Is Religion incompatible with history?

[Tomdstone]

Ok, so you are moving on to a different question then.
You have an odd way of answering questions by sort of changing the subject.

How could you expect other cultures that were not in contact with the Jewish culture to know about Jewish culture?
It’s not a matter of us judging their culture as “ok” or “not ok”. That’s who they were.

If you’re wondering if the Catholic Church recognizes the value of other cultures and the way God speaks to them, the answer is “yes”, we recognize that God speaks to all peoples of all times, in various ways as he wills.

The questions required only a yes or no answer, with possibly further elaboration on why the answer was yes or no. I wasn’t sure if the answer to any of the following questions was yes or no?

1. Was it OK to allow Indians to worship Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, Sri (Lakshmi), Shiva, Parvati (Durga), Brahma and Saraswati. and the other gods for hundreds of years before Christianity, and even later during the earlier period of Christianity when they knew nothing about it?
2. Should the Indians have been told about the Jewish God and teachings 1500 BC when the Vedic period began?
3. Was it all right to leave these beautiful people in the dark about the true God and only to choose one small group (the Jews) to know about the true God?

And a follow up to your comment, “we recognize that God speaks to all peoples of all times,” How specifically did God speak to the Hindu people of India when they were worshiping various gods such as Krishna, Rama, Vishnu, Sri (Lakshmi), Shiva, Parvati (Durga), Brahma and Saraswati.? What did God say to the Hindu people of India several hundred years BC when they were worshipping these gods?

 

[adamhovey1988]

As to the “Genesis-Gilgamesh” thing, keep into consideration all cultures have a flood myth. Someone tried to pull that one on me and say the Bible was plagarised from the Gilgamesh story (and we had a LONG DISCUSSION ON THIS) and I pointed out that American Indians (who would not have known the story of Gilgamesh) had flood myths. Similarity does not mean influence. And why couldn’t it be the other way around? Remember, before the Bible was written, at least the early parts, it was oral.

 

[cfauster]

I heard that what is thought to be the Ark of Noah had been located on a mountain in East Turkey …

David Fasold published The Ark of Noah in 1988 arguing so.

However, subsequently he investigated the formation in greater detail, decided that it was not Noah’s ark, and cancelled all further publication of the book.

An article Fasold co-authored, “Bogus ‘Noah’s Ark’ from Turkey Exposed as a Common Geologic Structure” has details.