The forum rules are pretty literal. Maybe you should review them, especially the one about thread creation.
The term earth in Hebrew has multiple meanings. It can mean the planet, a region, or a small piece of land and this term is used over 200 times in the bible to describe various things. Secular scientists have determined that there was a massive flood in the region where Noah lived they just do not know the cause but all the evidence has been uncovered. So yes the flood was literal but not as you think it was.
Then that completely removed the meaning of the story in the Bible where God kills all animals and humans save those on the Ark.
Spring snowmelt from the Zagros mountains combined with heavy rains.. The Hebrews borrowed the story from Sumer and embellished it.. Note that in Genesis there are contradictions about how long it rained.
What rule did I broke? I gave an established opinion, if you're complaining about how short it is the truth is I'm not that good at arguing with myself to address points that might come up.
"11. THREAD CREATION The opening post of a thread sets the topic and the tone of the discussion. It should contain a member's opinions or questions with sufficient elaboration to establish a foundation for respectful discussion and debate."
Dramatic license........... The bible is full of contradictions and I doubt it would be if it was divine in origin.
Are you talking about Gilgamesh? If so even secular scholars say that the Bible didnt plagiarize. How so? - - - Updated - - - Sorry. - - - Updated - - - Lets deal with the ones dealing with the flood then.
Gilgamesh is also a myth.. The only real story we have dates about 2900 BC and is the story of a 4 day flood in the Euphrates River basin and a king of Sumer. The Ark was a river barge that carried beer, grain and livestock down river. Apparently the barge or barges tore loose and ended up far to the south in the Persian Gulf and the Bahrain archipelago.
The whole idea of the gody bible seems VERY peculiar Why would god choose this one people to focus upon.... And basically discard the rest of humanity.... That he supposedly cares about so intensely? And in revealing his truth to this small group of people, he would cause his thoughts to be recorded in ways that are open to so much mis interpretation... Which has caused endless confusion over the years, which has frankly made the bible and god look a bit idiodic. It seems to me that the creator of the universe would be capable of revealing himself in a much less ambiguous and confusing way. Instead we encounter a tsunami of different religions, dogmas, schisims, etc. And our feeble human minds are supposed to sort through all of these and have god judge the fate of our souls besed on how well we figure it out. Aside from not making much sense for us... I fail to see what god gets from all this drama. If i were god, i would expect to find something else to find fulfiment. I cannot imagine that god created he universe... Then had nothing better to do than to keep track of our daily activities
Why does it change the meaning of the story? Can you no longer understand the point God was trying to make because you know it was more of a parable?
The parable is about God killing off every single animal and human except for a handful because of the evil of the world. It makes less sense when you say, oh but everyone living a mountain range away who were likely just as sinful were spared.
God had to pick some group to get his point across and the Jews were centrally Iocated and were being persecuted. To say God favored the Jews is not really accurate because of the laws he made them live infer however he extended his grace to everyone with Jesus.
The Hebrews created their history and rituals to keep themselves separate and apart from the rest of the Canaanite tribes.
The creator of the universe could not find any better option to reveal himself than selecting the jews as his chosen people? How about the Egyptians, or the Persians, or the chinese.... That would be a lot more effective in transmitting his message more widely. Or he could have selected multiple reveals.... Maybe including the aztec And, fwiw, the jews seem pretty convinced that they are gods uniquely chosen people... And appear to see no particular need to share that honor with others... And do not recognize as valid the christian effort to evangelize on gods behalf .
While I realize your critical thinking ability is "Challenged" and you are extremely attached to your archaic religion....It is not remotely possible to submerge all landmasses under the existing water, or to build a boat big enough for the animals. This is the point where you say "Yes there Is!" and provide no information as to how.
The OT is about the Jewish people, not those on that far away mountain range. - - - Updated - - - With the popularity of Christianity I think it turned out very well for Him. There is almost no one in the world that is not aware of Jesus and hi message.
Except there were no Jews when the flood happened and the OT is also about the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Hittites, etc.
The great flood in that region is placed right during the Jewish time. The most accepted theory is a meteorite crash off the coast of Madagascar, which they have found empirical evidence of. Using computer models, scientists have fermi ex that all coastal regions around the Mediterranean did indeed flood. The bible mentions many groups of people but it is a collection of laws for the Jews as its main point and to develop context for the coming of Christ.
Which still doesn't change the fact that the flood story in the Bible is about God killing every single person save for those on the Ark. The story loses all meaning when it turns into "God killed everyone save those on the ark....and everyone not living in the region regardless of how sinful those people were."