#12599 Did Jonah Really Get Swallowed by a Whale? Bible Questions - Jimmy Akin

Catholic Answers Live

Catholic Answers

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Did Jonah really get swallowed by a whale, or is the story symbolic? In this episode of Catholic Answers Live, Catholic Answers apologists tackle this question along with several others about Scripture and theology. They discuss how to prepare for conversations with Muslims using the Bible, why giants appear after the flood, and whether Catholics can accept the Orthodox canon as inspired. The conversation also explores what St. Paul means by being “slaves to sin” and what Christ truly accomplished through redemption. Additional questions address modern concerns about alcohol in light of the wedding at Cana and clarify how the Bible uses terms like mind, heart, soul, and spirit. A wide-ranging discussion on biblical interpretation and Catholic teaching.

Questions Covered:

01:22 – Did Jonah actually get swallowed by a whale?
11:27 – Is there some part of the bible I should study to prepare to speak to Muslims?
17:16 – When the Israelites entered the holy land they fought giants. Why are there giants after the flood?
21:03 – Can we as Catholics personally hold the belief that the Orthodox canon is divinely inspired?
23:54 – Romans talk about being a slave to sin. What did Jesus actually accomplish if we are slaves to sin?
34:39 – New research suggests that no human should consume alcohol because of how bad it is for humans. How could God create and make water into wine at the wedding of Cana knowing how harmful it is for humans?
45:50 – Does the bible mean the same thing when it refers to the mind, heart, soul and spirit?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Buying or selling your home, real estate for life can connect you with a pro-life real estate agent.
0:05.2	When Real Estate for Life receives a referral fee, they donate 65% to Catholic Answers.
0:11.5	Learn more at realestateforlife.org. Hello and welcome to Catholic Answers live.
0:32.9	I'm Sykelet, your host.
0:35.1	Jimmy Aiken, our guests for both hours,
0:37.0	and you can ask him any Bible
0:38.5	question you want.
0:40.0	It's your Bible questions for Jimmy Aiken today, 8883187-884, AAA 3187-884.
0:48.9	It could be maybe something that's internal to the Bible, you know, like, what did Isaiah
0:52.7	mean when he said this, or could be something external to the Bible, like, who's Isaiah? And where did he come from?
0:58.3	Or it could be a question from a believer, from a non-believer, whatever. If you've got a Bible question,
1:03.2	Jimmy Aiken, the man who wrote, the book titled, The Bible is a Catholic book, is here as our guest,
1:09.5	8883187-884 and I've been listening to the burning
1:14.1	sensations from the 1980s so I have I have a Bible question that came to me about Jonah and the
1:21.7	whale hi Jimmy Aiken hi Sackett how you doing I'm good thank you do. Do you have any idea what I'm talking about when I say, the burning sensations?
1:30.3	I assume that is one of those hot new musical combos.
1:34.3	Yeah, from the 1980s. That is. It was one of them hot new combos. That is exactly right.
1:41.5	And they had a song called, I feel like Jonah in the belly of the whale.
1:45.3	So I'm going to start you with that question.
1:47.7	Did Jonah actually get swallowed by a whale?
1:50.6	Well, I'm trying to remember there's an Andrew sister's song that mentions Jonah and the whale.
1:58.7	And I'm just blanking on what it is.
	...

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