Hundreds Or Even 900 Years?

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🙂 I’ve never been to a Latin Rite Mass, except maybe as a baby. I just found one not to fat from here. Maybe I’ll try it some Sunday.
 
I don’t really know the names of the types of Masses there are. I just go to a typical Roman Catholic Mass.
 
Oh, you’re Latin rite too, then. Doesn’t necessarily mean you attend Latin mass, just that you’re a Roman Catholic as opposed to a Melkite Catholic or whatever.
 
Oh, ok, I learn something new every day. I thought Latin Rite was the Mass all said in Latin.
 
No it’s not possible based on our understanding of human evolution. If any did live that long (and I personally don’t think they did- I would take those ages metaphorically), it would have to be due to supernatural intervention.
 
twf said:
No it’s not possible based on our understanding of human evolution. If any did live that long (and I personally don’t think they did- I would take those ages metaphorically),
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When you say that you’d take those ages “metaphorically” you mean not literally, right?
 
Reading along as a non-Catholic, it seems there isn’t an official position. When there is, it’s a dead cinch somebody will cite it within the first hundred posts. So I’m thinking we should all be open to most-likely answers.

There is more than sufficient reason to believe the given ages are incorrect, suggesting we should instead redirect attention to the tales just as tales, and ask what they were intended to say.
Hope1960 said:
What is the Catholic explanation for the Bible saying people lived hundreds of years, even up to 900 years?
I’ve read that genetics changed, but I find it really hard to believe people ever lived that long.
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The pre-Abrahamic nature of the pentateuch’s patriarchs point to a time thousands of years prior to the composition of the pentateuch itself. These patriarch lists must have been compiled by these prior civilizations. Given an origin in Ur for Abraham, the Sumerian king list attracts the most attention.
Summary
After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug. In Eridug, Alulim became king; he ruled for 28800 years. Alaljar ruled for 36000 years. 2 kings; they ruled for 64800 years. Then Eridug fell and the kingship was taken to Bad-tibira. In Bad-tibira, En-men-lu-ana ruled for 43200 years. En-men-gal-ana ruled for 28800 years. Dumuzid, the shepherd, ruled for 36000 years. 3 kings; they ruled for 108000 years. Then Bad-tibira fell (?) and the kingship was taken to Larag. In Larag, En-sipad-zid-ana ruled for 28800 years. 1 king; he ruled for 28800 years. Then Larag fell (?) and the kingship was taken to Zimbir. In Zimbir, En-men-dur-ana became king; he ruled for 21000 years. 1 king; he ruled for 21000 years. Then Zimbir fell (?) and the kingship was taken to Curuppag. In Curuppag, Ubara-Tutu became king; he ruled for 18600 years. 1 king; he ruled for 18600 years. In 5 cities 8 kings; they ruled for 241200 years. Then the flood swept over.
The list dates to the the Third Dynasty of Ur, c. 2100-2000 BCE, the last gasp of the Sumerian empire. This list, or something quite similar, would have been known to Abraham. Dumuzid, the shepherd, later known as Tammuz, shows up in Ezekiel, as an example.

The exaggerated reigns and life spans, characteristic of oral rather than written traditions, are abandoned for more settled kings and kingdoms after the introduction of written records. This is how the Mesopotamians, and later cultures derived from the Mesopotamians, thought, and how they recorded that thinking.
 
mythbuster1 said:
Study of supercentarians has led to the conclusion that there is no maximum lifespan. Probability of death in the next year plateaus after 113 or so (albeit at a very high level).
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Why would it plateau around 113? Cell degradation doesn’t stop.
 
It could be months and not years. The Jews used a lunar Calendar after all. So 900 “years” would really be 900 lunar months- roughly 75 years old.
 
That makes a lot of sense.

I know you’re not Catholic but to those who are, what is the Catholic Church’s take on it? I read explanations here such as “poetic license” etc. but what is the Catholic Church’s teaching on it? Are we required to believe they literally lived 900+ years or are we free to not take that literally?
 
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NotThatHarvey said:
It could be months and not years. The Jews used a lunar Calendar after all. So 900 “years” would really be 900 lunar months- roughly 75 years old.
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O rly?

Gen 5:15 And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:

Let’s do what you said, and calculate according to lunar months.

65 years = 65 lunar months lived from his own birth and then gave birth to his own son at 65/12 = 5.41666~7

So according to “NotThatHarvey’s” method (non scriptural) Moses recorded Mahalaleel as having his own child, Jared, at 5 1/2 years old.

Let’s look at another.

Gen 5:12 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:

Again, 70 years = 70 lunar months according to “NotThatHarvey’s” method (non scriptural), and thus 70/12 = 5.8333~; and thus Cainan was just nearly 6 years old when he fathered Mahalaleel.

Making sense so far? Consistent?

Let’s do one more:

Gen 5:9 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:

Again according to “NotThatHarvey’s” method (non scriptural). 90 years = 90 lunar months, and thus 90/12 = 7.5, and so Enos was 7 1/2 years old when he fathered Cainan.

Now remember, that in almost all cases, the male was always the older of the marriage, and the woman younger by several years normally, and thus the wives of these men must have been around 1-2 years old when they gave birth.

See what happens people simply lack faith in what God actually said by the Holy Ghost and had written down by holy men of God, like Moses? It is reduced to absurdity.

If they would simply read Genesis from the beginning, they would know Moses knew the distinction between days (thus months), seasons and years, even from Genesis 1:14.

p.s. Moses was “Hebrew” (of Levi, not Jew, of Judah) thus of “Eber” as Abraham was.
 
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Hope1960 said:
I read explanations here such as “poetic license” etc. but what is the Catholic Church’s teaching on it? Are we required to believe they literally lived 900+ years or are we free to not take that literally?
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Anyone?
…
 
This is a Catholic forum. As such, please show at least basic decency to our faith, @EvangAlived. We are not the ‘catholic’ faith. We are the Catholic faith. Capital ‘C’ and no scare quotes.

As for your " ‘father’ " I’m not fully certain which person you’re referring to. At the very least, you should also remove the scare quotes.
 
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Don’t forget the Bible also said the world was created in 7 days, but how was a “day” measured if the sun wasn’t created until the 4th day?
 
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The Church does not require (or even encourage) a literal interpretation of the origin stories. If you are confused or troubled by that, I would suggest your ask your priest or some other educated, real life, trusted person. Sadly, too many posters here view you as a target of opportunity, instead of a real person with a real question.
 
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