Jesus fasting for 40 days, possible?

Discussion in 'Religion' started by Saint, Jun 5, 2020.

  1. Saint Valued Senior Member

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    Matthew4: 1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted a by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

    How possible a normal human being can stop eating and drinking for 40 days and not die?
    Is this bullshit story?
     
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  3. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    How possible a normal human being can be son of God, nailed on a cross, buried and then rise up? Is this bullshit story?
     
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  5. Saint Valued Senior Member

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    I don't know.
    But talk about fasting, can a person eat nothing 40 days and still living?
     
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  7. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    I don't know, try it. People haven eaten little and survived for long periods of time as long as they have water.

    People aren't know to be able to rise from the dead however so that's the part I'd be more concerned with.
     
  8. Saint Valued Senior Member

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    We won't talk about rising from death,
    but fasting is a common practice, can you not drink 40 days and survive?
    Jesus fasting is supposed to include not eating and drinking.
    Possible his skin can absorb moisture?

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  9. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    Fasting means not eating. Fasting people still drink water (and occasionally other things.)
     
  10. Saint Valued Senior Member

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    No, Muslim fast without drinking?
    Did Jesus bring bottles of water to desert?
     
  11. Seattle Valued Senior Member

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    They break the fast after sunset every day.
     
  12. Saint Valued Senior Member

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    The Bible seems mean Jesus did not drink or eat anything.
    Only after 40 days he felt hungry.

    After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
     
  13. Xelasnave.1947 Valued Senior Member

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    Who was this spirit? Anyone we know?
    Definitely not.
    I see humans in the shopping center that are carrying so much fat you could think they would last six months.

    The story is symbolic...going into the desert is a way of saying that he actually went into a city which was devoid of morality and knowledge where he could not get an intelligent conversation with any of the inhabitants and the temptor is a parrallel for a smart arse who was actually saying you know the city and where the library is located so why don't you go there and read a book on battle strategy using cavalry behind foot soldiers.
    So it really wasn't about being in the desert at all...the message simply was that if going on holidays in a strange city always take a good book in case you can't find their library.

    Alex
     
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  14. foghorn Valued Senior Member

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    My bold.
    ''Seems'', are you suggesting ''fake news'' in the Bible.
    This is the Bible your quoting right?
    Somewhere there is probably a ten volume ''study'' of the meaning of days in the Bible. Something along the lines of... ''How long were days when God made the earth in six days?''
    Did Jesus have a bottle?(led by the spirit)
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2020
  15. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    The longest hunger strike I've heard of was 57 days. That man died.
    When I could not eat, I was still ambulatory and lucid at 24 days. However, I was given IV fluid with electrolytes after 10 days, so that doesn't equate to absolute fasting.
     
  16. gmilam Valued Senior Member

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    Never heard of fasting including no water - so I would think your definition is incorrect... But I have been known to be wrong a time or two.
     
  17. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    Fasting does not normally exclude water. Nobody can survive long without water. Our bodies store a reserve of fuel in the form of fat, but we have no reservoir for the water required by every function of every cell every second of our life.
    Depending on the environment, a person would die of dehydration in 3-7 days; in a desert, maybe even two.
    Yes, Jesus (or anybody habitually traveling in arid climates) would certainly carry water at all times; typically, a pouch made of leather, slung over the shoulder on a thong or cord.

    (btw - after a long fast, you do not feel 'hungry'. That passes after a few days, as the stomach stops producing acid. You might feel weak, off-balance, light-headed, perhaps disoriented, but also quiescent, passive. Physical sensations are dulled and disconnected.
    When it's time to eat again, you're more likely to be repelled by food: the smell is too strong; the challenge of chewing and swallowing seems insurmountable. The first couple of days, you have to take small amounts of a bland soup or something to prime the digestive process and gradually work up to a proper meal.
    So, that temptation wouldn't have been hard to resist - especially looking at stones as potential food.)

    Correction to my earlier post: I'm told that at least three people have survived over 60 days on a hunger strike.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2020
  18. sideshowbob Sorry, wrong number. Valued Senior Member

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  19. geordief Valued Senior Member

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    Do you want to tell us any more about that?

    That sounds like a very serious event.
     
  20. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    There have been many. They're usually serious.
    This One's still infamous - I hope.
    You're probably too young to recall The Troubles.
     
  21. geordief Valued Senior Member

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    You were on hunger strike during the troubles? (No I am not too young)

    I was responding to your referencing your own experience of extended fasting....
     
  22. Schmelzer Valued Senior Member

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    Eating nothing 40 days is possible, even without serious harm following from this.
    Drinking nothing is possible only for much less time.
     
  23. Jeeves Valued Senior Member

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    No, I was just sick. It doesn't count, except to illustrate how long you can do without food and still be quite functional.
     

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