Defend the Noah's Ark narrative

Discussion in 'Religion & Philosophy' started by Greenleft, Nov 23, 2018.

  1. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    Science thoroughly proves that there was no worldwide flood. Logic and science also prove the Ark as described in the Bible to be impossible to hold all the animals and for all of them to survive. I will not go through all the details, but if you want them, I'll compile several Youtube videos and post them here.

    And before you talk about all the flood myths from around the world, tell me why they all have vastly different details and what makes you think the Bible's narrative is the true one?

    If you talk about the flood being localized and by the world being flooded, they mean the known world, sure that's possible, but where is the evidence for that particular version?

    There are some Christians who say that the Bible should not be taken literally. But when asked if the Noah's Ark story is literally true, all they say is "I don't know" and "So what?" None will go on the record and admit that it did not happen. They will just change the subject to the New Testament.

    Even if I did not take the Noah's Ark story literally, I find no value in it. I ask you Bible believing Christians to tell me why I should not take a black marker and blot out the Noah's Ark narrative from the Bible the same way many of you ignore the Apocrypha.

    There are many other parts of the Bible I'd make you defend including: Balaam's Donkey, the creation story, the redundant Numbers chapter 7, the instructions on how to treat a slave, the redundant instructions on building a Tabernacle, the anti-masturbation Onan story, the genealogies most pastors just skip, the absurdly cryptic books of Daniel and Revelation, the glorification of the Israelites destroying their enemies and much more.

    For now however, let's just stick to Noah's Ark. Did it happen? What value should I take away from it?
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2018
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  2. Diablo

    Diablo Well-Known Member

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    No. None.

    Just delete the OT from the book of short stories.
     
  3. jay runner

    jay runner Banned

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    Wood boats disappear quickly. Not a sliver is left of Meriwether Lewis's keelboats or canoes.

    If you buy a wooden boat you're going to work on it and look at it far, far more than you're going to sail it.
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2018
  4. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    With god, all things are possible
     
  5. Paul7

    Paul7 Well-Known Member

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    There is lots of global evidence for the flood. Where I live in the Rio Grande valley, for example, there is 1,500' of water deposited sediment in an area that get 9" of rain a year.
     
  6. Spooky

    Spooky Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    There is scientific proof that the entire region where Noah lived did flood, the most likely cause was the Black Sea. That whole area was under water.

    Really no doubt about that, only if that was the time when Noah actually lived which most conclude it was.

    Therefore to Noah it would appear the whole earth flooded and this is a key part.

    Earth in the Bible has a number of different meanings. It is used to signify the entire planet, it is used to represent a small region, it is even used to represent a plot of land.

    So when Noah tells us that the Earth flooded he simply could have meant the region where he lived.

    And he would be accurate.

    Taking two of each animal, that he was aware of could have been possible but more than likely it was a metaphor about surviving the destruction and rebuilding. It is not necessary to take the entire Bible literally but to understand the examples given to better help you understand the point God is trying to show you.

    Did Jonas get swallowed by a whale?

    Probably not but it helps communicate the story God is telling.

    He puts things in simple terms, dumbs them down if you will, so people have an easier time comprehending his points.
     
  7. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    Noah never wrote a single word.
    So no one will ever know what noah thought or did.
     
  8. BarleyPopGuy

    BarleyPopGuy Banned

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    That whole story to explain a rainbow.
     
  9. Spooky

    Spooky Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Noah's story was told to the writers of the Bible.
     
  10. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    Actually, the whole story is about sinful man, so god killed everything on earth but ark creatures. Including sinful man, to repopulate the earth.
     
    Last edited: Nov 23, 2018
  11. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    Yep, hand me down stories. And just a story.
     
  12. Capt Nice

    Capt Nice Well-Known Member

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    There are 38 species of wild cats in the world. Would any one want to estimate the number of species of snakes or butterflies?? Can you imagine the logistics involved in collecting animals from all the corners of the world? Noah's Ark is a fairy tale and nothing more.
     
  13. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    Written by a person who was not a witness with voices in his head!

    I wouldn't go for that detail because of the creationist "kinds" argument. Instead, I'd go for the sheer impossibility of keeping the animals alive on the Ark, the inbreeding and how the animals could not survive after the flood with no vegetation and no other animals to eat.
     
