noah and the flood

[zz912]

You are free to believe it is literal, allegorical, localized flood, or simply a story to portray a truth.

Personally, I think it was a localized flood. If I had to guess it was a severe rain that weakened the area near the Black Sea and Istanbul. If the flooding was severe, and there was a massive landslide, it could have opened the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea, and it could have flooded in. In the story, it mentions the fountains of the great abyss. This could be when the collapse happens, and the waters come rushing in.

When the text refers to the whole world, and all the animals, I think it refers to Noah’s world, and all the animals on his lands (i.e. animals on his farms). So his entire world flooded, and killed everyone he knew.

It doesn’t use scientific language, but storytelling language. If I am telling a story, and say that it was raining cats and dogs yesterday, am I saying that felines and canines were literally falling from the sky? Of course not. But I am saying, completely truthfully, that it rained very hard yesterday, and that rain actually happened.

 

[oldcelt]

You are free to believe it is literal, allegorical, localized flood, or simply a story to portray a truth.

Personally, I think it was a localized flood. If I had to guess it was a severe rain that weakened the area near the Black Sea and Istanbul. If the flooding was severe, and there was a massive landslide, it could have opened the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea, and it could have flooded in. In the story, it mentions the fountains of the great abyss. This could be when the collapse happens, and the waters come rushing in.

When the text refers to the whole world, and all the animals, I think it refers to Noah’s world, and all the animals on his lands (i.e. animals on his farms). So his entire world flooded, and killed everyone he knew.

It doesn’t use scientific language, but storytelling language. If I am telling a story, and say that it was raining cats and dogs yesterday, am I saying that felines and canines were literally falling from the sky? Of course not. But I am saying, completely truthfully, that it rained very hard yesterday, and that rain actually happened.

This is the most likely event to have inspired the Noah story. Having dug all along the Allegheny Plateau in Pennsylvania I can tell you from personal observation that there is no evidence of even a regional flood there. That rules out a worldwide flood, but does not nullify the lessons that the story is meant to teach.

 

[spina1953]

You are free to believe it is literal, allegorical, localized flood, or simply a story to portray a truth.

Personally, I think it was a localized flood. If I had to guess it was a severe rain that weakened the area near the Black Sea and Istanbul. If the flooding was severe, and there was a massive landslide, it could have opened the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea, and it could have flooded in. In the story, it mentions the fountains of the great abyss. This could be when the collapse happens, and the waters come rushing in.

When the text refers to the whole world, and all the animals, I think it refers to Noah’s world, and all the animals on his lands (i.e. animals on his farms). So his entire world flooded, and killed everyone he knew.

It doesn’t use scientific language, but storytelling language. If I am telling a story, and say that it was raining cats and dogs yesterday, am I saying that felines and canines were literally falling from the sky? Of course not. But I am saying, completely truthfully, that it rained very hard yesterday, and that rain actually happened.

Hi: I agree whole heartily with you. I have read much about the flood story as well as science and one thing that comes to mind is that had the whole world (planet) flooded how would the people been able to breathe in the upper atmosphere where the air is so thin that at 26 thousand feet it is called the kill zone? I think that the melting of the last ice age might have something to do with the flood in the Black Sea area.

 

[Moro_Rock]

from what i know, scientific evidence currently does not support a global flood.

but God did say he would wipe out everything on the earth.

is there another way to understand this wcripture?

There are some well qualified scientists Catholic and other Christians who support
the Creation account and the Flood .
If, as some people assert the flood was local what would be the point of God
telling Noah to build an Ark over a period of many years and send all the animals
It would have been much easier for Noah and his family and all the animals
to escape to higher ground.

 

[DomSavio2]

Last year in the Old Testament course I took at my school, we talked about the flood. We learned that before the Genesis flood story was ever written or told thorough oral tradition there was the Epic of Atrahasis and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Both of these stories include a flood myth, one of which (I can’t remember which one) has similar characteristics to the one in Genesis. It even says that the Ark landed on Mount Ararat just like the story in Genesis.

The conclusion we reached about the Genesis flood story is that the author of it took the common story of a flood in the ancient world and changed some of its aspects to teach something about God. Therefore, it shouldn’t be interpreted 100% literally. I personally believe that there was a very large flood in that part of the world that was the historical basis for all of these stories but not exactly like Genesis describes it.

 

[Aloysium]

:twocents:

The story of Noah is a revelation of the Word entering from eternity into history.
Whatever the specific, circumstantial details of the event, the story is true.
As a description of the Word’s presence in the world, it ultimately points to Jesus.
God speaks to the righteous (the righteousness in) man. Love pronounces His will that we should live.
The wood of the arc symbolizing the wood of the cross, embraces humanity, His church.
As the flood washes away the sinfulness (baptism), Eden (rightful relation to God) is preserved within the arc to emerge as the seed from which humanity in this world proceeds to our final Home.
(something like that)

 

[zz912]

Last year in the Old Testament course I took at my school, we talked about the flood. We learned that before the Genesis flood story was ever written or told thorough oral tradition there was the Epic of Atrahasis and the Epic of Gilgamesh. Both of these stories include a flood myth, one of which (I can’t remember which one) has similar characteristics to the one in Genesis. It even says that the Ark landed on Mount Ararat just like the story in Genesis.

The conclusion we reached about the Genesis flood story is that the author of it took the common story of a flood in the ancient world and changed some of its aspects to teach something about God. Therefore, it shouldn’t be interpreted 100% literally. I personally believe that there was a very large flood in that part of the world that was the historical basis for all of these stories but not exactly like Genesis describes it.

Or the other way around. Others took Noah’s story and created their own “Epics” and changed them some.

 

[zz912]

There are some well qualified scientists Catholic and other Christians who support
the Creation account and the Flood .
If, as some people assert the flood was local what would be the point of God
telling Noah to build an Ark over a period of many years and send all the animals
It would have been much easier for Noah and his family and all the animals
to escape to higher ground.

Not a flood of that magnitude. If the Mediterranean Sea opened up into the Black Sea, it could have flooded hundreds or thousands of square miles.

 

[aragonjohn1]

from what i know, scientific evidence currently does not support a global flood.

but God did say he would wipe out everything on the earth.

is there another way to understand this wcripture?

the flood certainly did have an event.
trust God.

one may also interpret sometinh like standard atmo. pressure changes ( globally ) or grace

being poured out could happen in addition to.

God bless

 

[Darryl_B]

I look at it from the perspective that if God says He is going to do something, then He probably will, and it will be very easy for Him to do it.

I would feel uncomfortable thinking that God could not do something, just because I can’t (if you will excuse) fathom it.