Is the great biblical flood real or not?

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Sagart

Senior Member
May 7, 2017
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Scripture tells us there was a flood over the whole earth and that it destroyed all in existence except Noah and his family and the animals he brought into the ark. I will go with that one.
Scripture tells us in the same story that the earth was covered with a dome—telling us very plainly that, according to the story, the earth was flat! “Going with” the part of the story that one likes, and totally ignoring the parts of the story that one does not like is intellectual dishonesty that makes a mockery of God and His word.
 

shrume

Senior Member
Jun 26, 2017
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Scripture tells us in the same story that the earth was covered with a dome—telling us very plainly that, according to the story, the earth was flat! “Going with” the part of the story that one likes, and totally ignoring the parts of the story that one does not like is intellectual dishonesty that makes a mockery of God and His word.
You are declaring the parts of the "story" that you do not like as not true.

It is true that in the Hebrew understanding of the cosmos, the earth was flat, supported by pillars, the sky was a dome, stars were "in" the dome, etc.

None of those things prevent there from being a global flood.
 

star

Senior Member
Nov 8, 2017
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Scripture tells us in the same story that the earth was covered with a dome—telling us very plainly that, according to the story, the earth was flat! “Going with” the part of the story that one likes, and totally ignoring the parts of the story that one does not like is intellectual dishonesty that makes a mockery of God and His word.

I've heard "intellectual dishonesty" before so that is a misuse of one's opinion about another person's intellect.

I am going with the scripture as explained in the story of Noah and I'll take that scripture over any "intellectual" explanation anytime. We do not come to God through "intellect" but through our soul/heart. If God's Word said there was a flood which wiped out all on the face of this earth, I take Him at His word. The means, the how-He-did-it makes no difference to me.
 

star

Senior Member
Nov 8, 2017
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Making a "mockery" of God's Word IMO is whenever mankind takes scripture and either adds, subtracts or rearranges to suit their interpretation or gives credence to their own personal stance. I take scripture as it is written. The how and the why is of no importance to me.
 

Sagart

Senior Member
May 7, 2017
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You are declaring the parts of the "story" that you do not like as not true.
No, I like the whole story; but I know that the story is not at all an account of an actual event in the history of the earth.

It is true that in the Hebrew understanding of the cosmos, the earth was flat, supported by pillars, the sky was a dome, stars were "in" the dome, etc.

None of those things prevent there from being a global flood.
The men whom God chose to pen the Scriptures were real people in every respect—real people with their own vocabulary, real people with their own cultural background—and the realness of the people whom God chose to pen the Scriptures became a part of the Scriptures. In Genesis 1-11, we find the cultural belief of the cosmos held by the ancient Hebrew people to be the framework in which the story of the flood is told. Indeed, the reality of the flood is absolutely dependent upon the earth being flat and covered by an extremely strong “dome” (Hebrew = רָקִיעַ [râqı̂ya‛]) that, as the story goes, God made “and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome.” The reality of the flood is absolutely dependent upon the earth being flat and covered by an extremely strong “dome” because, as the story goes, the “dome” held back a massive amount of water until the time of the flood. Since the reality of the flood is dependent upon the earth being flat and covered by a “dome,” the reality of the earth being round without a dome over it completely negates the possibility of the flood having occurred.
 

Sagart

Senior Member
May 7, 2017
366
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I've heard "intellectual dishonesty" before so that is a misuse of one's opinion about another person's intellect.
From Wikipedia,

Intellectual honesty is an applied method of problem solving, characterized by an unbiased, honest attitude, which can be demonstrated in a number of different ways:
· One's personal faith does not interfere with the pursuit of truth;
· Relevant facts and information are not purposefully omitted even when such things may contradict one's hypothesis;
· Facts are presented in an unbiased manner, and not twisted to give misleading impressions or to support one view over another;
· References, or earlier work, are acknowledged where possible, and plagiarism is avoided.​

Intellectual dishonesty is the precise opposite of these things!


