Sodom and Gomorrah, the act of God 

Sodom and Gomorrah were two cities located near the Dead Sea during ancient times.  According to the Bible (Genesis 18, 19), they were the names of two of five cities in a plain of Palestine, and these two cities were totally destroyed by God because the population's bad behavior made God angry.  Consequently, upon those cities rained fire and brimstone which reduced cities and all who dwelt there to ash. 

Now this conflagration occurred during the life of Abraham, the great leader of four thousand years ago.  God made Abraham aware of his intentions to destroy the cities, and Abraham reacted by pleading with God not to do so as he was concerned for his nephew, Lot, who lived in the area.  Accordingly, God said he would spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he could find ten righteous people.  He sent two angels to look for these good people, but they found only Lot and his family.  So the angels helped Lot , his wife and daughters escape before the destruction began.  The family was warned by the angels not to look back.  However, Lot’s wife couldn’t help herself.  She looked back at what was happening to the cities, and in that moment and in that place where she stood, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Of course the big question is the story fact or fiction?  Is there any real evidence that such a conflagration really took place four thousands years ago?  Well, yes there is.  It has been discovered that fire and brimstone did rain down on cities of the plain near the Dead Sea, and what is left is a big chunk of ash with swirls and twists inside it and filled with brimstone in the form of sulfur balls nearly 95% pure. 

Ruins of cities southeast of the Dead Sea have been discovered, and what remains is a three foot thick slab of ash that crumbles easily in the hand.  From the Bible “The Lord rained fire and brimstone on the cities. “ Brimstone means sulfur, and millions of spheres of powered sulfur encased in glass were found in this debris.  Analysis shows that this sulfur is nearly pure.  It is estimated that these balls of sulfur were 9000 degrees Fahrenheit in order to create the observed damage to the cities.  Even gold coins were turned into gold ash.

( http://www.bibleplus.org/discoveries/sodomfound.htm)

In 75 CE the ancient historian, Josephus  wrote in his “Wars of the Jews”, about this area which had been rich and happy  at one time, but that it was all burnt up by “lightning.”  He also mentioned that during his time remnants of the cities were still visible.

In 1924 William Albright and Melvin Kyle found big pieces of sulfur south of the Dead Sea, and they found that these pieces were scattered over a large area.  A more recent investigator, Ron Wyatt, first notice some formations that resembled city walls in 1980.  He later discovered a large chunks of ash containing sulfur balls.

(http://www.wyattmuseum.com/cities-of-the-plain-02.htm)

Unfortunately, the incident happen so long ago that there are few witnesses.  In fact we have only the account of Abraham who viewed the destruction of the cities in the plain from nearby mountains.  He saw dense black smoke  rise like from a furnace rise above the plain.  According to the Bible, God caused this destruction.  It is understandable that the people of the time would attribute any conflagration of such magnitude to have been an intended act of God. 

However if it was not caused by some supreme being, the question is: are there any natural phenomena that could have caused this conflagration?  It is unusual to witness brimstone raining down from the heavens.