Which Bible Do You Trust, and Why?

[UltraBudgie]

Yeah I don't think y'all are going to get anywhere with this; might as well bang your heads against the Wailing Wall...

...but it is possibly somewhat edifying and entertaining to hear, so don't let me stop you!

I do think the way history works is not very well understood, in the modern view...

[FlyersFan]

...but it is possibly somewhat edifying and entertaining to hear, so don't let me stop you!

There was a massively long thread at ATS on this.   I forget how many pages.   70?  80?   Everything was discussed ... from the hoaxer Ron Wyatt and the natural rock formation in Turkey ... to the unbroken Egyptian civilization and Chinese civilization ... to the DNA diversity in humans ... to the fact that the ark can't hold all the species and their food and their water ....   All already discussed.   If this is entertaining ... you'd love that thread.   Too bad they are all gone.

[Moon68]

There was a massively long thread at ATS on this.   I forget how many pages.   70?  80?   Everything was discussed ... from the hoaxer Ron Wyatt and the natural rock formation in Turkey ... to the unbroken Egyptian civilization and Chinese civilization ... to the DNA diversity in humans ... to the fact that the ark can't hold all the species and their food and their water ....   All already discussed.   If this is entertaining ... you'd love that thread.   Too bad they are all gone.

Well then FF, I suppose it's up to you to recreate that here.


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[UltraBudgie]

There was a massively long thread at ATS on this.   I forget how many pages.   70?  80?   Everything was discussed ... from the hoaxer Ron Wyatt and the natural rock formation in Turkey ... to the unbroken Egyptian civilization and Chinese civilization ... to the DNA diversity in humans ... to the fact that the ark can't hold all the species and their food and their water ....   All already discussed.   If this is entertaining ... you'd love that thread.   Too bad they are all gone.

Edifying/entertaining more in regard to the unfolding of individual practical epistemological approaches, and what people choose to find important in what others think, rather than the gritty-nitty of what the conversation desires to establish as "fact".

In other words, it's fun to see people argue, simply because people are fun.

But that is perhaps an optimistic view.

[FlyersFan]

Google AI Assist 

Question to AI ... did Noahs Ark Exist ... 

The claim that Noah's Ark did not happen is supported by scientific evidence and the lack of any credible archaeological proof of a global flood. Scientific arguments against the story include the impossibility of there being enough water on Earth to cover the planet, the physical challenges of building and maintaining a wooden ark of that size, and the logistical and biological impossibilities of fitting every species on the ark, caring for them, and returning them to their ecosystems afterward. Furthermore, geological evidence does not show a worldwide flood from that time period.

[FlyersFan]

Well then FF, I suppose it's up to you to recreate that here.


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  You'd think common sense would prevail and people wouldn't have to be taught that the Noahs Ark story is just allegory ... but willful ignorance prevails for some groups in this country.   The most fun thing on that thread was grinding the Ron Wyatt devotees into the dust beneath my feet.   That hoaxer has been totally debunked and denounced around the world yet some still try to invoke his name.  

[FlyersFan]

Where the  Noahs Ark myth comes from.  Started out as a fictional pagan story, then adapted and reworked to the Hebrew culture, and then used by the Christians as an allegory.

Arizona.EDU

Most biblical and ancient Near Eastern scholars argue that the flood is a mythical story adopted from earlier Mesopotamian flood accounts. These earlier accounts include the 17th century BCE Sumerian flood myth Eridu Genesis,[5] the 18th century BCE Akkadian Atra-Hasis Epic,[6] and the Epic of Gilgamesh,[7] which are some of the earliest known examples of a literary style of writing. The most complete version of the Epic of Gilgamesh known today is preserved on 12 clay tablets from the library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (685-627 BCE). This extant Akkadian version is derived from earlier Sumerian versions. In the story, Gilgamesh and his companion, a wild man-beast named Enkidu, travel the world on a number of quests that ultimately displease the gods. After the death of Enkidu, Gilgamesh embarks on a journey to learn the secret of eternal life by visiting the immortal flood hero, Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh how the god Ea (equivalent to the Sumerian god Enki) revealed the gods' plan to destroy all life with a great flood, and how they instructed him to build a vessel in which he could save his family, friends, and livestock. After the flood, the gods repented for destroying the world and made Utnapishtim immortal.

These flood stories appear to have been transmitted to the Israelites early in Israel's history. Contact between the Assyrians and the Israelites is known from the conquest of Israel and its capitol, Samaria, in 721 BCE by Assyrian King Shalmaneser V (727-722 BCE),[8] and from the attempted conquest of Jerusalem by the Assyrian King Sennacherib (704-681 BCE). These stories were apparently modified to conform to a monotheistic faith, but retained characteristics such as the destruction of nearly all living things via a flood, the salvation of a select few people and animals by the construction of a boat, and the regret of the deity for the flood, prompting a promise not to do so again. Thus, like many of the early stories in Israel's primordial history,[9] the flood story appears to be an adaptation and integration of a previously known myth into the theology of Israel. 

[FlyersFan]

There isn't enough water on/in Earth to cover the highest mountains like the bible claims happened for Noahs flood.   So where did the water for the flood come from?  And where did it go?   Answer ... it never happened so it came from nowhere and went nowhere.  

Some interesting flood water math here

AI GOOGLE ASSIST 

There is not enough water on Earth to account for a global flood like Noah's, even with rain and underground water, because the total volume of water is insufficient to cover the highest mountains. If all the water in the atmosphere rained down, it would only cover the ground to a depth of about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch), and even adding the water from the oceans would only raise global sea levels by about 70 meters, which is not enough to submerge the highest peaks.

[FlyersFan]

Noahs flood would have killed all plant life in the world.   The salt water would have destroyed the soil and so even after the flood the soil wouldn't have been able to grow anything if anything had survived the flood and cold darkness of the crushing weight of the poison water.

But these trees and tree colonies survived.   They would not have if the flood had really happened.

From AI GOOGLE ASSIST - 

The oldest known individual tree is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine in California, with an individual named Methuselah estimated to be over 4,850 years old. The oldest known clonal tree organism is Pando, a quaking aspen colony in Utah, which is estimated to be over 80,000 years old.  

Oldest individual trees

• Unnamed Bristlecone Pine: 
  Another bristlecone pine in the same area is potentially even older, with an estimated age between 4,800 and 4,900 years old, though its exact age is still being confirmed. 
  

 

• Methuselah: 
  A Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) in California's White Mountains, it is confirmed to be over 4,850 years old. Its exact location is kept secret to protect it.
  

Oldest clonal trees 

• Pando: 
  A quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) colony in Utah that is connected by a single root system. It is estimated to be over 80,000 years old and is considered one of the oldest and heaviest organisms on Earth.
  

 

• Jurupa Oak: 
  A clonal stand of Palmer's oaks (Quercus palmeri) in Southern California believed to be over 13,000 years old. 
  

[UltraBudgie]

Oh no we pulled her string...