Posted on 07/22/2003 6:51:44 PM PDT by blam
Indeed. And not the only time it happened. But way too early for Noah, and not covering the tops of the highest mountains as the Bible said.
Biblical chronology is fairly straightforward. Certain historical personages such as Cyrus the Great can be independently dated tracing back from the present. From there it is just a question of following the Bible. Given a bit of ambiguity, Noah is 4000 BC or so.
A miraculous flood is a defensible position, but it isn't science.
The mythological approach has its problems also. Given the precision of Biblical chronology, at what point does it become pure myth?
I tend toward the mythological approach myself, but if I'm proven wrong it won't be by geology. You'll have to convince me that science isn't the last word on the subject.
"Space giants" from a culture that had no concept of outer space? That sounds to me like some New Age silliness, or "re-interpretation" if I was being nice.
The KJV translates it "giants" and describes them as "mighty men of old". Apparently the offspring of demon-possessed men, killed in the flood. I have seen Jewish speculation that the mythology of the Greek and Roman gods were distortedly based on them, but this is not part of the Jewish religion, nor am I convinced by this. Such speculation is merely a data point.
The "Greek and Roman gods" hypothesis, if I may so dignify it, is not irrelevant. Ovid attributes the flood to Jupiter having a snit, nothing about Divine justice. It's worth reading Metamorphoses just as part of a general cultural education. The creation story is much like the Bible as well, except that creation is attributed to an unknown god. After creation and the flood, it is not even slightly similar to the Bible, but it is as much part of our cultural heritage if not of religious truth or morality.
Maybe the Jason Project?
"Space giants" from a culture that had no concept of outer space? That sounds to me like some New Age silliness, or "re-interpretation" if I was being nice
Reading right out of the Torah in Hebrew the word is "nefilim", which means "the fallen" (from the Heavens, presumably) and is rendered as "the Titans" or "Giants" in most English translations of the Hebrew Scriptures. "Giants Fallen From the Heavens" is more-or-less the same thing as "Space Giants", isn't it?
We know that the Nefilm were halfbreeds -- the offspring of fallen angels ("the Sons of God") and human women. How exactly was this twisted mating accomplished? Nobody knows, of course, but with a bit of imagination one can speculate that perhaps it occurred through technological means, implying a society far more advanced than is usually imagined for that early period of history.
As I said: I'm no scholar. All of this is pure moonshine. Still, one must admit that there are an awful lot of funny things about the Noah story.
Everything before the flood is up for grabs. Presumably the book of Genesis as we know it was compiled rather than simply dictated. This is completely consistent with Divine inspiration as well as the mythological explanation.
If compiled, this would explain the allusions to stories that were known in more detail at one time. For example, Tubal-Cain inventing metal working, but only mentioned in passing as part of a genealogy. Or Enoch, who was "taken". There's even a whole apocryphal literature about Enoch, but this dates from much later.
The pious explanation is that the details of these stories are not necessary to understanding God's purposes. But they must have been known at one time, at least as stories.
Yup. There would have been millions of refugees from flooding everywhere and no-one would have figured out exactly the cause. Noah would have had decades (perhaps) of warning before the Black Sea flooded.
Sorry to hear that. Keep checking in as you can, we'll be here when you get back 'in business.'
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