I am going with the scripture as explained in the story of Noah and I'll take that scripture over any "intellectual" explanation anytime. We do not come to God through "intellect" but through our soul/heart.
Our intellect is the part of the mind with which we understand that which we perceive, the part of our mind with which we believe, know, memorize, reason, discriminate, and make decisions.

If God's Word said there was a flood which wiped out all on the face of this earth, I take Him at His word. The means, the how-He-did-it makes no difference to me.
Genesis 1-11 is a collection of stories, and the Bible does not tell how we are to interpret them. An old Roman Catholic tradition (NOT God or His word) says that we are to interpret them as an accurate account of historic events. However, God has blessed us with the ability to know hundreds of millions of incontrovertible facts that prove that Genesis 1-11 is NOT an accurate account of historic events. Moreover, God has blessed us with the ability to correctly reason, properly discriminate, and make correct decisions.

Some people, however, have chosen to ignore these blessing from God, and to tenaciously cling to an old Roman Catholic tradition that even the Roman Catholic Church abandoned decades ago in favor of a careful and prayerful study of the Scriptures in the languages in which they were given to us by God—a pursuit that Bible-loving Protestant Christians have pursued for centuries.
 

shrume

Senior Member
Jun 26, 2017
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No, I like the whole story; but I know that the story is not at all an account of an actual event in the history of the earth.
It’s what you believe, not what you know.

The men whom God chose to pen the Scriptures were real people in every respect—real people with their own vocabulary, real people with their own cultural background—and the realness of the people whom God chose to pen the Scriptures became a part of the Scriptures.
Fully agree.

In Genesis 1-11, we find the cultural belief of the cosmos held by the ancient Hebrew people to be the framework in which the story of the flood is told. Indeed, the reality of the flood is absolutely dependent upon the earth being flat and covered by an extremely strong “dome” (Hebrew = רָקִיעַ [râqı̂ya‛]) that, as the story goes, God made “and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome.” The reality of the flood is absolutely dependent upon the earth being flat and covered by an extremely strong “dome” because, as the story goes, the “dome” held back a massive amount of water until the time of the flood. Since the reality of the flood is dependent upon the earth being flat and covered by a “dome,” the reality of the earth being round without a dome over it completely negates the possibility of the flood having occurred.
Disagree.

We’ll find out soon enough.
 

Sagart

Senior Member
May 7, 2017
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It’s what you believe, not what you know.
I know with absolute certainty that the flood story in Genesis 7-9 is not at all an account of an actual event in the history of the earth. I know this with absolute certainty because of the genre of literature in which Gen. 1-11 is written; I know this with absolute certainty because the earth is not flat and covered with a dome (a requirement for the flood story to be true); and I know this with absolute certainty because there are hundreds of millions of well-documented facts about the history of the earth that incontrovertibly prove that it was never subjected to such a flood.

A realistic question is, “Why is the story of the flood in the Bible?”
 

shrume

Senior Member
Jun 26, 2017
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I know with absolute certainty that the flood story in Genesis 7-9 is not at all an account of an actual event in the history of the earth.
I understand that is what you think you know, and I have no doubt that you believe it.

I know this with absolute certainty because of the genre of literature in which Gen. 1-11 is written; I know this with absolute certainty because the earth is not flat and covered with a dome (a requirement for the flood story to be true); and I know this with absolute certainty because there are hundreds of millions of well-documented facts about the history of the earth that incontrovertibly prove that it was never subjected to such a flood.

A realistic question is, “Why is the story of the flood in the Bible?”
Because it happened.
 

trofimus

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2015
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A realistic question is, “Why is the story of the flood in the Bible?”
More realistic question would be: "Why is the story of flood in every culture and nation under the sun, even when those nations and cultures were not connected in any way?"

Because it happened. It is the most simple answer.
 

