，曾觀察到晚上突然產生的風和一小時的冷空氣排泄。)加利利海的這種天氣現象不會每天都發生，因為山上沒有雪，只有在適當的條件下才會發生，這可能需要幾天（或幾周）才能重新產生並重複發生。彼得、安得烈、雅各和約翰在迦百農附近海面較窄的加利利海捕魚，很可能永遠不會看到這種現象，因為任何可能的冷空氣從迦百農以西的山脈排出，都不會在海面上有足夠的風量產生任何大的波浪。因此，風浪現象是一個局部的、不經常發生的天氣事件，只發生在加利利海的西邊。結論。因此，以下是可能發生的情況。傍晚時分，這艘船因其體積過大，有15個人的重量，當風浪開始時，它可能已經遠離了西岸，也許不超過一英里。因此，在水面上移動的冷空氣排放風的風向只有一英里，在與船相交之前，波浪可能堆積起來不超過1英尺高。但這個高度足以讓水濺到離水面只有1英尺高的船側的上邊緣頂部。因此，漁船開始被濺沒。門徒們用他們能找到的任何東西，在水濺過來的時候，把水從船裡舀出來。否則，船就會沉沒，他們就會被淹死。很快，他們意識到他們有麻煩了，開始驚慌失措。當然，他們叫醒了耶穌，求他救他們。現在，問題來了。耶穌是斥責了風和浪，還是對受驚煩燥不安的門徒喊道。"平安! 不要動。冷靜下來! 不要害怕!!!" 我不知道答案。當然，如果風突然停了，波浪相當迅速地平了，不存在了，留下一個平靜的水面，這將是非常令人印象深刻。難怪門徒們充滿了極大的敬畏並說 "這是誰，連風和浪都聽從他？" 儘管如此，這個現象有一個自然的解釋，並不需要耶穌每次都在場來控制自然的力量。也許因為耶穌曾經沿著加利利海的西岸走過，他曾經觀察過冷空氣的排出，波浪的產生，以及風的突然停止和波浪的平息。因此，他可能是在告訴門徒們不要害怕。誰知道呢？以前有人提出，耶穌可能是對門徒說話，而不是對風和浪說話，但據我所知，沒有人對所發生的事情提出可能的科學解釋。雖然是猜測，但這是一個合理的解決方案。

參考文獻 Hamilton, A. 2012, The Way, Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus, Abington Press, Nashville, 173頁。

作者Lorence G. Collins是加州州立大學北嶺分校的地質學退休教授。他于1959年在伊利諾大學獲得地質學博士學位。他有一個 "反對創造論 "的網站：http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/creation.html，並寫了幾篇文章發表在國家科學教育中心的報告中，包括涉及諾亞的所謂世界性洪水、寶光的起源、世界海洋中氯離子的起源和更新世大陸冰川的話題。他是國家地理一小時節目 "諾亞方舟背後的真相 "的顧問，並多次出現在這個節目中。

Calming of the wind and waves by Jesus or the calming of frantic disciples by Jesus? (Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25; Matthew 8:23-27) Lorence G. Collins August 15, 2014 Abstract In the book by Adam Hamilton titled “The Way” there is a chapter that includes a discussion of the calming of a storm by Jesus as reported in Mark 4:35-41. Accompanying the book is a video in which Adam shows a fishing boat that could have been like the one on which Jesus and his disciples sailed. In the evening, after speaking to crowds of people, Jesus suddenly decided to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Likely, there was not a cloud in the sky, and the weather was beautiful. If there had been the potential of a regional storm, sailing across the sea would have been dangerous, and Jesus would not have suggested sailing under those conditions. The timing of the departure in the evening, the sailing from the western shore somewhere closer to the widest part of the Sea of Galilee, and the observation that the weight of fifteen people in the boat would have caused the tops of the gunnels of the boat to be perhaps just one foot above the level of the sea are significant facts. Under these circumstances, cold, relatively-dense air from the tops of mountains (crests at 2,000 feet above the sea) west of the Sea of Galilee could suddenly drain down east to the sea to displace warm, less-dense, air above the sea. The wind, produced by this cold-air drainage, could create waves one foot high that could splash over the gunnels and swamp the boat. Moreover, the coldair drainage would probably last no more than one hour and would stop rather quickly after the cold air had flowed down the mountain so that the sea would abruptly flatten-out. Therefore, the suddenly-created, wind-wave squall has a scientific explanation, and Jesus may have been telling frantic disciples to calm down and not be afraid rather than rebuking the wind and the waves. Mark 4:35-41. On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him up, and said to him. “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea. “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” First relationships that set the scene. Theoretically, let’s lift the fishing boat out of the water, using a crane and a cable attached to the boat, and then lower the boat back into the water.

