Jesus May Have Walked on Ice, Not Water, Scientists Say

Amitabh Avasthi
for National Geographic News

April 6, 2006

A freak cold spell that covered parts of a lake with ice could explain the biblical tale about Jesus walking on
water, says a team of U.S. and Israeli scientists.

But several experts have questioned the scientific basis of the study, and many have dismissed the findings as implausible.

According to biblical accounts, the disciples of Jesus crossed a freshwater lake known as the Sea of Galilee, in northern Israel, before Jesus went up a mountain to pray.

On their way back at night, a violent storm trapped the disciples' boat in the middle of the sea. It was then that Jesus walked out to the boat and calmed the storm, according to the Bible.

"A rare set of weather events may have combined to create a slab of ice about 4 to 6 inches [10 to 15 centimeters] thick on the lake, [making it] able to support a person's weight," said Doron Nof, an oceanographer at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

His findings appear in this month's issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology.

Springs Ice

Nof bases his theory on a unique freezing mechanism he calls "springs ice."

This forms when warm, salty springs flow into a freshwater lake, preventing the lake from freezing entirely in cold weather.

Springs linked to this kind of freezing are found in Tabgha, Israel, a region where many archaeological features associated with Jesus have been found.

According to Nof, ice on the Sea of Galilee may have been created by a combination of factors.

"About 2,500 years ago, there was a cold period that was almost 10ºF [5.5ºC] lower than today," he said.

"And our models show that there was also a cold snap at that time, which lasted a few days and drastically lowered the temperature."

The two factors froze patches of the lake surface that were not salty, Nof speculated.

"Our models show a strong probability that around 2,400 and 2,600 years ago, there were at least three or maybe four such cold snaps," he added.

"The paper does a thorough job explaining the science behind the springs ice and the probability of such a rare event occurring in the recent past," said Susan Lozier, a physical oceanographer at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

"It is possible to have ice next to open water."

Experts Skeptical

Other experts are skeptical and point to contradictions in both the science and the biblical account. (Explore a newly revealed "lost gospel.")

"The Bible I consulted refers to the fishermen in a boat and 'strong headwinds' and 'waves,'" said Kevin Trenberth, who heads the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.

"The boat drifted several hundred yards out and tossed in the waves and wind. So the presence of [the] boat strongly suggests there was no ice."

"The arguments seem bogus," he added. "They require almost no wind and no mixing for their mechanism to work, but then they cannot get the cooling they require."

"By the way," Trenberth added, "the Bible also says Peter got out of the boat and walked on water but then sank. Where did the ice go all of a sudden?"

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