I’ve heard the story of Elijah and the Priests of Baal being told as one of the first experimental swindles, rather than the first experiment. It goes something like this:
Elijah: Pours ‘water’ on his pyre.
Pyre: Catches on fire
Priest of Baal: “Wait was that water or oil? If I pour some of your ‘water’ on my pyre maybe it will light too...”
Elijah: “Put them to death before they can invent repeatability testing.”
The water being oil part is so obvious that it reads less like a ‘God turned water into fire’ story and more like a ‘look how dumb those Baal worshipers were, we totally tricked them’ story. I’ve heard it told both ways though.
I’ve heard the story of Elijah and the Priests of Baal being told as one of the first experimental swindles, rather than the first experiment. It goes something like this: Elijah: Pours ‘water’ on his pyre. Pyre: Catches on fire Priest of Baal: “Wait was that water or oil? If I pour some of your ‘water’ on my pyre maybe it will light too...” Elijah: “Put them to death before they can invent repeatability testing.”
The water being oil part is so obvious that it reads less like a ‘God turned water into fire’ story and more like a ‘look how dumb those Baal worshipers were, we totally tricked them’ story. I’ve heard it told both ways though.