The Flood

[nogodsforme]

I wonder how many Christians understand that there are no "original" versions of the bible. All the versions that exist are translated copies of other translated copies of other copies of orally transmitted stories in several languages. Like the Greek myths or Aesop's Fables or tales of Robin Hood. There is no one correct version to go back and check with. If a group of atheists got together and rewote the bible making very subtle changes to certain passages, how many people would be able to tell? And what "original" would you use to correct it?

I just read Foer's book on memory, Moonwalking with Einstein, and the author discusses how orally transmitted stories change slightly with each retelling.  When people study the accounts and record them, they find that the story is not memorized but the gist of it is. People's memories are not like computers.The storyteller honestly thought he was repeating something exactly word for word, but when checked with audio recordings and written transcripts, it was always slightly different. 

No big deal if it is just Cinderella and in one version she has two sisters and a stepmother and another time she has three sisters and a dad. But if we are talking about eternal damnation, I think any changes would matter, right? And why would an all powerful being let mistakes and changes slip into his holy words?

Are you listening, jtp56? Do changes in the bible from one version to the next matter?

[Graybeard]

I don't know who the idiot was who said you can't take the Bible literally.  Do it at your own peril I guess.

Absolutely! Can I sell you a unicorn or a cockatrice? (Job:39:9 - 10; Isa:59:5)

I remember back in the late 60's or 70'a when scientists proved that there was a cataclysmic event (some called it the Noahic Deluge)

There was Thera c.1600BC - 800 years after the alleged Noahide Flood http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini#Dating_of_the_Bronze_Age_eruption

Then there was the Black Sea Deluge c. 7600BC - i.e. 1600 years before God made the Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea_deluge_theory#Evidence_from_archaeology

See also Outburst flood^Wiki

Also see Mesopotamia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia#Agriculture

Although the rivers sustained life, they also destroyed it by frequent floods that ravaged entire cities. The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers; crops were often ruined so backup sources of food such as cows and lambs were also kept.

and the Gilgamesh flood myth^Wiki

Unfortunately, Egypt did not even get damp during any of these floods...

[ungod]

What makes it confusing for me is when I read stuff about how "radiometeric dating has flaws" and "the scientists are off base because of these flaws". Of course I read that stuff on the answers in genesis website so I'm sure they're flubbing the numbers or something to work in their favor.

Ain't it amazing - the scientists get all that isotope decay times and half lives stuff correct when it comes to building nuclear reactors and hydrogen bombs and stuff, yet when it comes to radiometric dating, they totally screw up! I just don't understand it....(scratching head....)

[ungod]

I don't know who the idiot was who said you can't take the Bible literally.

Did we miss Jesus' return, or is he still 2000 years overdue on his promised return date?

 

[Brakeman]

I don't know who the idiot was who said you can't take the Bible literally.

Did we miss Jesus' return, or is he still 2000 years overdue on his promised return date?
 

Yes of course, When god created the firmament and claimed he opened windows to make it rain, he was describing how rain works literally, and light passing through the droplets of rain were never refracted before the end of the great flood into a rainbow.

Why did Jesus ever leave in the first place? Why isn't he here now?  Oh yeah, I remember, because the bible is a lie and christians are the most gullible people on earth. Yeah, that's it..

[Historicity]

Graybeard, update your Noachian flood theories. 

The Black Sea flood would waters rising up -- the "fountains of the deep" -- but no rain.

The Burckle Crater had a tsunami and would have had a rain of seawater coming down as well.

The Burckle Crater is off the coast of Madagascar and impacted about 3000 BC.

http://archaeology.about.com/od/climatechange/a/masse_king_4.htm

Where, it turns out, there is a possible impact crater on the sea floor 1500 kilometers southeast of Madagascar. Named Burckle Crater and discovered only recently by Masse's colleague Dallas Abbott from Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, it is a little under 30 km in diameter and is visible on bathymetric maps. Stratigraphic cores taken near there suggest that it is an impact crater, but are not definitive. The Burckle Crater needs more study, but it is 3800 meters deep, so it's not an easy place to explore. More readily accessible is the southern coast of Madagascar where recently studied chevron-shaped dune deposits of potential tunamic origin may be indicative of giant waves more than 200 meters in height

http://a-place-to-stand.blogspot.com/2009/11/burkle-crater-flood-of-2800-bc.html

Bruce Masse, an environmental archaeologist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. He thinks he can say precisely when the comet fell: on the morning of May 10, 2807 B.C.

Dr. Masse analyzed 175 flood myths from around the world, and tried to relate them to known and accurately dated natural events like solar eclipses and volcanic eruptions. Among other evidence, he said, 14 flood myths specifically mention a full solar eclipse, which could have been the one that occurred in May 2807 B.C.

Half the myths talk of a torrential downpour, Dr. Masse said. A third talk of a tsunami. Worldwide they describe hurricane force winds and darkness during the storm. All of these could come from a mega-tsunami.

Of course, extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, Dr. Masse said, “and we’re not there yet.”

Also:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread349418/pg1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burckle_Crater