by Inquisitor 19 Replies latest watchtower bible
The account of Noah's Flood has had its credibility beaten black and blue by current understanding of ancient history, geology and biology.
Yet staunch Christians, including JWs, continue to assert that the existence of the many flood legends from all over the world proves that a global catastrophe must have occurred.
How would you respond to this line of reasoning specifically?
INQ
There are many different versions or legends of a Santa Claus, yet that doesn't make it true.
I would refer them to the follwing link, and then take it from there:
http://corior.blogspot.com/2006/02/part-20-flood-legends.html
AlanF
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-noahs-ark.html#building
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah's_Ark
as a kid the ark thang bugged me, when i asked where all the poo went, how they got all the food for the different animals, the different species from different countries etc, i was just told i should accept it.
these links are a bit more enlightening than the jw literature.
When I questioned the flood I was shot down in flames and accused of lacking in faith. There is a story of a great flood that sounds very similiar to the Biblical story and it comes from ancient Persia and is older than the Biblical account. I guess these legends spread with the migration of man. The JW's and many Christians point to the fact that Jesus said something along the lines of 'Has it was in Noahs day, so it shall be in the last days' so if Jesus mentioned it....then it must be true.
Maybe there was a large flood in the Middle East. I did read some where that was the case. But very unlikley there was a global flood.
There is evidence of a large flood in Sumer around six thousand years again. After the flood, the Sumerians had to start all over again, but they were an intelligent bunch and were soon building, trading, irrigating etc again. But it is also likely that the Sumerians were advanced enough to travel to different parts of the Earth and so spread their story of Survival from this flood.
Its really not as sensational as claimed by apologists. Floods being a common occurrance, especially near river deltas and fertile valleys where most ancient cities developed, naturally found there way in to legend and myth. However it is simply not true that Flood stories are universal. The supposed uncanny similarities between legends is often the result of exaggeration, or in some cases where the similarities are real, the result of Christian missionary activity or quite simply logical narrative plot details (like using a boat to escape). As was already said the Near Eastern cultures did have a direct cultural and linguistic relationship and it is not therefore surprizing that, say the Summerian legends and Babylonian ones for example,their stories have similarities.
If someone presents a list of flood lengends, ask them if they know the complete stories so as to know if the similarities are being exaggerated and when these versions of the legends were written. Its these details that debunk the alledged uncanniness.
One explaination is that at the end of the last ice age about 10000 years ago there was great flooding as the the ice melted. As large walls of ice collapsed the lakes behind them spread in huge waves. There is a lot of evidence around the world, and around the bible lands of large floods.
Hi Alan F
Looks like you had invested a lotta time on the Noachian Flood! Thanks for providing that comprehensive information. Peaceful Pete's post is an excellent summary of what's on Alan's blog.
INQ
Hello Highlander
I didn't know there are several versions of Santas in the world!
That was news to me.
INQ
