"Passage of the Jews through the Red Sea" by Ivan Aivazovsky (1817–1900)
The Parting of the Red Sea in the Old Testament is considered a miracle by Christians.
It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptians, as recounted in the Book of Exodus. Moses holds out his staff and God parts the waters of the Yam Suph, which is traditionally presumed to be the Red Sea. With the water dispersed, the Israelites were able to walk on dry ground and cross the sea, followed by the Egyptian army. Once the Israelites have safely crossed, Moses drops his staff, closing the sea, and drowning the pursuing Egyptians.
Even in times of war, opposing sides abide by certain conventions. For example, nowadays, warring countries generally do not use biological, chemical or nuclear weapons.
If we interpret the Biblical story literally and consider it to be true, the Parting of the Red Sea as recorded in the Old Testament did not follow the rules of physics. The laws of physics should apply to everyone. The Israelites would have broken the rules of physics when they crossed the Red Sea. The drowned Egyptians were entitled to cry foul, if their voice could be heard. From an independent viewpoint the Israelites had cheated.
Parents should be fair
When parents set rules for their children, the rules should apply equally to all the children. If the parents allow one of their children to break the rules, the parents would be acting unfairly and the child who broke the rules would be cheating.
For Christianity, God created the laws of physics. These laws should apply to everyone. If God allows these rules to be broken for the benefit of some people, God would be acting unfairly and the people who benefited from the miracle would be cheating.
Other miracles
The following are some examples of alternative views of Biblical miracles:
Jesus feeding 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish could be considered unfair from the viewpoint of villagers who sell fish and bread. Had it not been for the interference of Jesus, the 5000 people would have to buy fish and bread from the villagers.
Jesus calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee when his disciples feared they would die could be considered to be rewarding bad seamanship.
Jesus turning water into wine is not fair to the winemakers.
The falling of the walls of Jericho was really quite unfair to the Jerichoans at the time. According to the Bible:
Following God's law, the Israelites killed every man and woman, the young and the old, as well as the oxen, sheep, and donkeys. Only Rahab (who would be considered a traitor to the Jerichoans), her parents, brothers and all "those who belonged to her" were spared. They were incorporated into Israel. Joshua then cursed anybody who rebuilt the foundations and gates, with the deaths of their firstborn and youngest child respectively. This was eventually fulfilled by Hiel the Bethelite under King Ahab's reign.
Learning from nature
We teach children not to cheat at school. They should abide by the rules of the school even when they are not doing well. Instead of cheating, they should learn from their failures.
Shouldn’t believers apply that principle to their lives too?
Shouldn’t religious leaders ask their followers to try to understand and work within the rules of nature, and not to pray for miracles, even when they are not doing well?
Shouldn’t believers try to understand the rules of nature, particularly when they are not doing well, so they could learn from their failures?
