Ark encounter

[theophilus]

Originally Posted by organic born

I figure a little bit of humor, on the part of the poster, in the form of the silly, is a welcome break from the more serious stuff. I'm picturing an Ark that will have to house some 6.5 million land species (with the added complexity of singling out a male and female of each) and then the equally daunting task of the select diets that each would be needing to consume.

The ark did not contain to of each species but two of each created kind. Since the flood the process of natural selection has produced a large number of species from those original kinds. If you want to understand this check the links at the end of my post.

[sky]

There have been numerous flood stories identified from ancient sources scattered around the world.The stories that were discovered on cuneiform tablets, which comprise some of the earliest surviving writing, have obvious similarities. Cuneiform writing was invented by the Sumerians and carried on by the Akkadians. Babylonian and Assyrian are two dialects of the Akkadian, and both contain a flood account. While there are differences between the original Sumerian and later Babylonian and Assyrian flood accounts, many of the similarities are strikingly close to the Genesis flood account. The Babylonian account is the most intact, with only seven of 205 lines missing. It was also the first discovered, making it the most studied of the early flood accounts.

Theo: this might interest you....

[theophilus]

It seems to me that the fact that flood stories are found all over the world is evidence that the flood actually took place.

[Internal Queries]

Originally Posted by theophilus

It seems to me that the fact that flood stories are found all over the world is evidence that the flood actually took place.

for the folks of ancients civilizations "the world" was a lot more local and since many locations on the planet have had floods (and continue to have floods) it's understandable that flood stories would be told.

why assume that all the flood stories recount the same flood?

and i agree that the original post doesn't have anything much to do with science or spirituality.

[organic born]

Originally Posted by Baile

Biblical literalism is a fairly recent phenomena, a New World evangelical thing, whereas European Christians traditionally understood these stories to be the metaphoric fables they are. Either aspects of human consciousness are in fact devolving, or Biblical literalism is the flailing last-gasp expression of a 2000 year-old consciousness mindset approaching its own end of days.

I feel it to be the latter. If it was left up to the populous to determine the meaning of a story based on it's symbolic content then an individual would be left with their integrity intact. But turn it into a literal carrot and dangle it out there, as a separate entity to be obeyed, then the individual becomes a servant-of-a-preaching. If your imagination is free to investigate and evaluate then no religion or belief structure will ever be able to lay-claim to your thoughts.

A free thinker is free to think freely. :)

Originally Posted by Baile

Also, this other ark was carried about for 40 years (there's that number again), at a distance of 2000 cubits from the nearest bystander (more precision measurement instructions). Which happens to be around the same length of time as an astrological and consciousness Age. Interesting to contemplate.

I did a quick check and found this on a biblical related website:

Mentioning 146 times in Scripture, the number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial or probation.
http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/m...-bible/40.html

They just keep making this stuff up as they go along! :)

[MARDAV70]

Originally Posted by theophilus

It seems to me that the fact that flood stories are found all over the world is evidence that the flood actually took place.

I did a paper on The Flood in high school (when I was still a Christian) (aced it). True, there are stories all over the world about great floods. Problem is, there are too many dissimilarities to be reporting the same event. Although I believed the Great Flood story then, I noticed way different names, different instances and even different reasons for the flood. The only one that was similar to the biblical version is the Assyrian account...which is far more detailed, yet a very different name than "Noah" is given and is much older than the biblical account. And guess what? The Assyrian civilization is mighty nearby to where the more recent Hebrews originated.
There is indeed scientific evidence of ancient large scale floods, but these floods are all local (as opposed to world wide) and occurred at widely different times.

[organic born]

Originally Posted by theophilus

The ark did not contain to of each species but two of each created kind. Since the flood the process of natural selection has produced a large number of species from those original kinds.

If they had done the flook a bit earlier (say, a thousand years earlier based on your timeline) then they could have managed with my 5 gallon bucket full of single celled originating species. In which case a little dingy would have served just as well. I'm glad to see that you're using "evolution" as an aid toward tying-up loose ends. However, run this one by a evangelical christian related forum and watch the fireworks begin. :)

Originally Posted by theophilus

If you want to understand this check the links at the end of my post.

Naa.. based on your tag-line there's really no purpose toward my reading further.

"The brutal, soul-shaking truth is that we are so earthly minded we are of no heavenly use.
Leonard Ravenhill"

I deeply enjoy being grounded in my earthly experience, it appears that I have a god that's okay with that. :)

[Rawnrr]

Originally Posted by MARDAV70

I did a paper on The Flood in high school (when I was still a Christian) (aced it). True, there are stories all over the world about great floods. Problem is, there are too many dissimilarities to be reporting the same event. Although I believed the Great Flood story then, I noticed way different names, different instances and even different reasons for the flood. The only one that was similar to the biblical version is the Assyrian account...which is far more detailed, yet a very different name than "Noah" is given and is much older than the biblical account. And guess what? The Assyrian civilization is mighty nearby to where the more recent Hebrews originated.
There is indeed scientific evidence of ancient large scale floods, but these floods are all local (as opposed to world wide) and occurred at widely different times.

Also keep in mind that the individual civilizations back then did not have a grasp of what a "global" disaster would be. If there was a flood that wiped out the area of the world where they were, to them it would seem like a global event, because it wiped out everything they knew.

[organic born]

Originally Posted by theophilus

It seems to me that the fact that flood stories are found all over the world is evidence that the flood actually took place.

"Flooding" only means there were floods..

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
Sigmund Freud

[Baile]

Originally Posted by theophilus

It seems to me that the fact that flood stories are found all over the world is evidence that the flood actually took place.

theophilus, the earth has undergone a number of extinction events. There is plenty of scientific proof of that. And if you study the Yugas, it's clear extinction cycles are an entirely natural and recurring aspect of material-spiritual existence. But that's a secondary observation here.

Religion in particular takes the entirely wrong approach to spirit investigation. It focuses on the material interpretation, when it's the spiritual understanding that's needed and required. Take the story of Adam and Eve. This is not a story of the creation of humankind. This is a metaphorical story pinpointing the beginning of a new and blossoming consciousness paradigm in this our current phase of human-material evolution. Human souls had existed for eons before the Adam and Eve story: the human Atlantis epoch occurred before Adam and Eve, and the Lemuria epoch before that. Adam and Eve is not Chapter 1 of our story, it is several chapters into the book.

With each new Yuga or consciousness Age, a "new humankind" is born into being. This is what these stories are referencing. We are eternal beings, and we will go through countless cycles of evolutionary growth over the next many tens of thousands of years. Transformation of the material plane throughout that span of time will also naturally take place. As humankind evolves in their soul life, so too will material existence evolve. Material existence mirrors our soul evolution; it changes and transforms to accommodate and align with our soul development. We are souls of spirit. Everything we are as souls, and everything we will continue to evolve into, soul-wise, will always outwardly manifest as our external material reality. This is why the earth itself must and does change, and goes through its own evolutionary rebirth cycles.