Henke 2022ai

Lundahl (2022i) Misinterprets and Improperly Limits the Effects of Gravity

Kevin R. Henke

September 15, 2022

In Henke (2022b), I made the following statement:

“Later in Lundahl (2022a), he returns to the issue of levitation and again invokes groundless magic to explain the supposed process:

“As explained: levitation does not go against the law of gravity, it either excepts certain matter in and around human bodies from it (in case of God's miracles at walking on water and Ascension) or simply adds an invisible support (cfr the demonic version of how Copperfield does a trick).”

How are “excepts certain matter in and around human bodies” not a violation of the laws of physics? This claim sounds like God temporarily made the mass in human bodies weightless by locally removing the effects of the gravitational constant. How would this not be a violation of the laws of physics? But, before Mr. Lundahl starts throwing out imaginative physics explanations for how Jesus walked on water or ascended, he actually needs to provide evidence that Jesus even walked on water or ascended.” [emphasis mine]

Lundahl (2022i) then replies to my bolded comments.

“Kevin R. Henke

How are “excepts certain matter in and around human bodies” not a violation of the laws of physics? This claim sounds like God temporarily made the mass in human bodies weightless by locally removing the effects of the gravitational constant.

Hans Georg Lundahl

Indeed it sounds like that. And that would not be a violation of the laws of physics, specifically of gravity.

Kevin R. Henke

How would this not be a violation of the laws of physics?

Hans Georg Lundahl

Because the laws of gravity apply where the gravitational pull (not gravitational constant) reaches. Putting a specific mass outside their reach is putting it outside where the law of gravity can be either obeyed or contradicted.

The gravitational constant or the law of gravity pull nothing, it is gravitational pull that does so, and the law, involving in its mathematical statement a constant, describes this pull, but doesn't cause it.”

These statements by Lundahl (2022i) are inadequate descriptions of the effects of gravity. The universal gravitational constant is G = 6.670 x 10^-8 centimeter-gram-second and is part of Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation. It’s an empirical or measured value. In Newton’s Law, the constant is used in the following equation that describes the force of gravity between any two objects separated by a distance r:

F = G m₁m₂ / r²

Where:

F = the force of gravity

G = universal gravitational constant of 6.670 x 10^-8 centimeter-gram-second

m₁ = mass #1 – the mass of an object, such as Jesus’ body

m₂ = mass #2 – the mass of another object, such as the Earth

r = distance between the two objects (Orear 1967, p. 73).

So, how do we achieve Mr. Lundahl’s demands to get Jesus to ascend into Heaven without violating Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation? How would Jesus get outside of the reach of the Earth’s gravitational pull and the effects of Newton’s Law without violating the law? Technically, there is no way to completely remove the effects of the Earth’s gravity and Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation without r somehow getting into the realm of the infinite. Nevertheless, the only natural way to essentially remove the effects of the Earth’s gravity on an object or “it’s gravitational pull” is to move the object far enough away from the Earth, where the gravitational force, F, becomes small enough to make the object essentially weightless. That is, to make the value of r large enough. However, before Jesus begins to ascend from the Earth, r is necessarily too small. Unless Jesus uses rockets or is towed by invisible angels to greatly separate him from the Earth, r is not going to adequately change. As I explained in Henke (2022w), there’s no way to escape this universal law in our Universe unless Jesus broke it.

Now, unless Mr. Lundahl claims to be a docetist heretic, Jesus had a body with mass and when he was on the Earth, Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation would have applied to him. Under the imaginary scenario endorsed by Lundahl (2022a) and Lundahl (2022i), where God “excepts certain matter in and around human bodies”, the ascension of Jesus from the Earth would require that either Jesus’ mass be magically reduced to zero or close to it, or that the universal gravitational constant, G, be given a local exemption and reduced to zero or close to it. That is, either m₁ or locally G would become zero or close to it. (Setting m₂ = 0 would cause everyone on Earth to become weightless.) So, despite Mr. Lundahl’s imaginary attempts, there is no way of exempting “certain matter in and around” Jesus’ human body without violating Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation, F = G m₁m₂ / r². It’s very easy for Mr. Lundahl to make vague generalizations about God “excepting certain matter”, but his arguments fall apart when he actually needs to explain the math.

Reference:

Orear, J. 1967. Fundamental Physics, 2^nd ed., John Wiley & Sons: New York, 472pp.