Harry Bosch

The story of Gilgamesh also contains a story within a story about a guy who is the last guy on Earth, after a terrible flood, who saves the animals: two by two. This story is at least 1,000 years before Noah. Many of the stories in the Bible are based on stories handed down by the ancient Summarians and other ancient civilizations. I wonder if those ancient story tellers would be surprised at how their stories are being protrayed as fact by the advanced people of today?

Kingdomovehearts

And one last question: Why did God threaten Adam with death? Adam didnt have a CLUE what death was! So when God said "You shall surely die!" Adam prolly got so confused! Poor adam lol

And one last question: God told ADAM (NOT eve) to NOT eat the fruit, and then made Eve. So how did Eve know??? No where does it say when God told Eve.... if you say "The bible doesnt go detailed on that" then I think Moses shouldve tooken out half of leviticus and put more details in Adam and Eve o_O lol

Kingdomovehearts

Go here: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html for more

Doctor X

Stinger:

Indeed, that is the myth I am thinking about.

Welcome to the forums.

--J.D.

Marduk

“A question that I have always wondered regarding Adam and Eve: how is original sin passed on to the rest of us? “

It’s a software bug, all males run the “Adam OS” all females run the “Eve OS” since the Eve OS is just a small adaptation of the Adam OS it contains the same bug. Coded in the DNA.
“the human program has committed a fatal error and is now shutting down”

Doctor X

What they got for bitting Apple and turning over to Microsoft. . . .

--J.D.

Kingdomovehearts

Well I didnt ask that question, but okay.

Doctor X

Makes as much sense as any argument that tries to find a biblical basis for "original sin."

--J.D.

Amlodhi

Hello Doctor X, etal.

The more I read, the more I tend to think that the Adam and Eve story is part of a later religiously motivated exegesis derived from and retroactively appended to early cosmogonic mythology.

There is both some early and scholarly attestation to this:

It has been said that precession of the equinoxes were known to the Ancient Egyptians, although the first official "discovery" of it was made by the Ancient Greek astronomer, Hipparchus, who was born sometime around 190 B.C. Even more so than the Egyptians, however, the literature would seem to indicate that the Babylonians and even the Sumerians were aware of this phenomenon; even though better translations and attention to precessional indicators are only slowly bringing this fact to the fore.

The early cosmogonic myths appear to have their origin in the consensus that the original harmony of the ecliptic with the equator (the legendary "Golden Age") was observed to be in ever increasing dis-alignment (due the earth's orbital wobble creating the precessional effect).

In the words of Santillana and Von Dechend:

Through the course of time, change (both cultural and cosmological), and constant addition to explanatory myth, the underlying source of this mythology was obscured and subsequent recensions took on an unintuitive and even garbled character.

As Lynn E. Rose (Ph.D. ancient history and philosophy) remarks concerning the writings of Philolaos (a Pythagorean philosopher):

Precession effect creates the apparent retrograde motion of the zodiacal constellations as measured by their heliacal rising on the vernal equinox. For those unfamiliar, the term "heliacal rising" simply means that a constellation is observed to be just above the eastern horizon immediately before sunrise on the spring equinox. As the zodiac "precesses", the constellation that was observed "heliacally" will drop below the eastern horizon and the constellation that was above it will drop down into the heliacal rising position. It takes approximately 2160 years for one constellation to replace another in the heliacal rising position.

Because the boundaries marking each zodiacal constellation or "house" are ambiguous, the exact dates of the start and end points of each constellation's heliacal rising is uncertain back through history. It is generally agreed, however, that the age of Pisces (the constellation Pisces in heliacal position) began at or immediately before the purported time of Jesus.

Using this approximation, then, the heliacal rising of Aries would have begun c. 2160 B.C., that of Taurus c. 4320 B.C. and of Gemini c. 6490. It should be remembered that the exact dates are not important to the promulgation of the mythology. Only important is the fact that approximately every 2000 yrs. +/- , the world age changes under the sign of a new constellation.

Thus, it is interesting to note that the age of Pisces arrived synchronically with the advent of Jesus and that both are inextricably connected to the symbology of the death of the lamb (Aries descending) and the symbol of the fish (Pisces rising). Also interesting is that in the age of Taurus, the bull was vernerated in many cultures, most notably, Egypt. Further, at the approximate advent of the age of Aries, the focus shifts to veneration of the ram/lamb and the symbolic death of Taurus. This is reflected in the Zoroastrian depictions of Mithras slaying the bull, Isaac's replacement sacrifice being a ram (Apis bulls were thought to be an earlier replacement for humans in sacrifice), and just possibly, in Moses' anger upon seeing the people worshipping a golden calf at Sinai.

The connection with Aries is also seen in the (originally mesopotamian) ritual of the scapegoat where the head of a goat was severed and carried outside the city, bearing with it the sins of the people. Thus, it is curious also that a mosaic zodiacal representation was found in an ancient synagogue at Beit Alpha. Along with the Babylonian designation "nissan" enumerating the month, the designation for Aries in this zodiac was the Hebrew term "Taleh" which means "a lamb". This term is, in turn, derived from the Hebrew term "Tela" which is translated as "a sense of covering for protection."

With each precessional replacement, the constellation sinking below the horizon is symbolically connected with sin, defeat and death, whereas, the new constellation is associated with renewal, a new king/savior. Considering the symbolic connections regarding Pisces/Jesus; Aries/lamb, scapegoat; Taurus/Apis bull, death by Mithras etc. it is interesting to consider the constellation which preceded Taurus as heliacal. This constellation is Gemini.

Gemini is usually referred to as "the twins". However, they are always depicted as a man and a woman. In the zodiac uncovered at the Beit Alpha synagogue, along with the numerical designation "sivan, 3rd month", the Hebrew term used to designate Gemini is "Taomim" which, not surprisingly means "twins". However, this Hebrew term is itself derived from another Hebrew term, "Ta'am" which translated means "to be complete", "duplicate", "coupled together".

As mentioned above, the descent and replacement of the heliacal constellation is associated with the idea of sin and death. Sin, because they transgress by not rising at their appointed time; and death, because they are buried below the horizon. Thus, the concept of Adam and Eve's "original sin" and "death" is inherent in the precessional concept and would be especially so if the later Jewish mythologists considered Gemini as the first age.

That these constellations (or stars) transgress the law by failing to rise (heliacally) was a part of Jewish thought is made abundantly clear in the book of Enoch:

Thus, it seems not unreasonable, to me, to consider that the Adam and Eve story was a later syncretism of Jewish, Babylonian and Sumerian mythology. But that further, the sources of this syncretism and the symbolic depiction of Adam and Eve and the fall are ultimately tied (though retroactively applied to) the precessional age and eventual decline (sin and death) of the age of Gemini.

Edited to add: for those interested in the subject, the above is merely an outline. There are a great deal more connections to be made; the two trees as the cross "X" of the skambha, the serpent as ouroboros, etc. It is fascinating reading that I highly recommend, beginning with the titles referenced above.

Namaste'

Amlodhi

Space Chef

Stop being so PC and think about context! It's what you make of the myth that counts.