Posted by AF [AF] on November 05, 1999 at 06:25:34 {6xiCHW3gJ2DjRmAxB/kMdaOt1gg/Zk}:
In Reply to: **AF! JAN! AN ICE CANOPY! posted by Bibleman on November 04, 1999 at 22:19:51:
At the risk of egging you on, and to dispell your silly notions so that others won't think your ideas have any merit, I'll point out a few facts about a solid shell of ice orbiting the earth.
First, a system composed of a planet at the center of a solid shell of ice would be dynamically unstable. It would be like trying to balance a ball on the top of another ball. The only way such an arrangement could persist is if someone continually rebalanced the system as it encountered disturbances traveling through space. That someone would have to be God, and that means he would have to perform a continuous miracle for the entire existence of the earth. Disturbing influences include the gravity of the sun, moon and other planets, which influence manifests itself as tides in the ocean and in the solid body of the earth itself.
Second, a shell of ice somewhat larger than the earth would be far too weak to maintain structural integrity. Suppose God created a shell of ice a bit larger than the earth and made it any thickness you please. With any disturbance at all it would collapse, because ice -- and in fact all materials known to science -- is far too weak to hold up under the stresses that would result. It would be worse than trying to build a free standing bridge over the Atlantic Ocean. Once again God would have to continuously hold up such a shell by miraculous means.
Third, in the vacuum of space in the vicinity of the earth ice evaporates. That's what happens to icy comets when they come as close to the sun as the earth is. The water vapor and other materials that come off the comet comprise its tail. It would take only a few years for a shell of ice a hundred feet thick to evaporate completely. Thus, another miracle is required to keep such a shell in place.
There are other physical problems but the above are insurmountable for your theory.
As for your Biblical interpretations, well, let me just say that they're on a par with your other theories.
AF