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  14. dairyair

    dairyair Well-Known Member

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    With god, all things are possible
     
  15. The Wyrd of Gawd

    The Wyrd of Gawd Well-Known Member

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    The Noah story is linear and flows from the Adam & Eve story. In the Adam & Eve story the Garden of Eden is just down the road from Assyria, Persia, Arabia, Ethiopia, and of course Egypt. And guess what? Those places and people were there after Noah's flood. The historical record does not mention any damage in those areas from a flood. The people and sandals were not drowned. The buildings were not destroyed by the flood waters. If there was such a flood not one person in those areas saw it or experienced any adverse effects from it.

    The Noah flood story is simply a war story that refers to the invading force as a flood that no one could escape. It uses several metaphors to do that, including the dove, raven, olive branch. To put it bluntly, only imbeciels think that the Noah flood actually happened.

    The message of the flood story is that you should show complete obedience and loyalty to the Boss when he tells you to do something. That is what all of the biblical stories are about. In the case of Noah he was given an apparently impossible task. He got busy and did it even though he had no clue as to how he was going to get it done. It is like the instructions Moses was given about how to cut stone tablets or to build the ark of the covenant. and other stuff. He was supposedly in the middle of the desert with no infrastructure but he supposedly got it all done. It is the ultimate example of *shut up and do as you're told to do*.
     
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  16. The Wyrd of Gawd

    The Wyrd of Gawd Well-Known Member

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    Remember, the first thing Noah did when he got of the ark was to kill and roast the animals that he had bunked with for over a year.

    Genesis 8:20-21 (MSG) = *Noah built an altar to God. He selected clean animals and birds from every species and offered them as burnt offerings on the altar. God smelled the sweet fragrance and thought to himself, “I’ll never again curse the ground because of people. I know they have this bent toward evil from an early age, but I’ll never again kill off everything living as I’ve just done.
     
  17. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    1. Keep in mind that while most of the animals were only a single pair, there were a handful of "clean" animals of which he took in 7 pairs.

    2. Don't quote The Message translation when dealing with Bible believing Christians. It's actually worse than the Jehovah's Witness Bible called the New World Translation (NWT)
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2018
  18. Liberty Monkey

    Liberty Monkey Well-Known Member

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    My friend thinks the bible is backwards and Noah's ark is yet to come although in his narrative it might be something like an ark to another planet rather than a ship and a flood.

    Probably more than 2 of each animals lol.
     
  19. Distraff

    Distraff Well-Known Member

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    All this means is that the climate was radically different in your area some time in the past and that there was a large flood in your area. This in no way proves that there was a global flood about 5,000 years ago.
     
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  20. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Do you have ANY idea how long it takes to get 1500 ft of sediments to deposit?
     
  21. it's just me

    it's just me Well-Known Member

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    Well, an Ark sized ship is certainly possible, what do you call this?

    https://arkencounter.com/about/

    We don't care what you block out of your own Bible.
     
  22. Paul7

    Paul7 Well-Known Member

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    In a flood, not very long, see the aftermath of the Mt. St. Helens flood. In a short time a canyon 1/40th of the size of the Grand Canyon was made.
     
  23. tecoyah

    tecoyah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Obviously the answer is No....you have no idea, apparently even what sediment is. The formations you initially indicated took many millions of years to form and that was at the bottom of a shallow sea.
     
  24. Paul7

    Paul7 Well-Known Member

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    It was radically different before the flood, which is why in arctic areas we find large numbers in one spot of dead mammoths that died suddenly, still with tropical plants in their mouth. Some of the meat is still fresh enough for dogs to eat. Do we see that today thousands of years after the deaths of large animals? Another example is in Nebraska where there is a fossil record of 500 bison antiquus together in one place, this was an extinct bison 50% larger than today's bison, killed about 5-10,000 years ago. IMHO a flood is a reasonable explanation of their demise.

    I feel no need to explain the details of the Flood, since I believe it to have been aided miraculously by God to accomplish His purposes. Expecting human explanations for a divine event is a non-starter. Lots of people scoffed at the idea of a flood when Noah was building the ark also, at least right before they drowned.
     
    Last edited: Nov 24, 2018
  25. Greenleft

    Greenleft Well-Known Member

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    Not to mention the poop and methane gas!
     

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