Freethought & Rationalism Archive

sighhswolf · 07-19-2001, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lance:
<STRONG>I was reading some of the drivel commentary over on WND about the "Tower of Babylon" and something struck me.

Here we have the most grand structure of the ancient world, something so massive, so large, that it offended God himself and caused him to scramble the tongues of the workers.

Christians, a simple question. Where are the ruins? Where are the remains?

Absence of a relic this massive would tend to indicate the bible false. Or at least this myth in it anyway.</STRONG>

Lance,
It may be even more important when something is actually found from antiquity.

An article about the search for the city of Jericho indicated that what is believed by
archeologists to be the site of the city
has been found.

Only one problem, the walls seemed to be intact, And there were no indications of Joshua's attack on the city.

And that Jericho, thrived for many years after the date of the so-called destruction of the walls.
Wolf

Iconoclast · 07-19-2001, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Is everyone referring to the tower of BABEL of genesis 11? Where outside the legendary city of Nebuchadnezzar the remains of a huge tower stands? a square of earthen embankments some three-hundred feet on each side, correct? What the Babylonians of the time call etenmenanki?

The problem with this is that things of comparable and even more impressive stature have been built since and have not pissed off god, who, according to the story, was afraid that if man could build such an impressive structure, then nothing would be impossible for mankind so he had to stop it and 'confound' the language so that such a project would never be attempted again as so many people would not be able to cooperate due to language barriers.

Side note: Are translators then the tools of Satan?

Quote:

My out of-date history books state that in 460 BC, after the tower had been crumbling for many years, the Greek historian Herodotus visited the tower and was blown away.

While Herodotus was a great writer, he had a tendency to exaggerate and just make things up to fit his needs. If you haven't read him, you should so you can see for yourself how unreliable he can be and because, regardless of his often wild inaccuracies, he is an entertaining read.

Lance · 07-19-2001, 10:42 AM

Sigh...my mistake. I did indeed mean "Babel".

I was in high gear this morning and made the utterly stupid mistake that those fundiots over on WND knew what the hell they were talking about, particularly in the Christ cult.

Bad assumption.

The question is still worth asking as we've been told time and time again by those bonehead literalists that the bible is the most historically accurate book around. So where are they? Why do they dodge this topic?

I do realize absence of evidence isn't proof of anything. Heck, even the Christians know that as they spent 2000 years destroying what contradictory evidence they could find...thus leaving us with no evidence and LOTS of debate.

sighhswolf · 07-19-2001, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Iconoclast:
<STRONG>

While Herodotus was a great writer, he had a tendency to exaggerate and just make things up to fit his needs. If you haven't read him, you should so you can see for yourself how unreliable he can be and because, regardless of his often wild inaccuracies, he is an entertaining read.</STRONG>

Man you hit on a good one here.
Are translators satans tools?
Ask that question of an Orthodox Rabbi and you will get a real lesson in translations.

I made the error of asking a Rabbi why the
Biblical text seemed different in Jewish
and Christian interpretations.

After the 4th page of text EMailed, I got tired and stopped reading.

Duh.......I will not make that mistake again.

Marduk · 07-19-2001, 04:18 PM

Tower of Babel? are you duys referring to the Zuggeraut of Enli in Southern Iraq?
it was built in Babylonian times, a large step pyramid 300 or so feet tall, and it's still there! Sadam Hussein supposedly hid in it during the Gulf war because he knew the alies would not bomb such a famous archaeological site.
In the Babylonian version of the Babel story, the storm god Enlil (Marduk's uncle BTW) gets pissed at the humans uppity ways and opens the gates of Sumer to the nomadic hoards who speak different languages, thus fucking everyone up. not very supernatural though.

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07-19-2001, 10:42 AM	#13
Lance Regular Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Overland Park, KS USA Posts: 335	Sigh...my mistake. I did indeed mean "Babel". I was in high gear this morning and made the utterly stupid mistake that those fundiots over on WND knew what the hell they were talking about, particularly in the Christ cult. Bad assumption. The question is still worth asking as we've been told time and time again by those bonehead literalists that the bible is the most historically accurate book around. So where are they? Why do they dodge this topic? I do realize absence of evidence isn't proof of anything. Heck, even the Christians know that as they spent 2000 years destroying what contradictory evidence they could find...thus leaving us with no evidence and LOTS of debate.

07-19-2001, 04:18 PM	#15
Marduk Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: the 10th planet Posts: 5,065	Tower of Babel? are you duys referring to the Zuggeraut of Enli in Southern Iraq? it was built in Babylonian times, a large step pyramid 300 or so feet tall, and it's still there! Sadam Hussein supposedly hid in it during the Gulf war because he knew the alies would not bomb such a famous archaeological site. In the Babylonian version of the Babel story, the storm god Enlil (Marduk's uncle BTW) gets pissed at the humans uppity ways and opens the gates of Sumer to the nomadic hoards who speak different languages, thus fucking everyone up. not very supernatural though.

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