Sagart

Senior Member
May 7, 2017
366
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More realistic question would be: "Why is the story of flood in every culture and nation under the sun, even when those nations and cultures were not connected in any way?"

Because it happened. It is the most simple answer.
Simple answers to complex questions are seldom—if ever—the correct answers.

The flood story in Genesis is unique! Several cultures other than that of the ancient Hebrew people have recorded a flood story—but very different stories!—as we would expect due to the fact that many inhabited parts of the earth have experienced locally devastating floods.
 

trofimus

Senior Member
Aug 17, 2015
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Simple answers to complex questions are seldom—if ever—the correct answers.
Says who? Your question is not complex, anyway. Its not about nuclear physics.

The flood story in Genesis is unique! Several cultures other than that of the ancient Hebrew people have recorded a flood story—but very different stories!—as we would expect due to the fact that many inhabited parts of the earth have experienced locally devastating floods.
It would be strange if the stories would be the same without (even significant) differences. Nothing wrong with that.

Can you explain how did the Noah Flood and other Genesis stories get into the Chinese alphabet?

[video=youtube;12JMq17H_pk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12JMq17H_pk[/video]
 

Sagart

Senior Member
May 7, 2017
366
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Says who? Your question is not complex, anyway. Its not about nuclear physics.
It is not about nuclear physics, but it is about an issue no less complicated.

It would be strange if the stories would be the same without (even significant) differences. Nothing wrong with that.
The point is that totally unrelated flood stories are not evidence for a flood that did not occur.

Can you explain how did the Noah Flood and other Genesis stories get into the Chinese alphabet?

[video=youtube;12JMq17H_pk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12JMq17H_pk[/video]
The Book of Genesis was translated into Chinese at least as early as 781 CE.
 
Dec 14, 2017
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God called the DRY LAND "earth!" So why do we read about the Spirit hovering over the WATER(S) in Genesis 1:2? Where (and WHEN) was the earth DRY, for which earth was named ... UNLESS there was a PRE-ADAMIC world on earth?
 
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Dec 14, 2017
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I know with absolute certainty that the flood story in Genesis 7-9 is not at all an account of an actual event in the history of the earth. I know this with absolute certainty because of the genre of literature in which Gen. 1-11 is written; I know this with absolute certainty because the earth is not flat and covered with a dome (a requirement for the flood story to be true); and I know this with absolute certainty because there are hundreds of millions of well-documented facts about the history of the earth that incontrovertibly prove that it was never subjected to such a flood.


A realistic question is, “Why is the story of the flood in the Bible?”

Do you also know, with absolute certainty, that mankind came from evolutionary processes ... springing forth from APES?
 
J

joefizz

Guest
I understand that is what you think you know, and I have no doubt that you believe it.


Because it happened.
Yep sometimes "simple answers" are the "correct answers",as a very over analystic person myself this is a truth I've had to come to grips with,no need to overthink else you overlook or push away truth.
 
Feb 28, 2016
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if you have to question it in your heart, this exudes lack of FAITH -
then it would be very easy to see/understand
why you are questioning it in the first place!!!
 
J

joefizz

Guest
if you have to question it in your heart, this exudes lack of FAITH -
then it would be very easy to see/understand
why you are questioning it in the first place!!!
Yep just like our very existence we can either speculate a thousand or more reasons concerning how and why concerning us but it just leads to more questions instead of answers,or we can accept that we exist and be grateful for existing and receive answers as we go about our lives,faith in essence whether for God or against God only is fruitful if one "believes wholly" then can you be "credible" if you just repeat words or speak them but them be empty then it's a waste,it's not a matter of some denomination or indoctrination that makes anyone "credible" to anyone,it's a matter of "sincerity".
It doesn't matter if said individual is a beggar,a wealthy person,a person of power,or a person from a high education,"what a person believes shows",the individual may or may not see it but the bible is clear that "you know others by their fruits"(work,endeavors) at some point an individual will "make up their mind" if one remains at a stand still then it is pointless and "results in nothing".