 As the boat sinks into the water, its shape and volume begins to displace the water. As it is lowered farther, it will continue to sink until the weight of the boat is equal to the weight of the volume of the water that is displaced. When that equality occurs, the boat floats and will not sink any farther. Now let’s put a fisherman and one crew member on the boat as well as Adam Hamilton (representing Jesus) on the boat. (The fisherman needs a crew member to help maneuver the boat and adjust the sail.) The added weight of these three people will cause the boat to sink farther into the water. Now the gunnels (tops of the sides of the boat) will be about 2 ½ feet above the water in the Sea of Galilee (as seen in the video). I think that it is significant to note that it was evening when Jesus said to his disciples: “Let’s go to the other side.” The timing may explain what happened. I think that we can also assume that when Jesus made the decision to go to the other side that the weather was beautiful, perhaps not a cloud in the sky. That is, there was not a storm in sight because going to the other side during a bad regional storm on the Sea of Galilee would be dangerous. We can also assume that he and the disciples are not leaving from Capernaum at the north end of the Sea of Galilee but at some point along the western shore, probably at some place closer to where the Sea of Galilee is widest. So, now 12 disciples climb into the boat with Jesus, the fisherman, and the crew member. Their added weight would cause the boat to sink deeper into the water. (Adam Hamilton suggests that the boat would seat 12 people, so the boat could have been a bit crowded with 15 people.) The final result (before departing the sea shore) could be that the gunnels of the boat are now just 1 foot above the water level instead of 2 ½ feet. The boat is still floating but would move very sluggishly through the water because of the added weight and the resistance of the water against the larger surface area of the boat under water. Okay, the boat finally is pushed off from the shore and starts sailing eastward. Related facts. Waves are created by wind which drags by friction on the water surface, pushing the water ahead of the wind and piling it up. The heights of waves are functions of three properties. 1. Strength of the wind. The stronger the wind, the higher the waves. 2. Duration of the wind. The longer the wind blows, the higher the waves. 3. Fetch over which the wind travels. The greater the distance over water that the wind blows, the higher the waves can be piled up at the end of this distance. (I have seen waves created 1 ½ inches high before they collide with the wall at the end of a 50-foot-long reflection pool at California State University Northridge.) Time relationships and other facts. Adam Hamilton says that crossing over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee took only about 2 hours of sailing time. However, because it was evening and Jesus was tired, he did not stay awake but fell asleep on a cushion in the stern of the boat. My guess is that within a half hour of departing the shore, when the boat was still close to the western shore, the wind storm (blowing from the west) occurred and that the total distance (fetch) that the wind had traveled across the sea from the shore to the boat was relatively short (perhaps less than a mile because the boat was moving sluggishly). Note that the three Gospel authors say that the storm was caused only by wind. That is, it was not a regional storm accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning, that would last for several hours. Moreover, I doubt that the waves produced by the wind were 3 to 4 feet high, as depicted by some art historians, but perhaps no more than 1 foot high. If the waves were 3 to 4 feet high, the boat would have been tossed and rocked violently, and Jesus could not have slept through such vigorous movements. Instead, the waves were likely gentle slaps against the boat. Probably, the storm lasted less than one hour (as explained in the next section). Nevertheless, because these 1-foot-high waves were splashing over the tops of the gunnels just one foot (or less) above the water surface, the boat was being swamped, and Jesus had to be awakened. How was the wind storm started? Along the western side of the Sea of Galilee is a mountain range whose crests are 2,000 feet above the sea. The wind storm would have been created because of the difference in the cold temperature of air on tops of these mountains and the warm temperature of air at the lower elevation of the Sea of Galilee. In the evening after the sun sets, if the difference in temperature is sufficient, cold, dense, heavy air in the tops of the mountain will drain down in valleys to the lake and displace the warm, expanded, less-dense air over the Sea of Galilee. It would take about one hour for this cold-air drainage to occur, and once the drainage is complete, the wind abruptly stops. (I have observed winds suddenly created in the evening and one-hour, cold-air drainage of air in the mountains when I have gone camping in the Sierras of California.)

 This weather phenomenon on the Sea of Galilee would not happen every day because of the lack of snow on the mountains, but would occur only under the right conditions, which might take several days (or weeks) to be re-produced and have a repeated occurrence. Peter, Andrew, James, and John, fishing in the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum at the narrower end of the sea, would likely never have seen this phenomenon because any possible cold air drainage from the mountain range west of Capernaum would not have sufficient fetch on the sea to produce any waves of large size. Thus, the wind-wave phenomenon is a local, infrequent weather event that took place only on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. Conclusion. So, the following is the probable scenario. In the evening, the boat, over-loaded for its size with the weight of 15 people, probably had moved away from the western shore perhaps no more than a mile when the wind storm began. Therefore, the fetch of the cold-air-draining-wind, moving over the water, was only a mile, and the waves could pile up no more than 1 foot high before intersecting the boat. But this height would be sufficient for the water to splash over the tops of the gunnels which were only 1 foot above the water. Therefore, the fishing boat began to be swamped. The disciples were using whatever they could find to bail the water out of the boat as the water splashed over. Otherwise, the boat would sink, and they could drown. Soon, they realized they were in trouble and began to panic. Of course, they woke Jesus and begged him to save them. Now, the question is: Did Jesus rebuke the wind and the waves or did he shout at the frightened disciples: “Peace! Be still. Calm down! Don’t be afraid!!!” I do not know the answer. Of course, it would have been very impressive to have the wind suddenly stop and the waves rather quickly flatten-out, cease to exist, and leave a placid water surface. No wonder the disciples were filled with great awe and said: “Who is this, that even the wind and the waves obey him?” Nevertheless, the phenomenon has a natural explanation and does not require the presence of Jesus every time to control the forces of nature. Perhaps because Jesus had walked along the western shores of the Sea of Galilee, he had once observed the cold air drainage, the creation of the waves, and the sudden ceasing of the wind and the flattening of the waves. Therefore, he could have been telling the disciples not to be afraid. Who knows? It has been suggested before that Jesus may have been speaking to the disciples instead of to the wind and the waves, but no one to my knowledge has proposed a possible scientific explanation for what happened. Although it is speculation, it is a reasonable solution. Reference Hamilton, A. 2012, The Way, Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus, Abington Press, Nashville, 173 pages. Lorence G. Collins is a retired professor of geology from California State University Northridge. He received his PhD in geology from the University of Illinois in 1959. He has a website “Opposition to Creationism” at http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/creation.html and has written several articles that have been published in the Reports of the National Center for Science Education, including topics dealing with Noah’s supposed worldwide flood, origin of Po halos, origin of chloride ions in the world’s oceans, and Pleistocene continental glaciers. He was a consultant for the National Geographic hour-long program “The Truth Behind Noah’s Ark” and appears several times on this program