Johnnyboy

hello fellows,

Today when I was reading something about Sodom and Gomorrah, I found this link:

http://www.aish.com/ci/sam/48931527.html

Since I am not a scientiest, I cannot verfy anything, but it sounded very...well "fundie" to me, since phrases like:

"Are the assertions of these skeptics based on facts or are they merely the distorted opinions of non-believers?"

catched my eye.



The articles sumarizes:

Preponderance of Evidence

To summarize, the archaeology evidence as to the destruction of the five Cities of the Plain is inconclusive. However the preponderance of other evidence with regards to the Torah's story of Sodom and Gomorrah is overwhelming.

1. The Bible refers to a metropolis of five cities in the Dead Sea area.
Five, and only five cities, have been found in the Dead Sea area.

2. The Bible refers to a conquest by the Mesopotamians.
The artifacts found in the Dead Sea area show a Mesopotamian influence.

3. The Midrash describes the metropolis as a thriving population.
The enormous number of burials in the large cemeteries attests to a great population.

4. The Talmud and the Midrash describe the area as an agricultural
wonderland. The great diversity of agricultural products found in the ruins verify the lush produce enjoyed by the area's inhabitants.

5. According to the Talmud, there was a span of only 26 years between a war in the area and the ultimate destruction.
Devastation levels found in Numeira (Sodom) are consistent with the Talmud's assertion.

6. The Talmud states that Sodom, unlike other cities in the area, only existed for 52 years.
The ruins in Numeira (Sodom) indicate that the city lasted less than 100 years.

7. The Bible attributes the destruction of the cities to a fiery storm that rained down from above.
Thick layers of burnt material covering the remains of the cities in the area bear this out.

After reviewing all of the archaeological data, it is quite clear that the story related in the Torah and Midrash is completely accurate in spite of what the non-believers may boldly claim.


Can anyone with some more knowledge than me check this out?


Thanks in advance.

Doug Shaver

I could check it out, but it would take a major expenditure of time that I don't have available. I hope someone with more leisure will help you.

What I can do is offer my personal observation that over the years I have seen countless similar claims made with regard not only to Sodom and Gomorrah but to various other bibilical stories of divine intervention as well, and I have seen the results of independent investigation of those claims. Never once have the facts been entirely consistent with the apologist's claims.

Johnnyboy

Thank you for your reply Doug,

The problem is that I am one of those guys who just can't put something aside, even though I strongly assume that it is not much more than the...usual stuff.
However, since this is a load of confident claims, I would very much thank anyone with knowledge in that field of history to review it in some way.

I am a bit shocked that it is a jewish website too...
Another illusion lost.

Susan2

I found the material on the link rather interesting. Presuming that the facts outlined in the seven points listed above as taken from the website are accurate, and an exact match to the Torah, how does that prove that the people of these cities were preverse? It doesn't. Dead men can't speak mortal men can. Mortal men are known liars, fear mongers, conquistadors no matter their religion, nation, ect.

The Torah, like all religious writings has simply taken an advantage of an opportunity by staking a claim in anothers tragedy to support their own assertions as to the ways and means of God.

Perhaps there was an original jealousy by the writers of the Sodom & Gemorrah story as known in the Torah and that caused conflict within their own people as to the prosperity of the wealth these other people appeared to enjoy.

Poof! A tragedy happens and a people are gone. See, God exists.

Thou shall not covet, because no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. Behind that prosperity they were evil people.

Doug Shaver

Some Jews, like some Christians, are committed to scriptural inerrantism. The only difference is that to a Jewish inerrantist, the scriptures don't include the part of the Bible that Christians call the New Testament.