Ash Clouds and Magic Mushrooms - the Science behind the Passover

The Passover is one of the most important festivals in the Jewish calendar as it marks the chain of events that led to the liberation of Israel and its establishment as a sovereign nation. It was during this period that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (who identified himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM”) revealed his power in a succession of signs and wonders on a scale not seen since the Great Flood. In my next post, I will discuss how this divine intervention was necessary to shift the economic equilibrium and bring about sustainable political change. But, for now, I want to consider whether the phenomena we read about in the first half of Exodus (including the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea and manna in the desert) were truly “Acts of God” at all.

Mankind's Authority over Nature

I wanted to make a comment on Stephen's latest post but felt that a new post would be appropriate as I'm going off on a slight tangent, and it also gives me the chance to introduce another domain into the mix.

Stephen's interpretation of the creation story in Genesis suggests that man's authority over creation is limited by God. However, I would argue that, although we cannot (yet) control the sun and the moon, there has been a significant shift in power, if not authority, over time.