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Old 08-09-2007, 07:55 AM   #11
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Oh.

I missed the part about your mother making you do it.

Well, there's not much for me to say- other than that, if your mother wants to, it would be nice if she would join this forum and talk with us.
I've been thinking about doing that, but then I might get beat over the head with a stick if she knew I came here. :Cheeky:
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Old 08-09-2007, 07:58 AM   #12
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See my edit above.
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Old 08-09-2007, 08:05 AM   #13
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Hi KittyKatBlack,

I'm not sure if you can tell the following to anyone, but here goes anyway .

First, flood myths are a quite usual thing in various religions and mythologies. Just do a Google for "flood myths" and you'll see! The one from the bible, which is supposed to have flooded the whole world, probably didn't happen, though.

First, it is pretty tough to flood the whole world: there is not enough water for that. Second, if the whole world had been flooded, then for example Egypt would have been flooded as well. Egypt has a very good archaeological record, and if such a flood had happened we would know. But we can tell that Egypt wasn't flooded, certainly not in the time that some people say the Noah flood happened. So there you go.

So why do floods "happen" in the various religions and mythologies? To "reboot" civilization. Something has gone wrong, for example the people turned bad, like the bible says for the Noah flood. Then to wipe the slate clean and begin again the god(s) organize a flood.

Where does all the water come from that the gods use to make the flood? Well, if you read the beginning of the bible, Genesis 1, you will see that God's spirit was "hovering over the waters." Those are "magical" waters from which the earth (and everything else) is created. It is of course these same magical waters that are then later used for the reboot.

Hope this helps .

Gerard Stafleu
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Old 08-09-2007, 08:22 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Faid View Post
Oh.

I missed the part about your mother making you do it.

Well, there's not much for me to say- other than that, if your mother wants to, it would be nice if she would join this forum and talk with us.
I've been thinking about doing that, but then I might get beat over the head with a stick if she knew I came here. :Cheeky:
I didn't mean that literally, but she wouldn't stand a chance. She'd be proven wrong somewhere, get all upset, and then ban me from the internet.

Meant that to be an edit to that last post, sorry.
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Old 08-09-2007, 08:43 AM   #15
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Kitty : welcome home
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Old 08-09-2007, 08:48 AM   #16
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Has the biblical flood ever been disproven? My mom's making me do this question in my history book, 'Why did God send the flood? Tell your view and why you hold it.'. I want to say it was a natural disaster, but I don't know what evidence there is against it.
I think a decent angle to come at this topic would be to put it into perspective. Not just the perspective of various related flood myths, but the perspective of ancient folktales. Cultures all around the world are filled with mythological stories like this, usually passed down from oral tradition. From Gilgamesh, to Homer, to the Egyptians, stories of global floods, gods, talking animals, and other fantastic things are common.

The story of the flood in the bible, and other stories like the Tower of Babel greatly resemble the common myths of other societies.
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Old 08-09-2007, 08:51 AM   #17
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Has the biblical flood ever been disproven? My mom's making me do this question in my history book, 'Why did God send the flood? Tell your view and why you hold it.'. I want to say it was a natural disaster, but I don't know what evidence there is against it.
I think a decent angle to come at this topic would be to put it into perspective. Not just the perspective of various related flood myths, but the perspective of ancient folktales. Cultures all around the world are filled with mythological stories like this, usually passed down from oral tradition. From Gilgamesh, to Homer, to the Egyptians, stories of global floods, gods, talking animals, and other fantastic things are common.

The story of the flood in the bible, and other stories like the Tower of Babel greatly resemble the common myths of other societies.
The book says that, and it seems to imply that it's proof there was a flood.
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Old 08-09-2007, 08:56 AM   #18
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Let's say for the sake of argument that the Flood story is a retelling of an old story which represents a real event.

Which is in fact my working hypothesis.

How could the people involved, or their descendants, have actually known that the whole Earth was covered?

I can certainly envisage survivors of a major event like the flooding of the Black Sea area, a mega tsunami, or an event like Katrina or Mitch who lived in a large, flat area, either actually believing, or using as a bit of license in tale telling, that the whole world was flooded.

Perhaps this is a line you might explore?

David B
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Old 08-09-2007, 09:00 AM   #19
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If I were you I'd try to act as fundy as I could and ask to go to a public school as a "witness." Then leave home and never come back at 18.
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Old 08-09-2007, 09:00 AM   #20
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Let's say for the sake of argument that the Flood story is a retelling of an old story which represents a real event.

Which is in fact my working hypothesis.

How could the people involved, or their descendants, have actually known that the whole Earth was covered?

I can certainly envisage survivors of a major event like the flooding of the Black Sea area, a mega tsunami, or an event like Katrina or Mitch who lived in a large, flat area, either actually believing, or using as a bit of license in tale telling, that the whole world was flooded.

Perhaps this is a line you might explore?

David B
I don't think that would work. It also admits that there are christians who believe that it wasn't global.
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