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J
onah ben Dov stifted
fears were unfounded.
a shudder that d idn't
David Jon Hi/1 has served in rhe
After
eighryfour days un-
come from the Feb-
ministry for rwenry years. He
den-varer
and after cir-
ruary freshet that
holds a Masrer's Degree in The-
cumnavigating the globe
drcnched him with icy
ology and is Senior Ediror of
for 36,000 miles follow-
wetncss.
It
was the early
The Good News,
a magazine
ing the trail of Magellan,
spring of 1960, and he
of biblica/ undersranding.
the USS
Triton
safel y de-
was standing on a con-
posited all its crew, jubi-
crete pier on the north-
lant , on the same
east coast of the Un ited States. What made concre te pier from which it began its incred–
Jonah shudder was the thought going through ible journey! 1 bet you believe that story! If
his mind as he contt.:m plated being swallowed you don ' t, you should, because it's true. Read
by the huge steel fish lyi ng low in the wa ter in about it in any up-to-date encyclopedia or
frorH of him. "Swallowed" was the only way history book.
It
happened! 1 invented Jonah
he could desc ribe his feeling as he measured ben Dov. but the facts abou t the fish are
with his eye the 447 feet of menacing metal. irrefutable. And isn' t it interesting that this
Five thousand nine hundred tons of tin fish! nuclear-driven nava l vessel is named after a
"Swallowed" was the only
mythological god?
("Tri -
way he cou ld describe his
~ou
ton:aseagod,sonofPosei-
feelings as he remembered
CAN
don and Amp h i t r ite.
his namesake oflong ago -
having the head a nd trunk
three days a nd three nights.
of a man and the ta il of a
~:tte;,~~:~~~~~ ,:~0~~/~s~:rer
S'
A'
ALI
·ow
~~·;d!)so;~ oJ;e~n~~e ~e;~
days and nights. o r more?
~
YYr-\
l.:
imagination or fa ith to be-
W el! , at least he wou ldn ' t be alone.
lieve that story. We've got facts. pie-
He was only one ofa hand-picked crew
THE
tures, documents, living huma n beings
of well over a hundred men chosen to
who experienced the event. a nd the
naviga te the USS
Triton
atomic sub-
actual physical object used, a ll wi th us.
marine around the world. Under-
t~LE
That
hu~an ~eings,
clever as
water! Without coming up! Once!
they are, tngentous a nd tech-
Commander Dov shook off the feel-
nologicaUy adva nced as they
ing that carne from super-
are, could conceive of
stition and tradition. He
OF
and create a great fish
was proud to represen!
equipped to swallow
his people in an unprece-
over a hundred men
dented and historie event.
fo r three months and
What was the matter with
then "vomit" them safe on
him anyway? He didn ' t sutfer
shore produces not one in-
from claustrophobia. and he
kling of a stra in on our brain.
was trained for this mission. Be-
But to claim that God. who alleg-
sides. this vessel represen ted the
edly created the universe and every-
epitome of man 's technological
know-how. It was silent, sleek.
powerful, and potentially
more deadly than any
o ther weapon its size
known toman. He
felt better. He
had faith in the
in tellig encc.
5 artistry, and
E
industry that
~
had created
~
thi s fantastic
~
machine. And he was
: totally dedicated to
~
any service he could give
~
to the country that had
~
given him so much. Need–
~
less to say, as Jona h
~
himself knew. hi s
by David
Jon
Hill
29