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Monica4316
Guest
Someone I know suggested that parts of the Bible, like Noah’s ark, were copied from other texts… can anyone help me refute this claim? I don’t have such a great knowledge of history… thanks!! 
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annem
Guest
Monica4316.
Frankly, the Gilgamesh story and Noah’s ark are very similar and it does appear some borrowing was going on. Liberal scholars insisted the Jews must have swiped the story about the ark because the Jews did not appear to have writing before (depending on the scholar) 900-500 BC, long after the time when the Gilgamesh epic story can be shown to have existed. And the same liberal scholars claimed the Jews didn’t appear to have had a kingdom, or a nation at all, in 1300 BC. David never existed, the bible was only a grab bag of old myths from various cultures, and so on–that was the position of the liberal scholars.
Well guess what! Just this last year Professor Gershon Galil announced they had found a copy of the oldest Hebrew biblical inscription ever at Khirbet Qeiyafa. The inscription has been dated to the 10th century BC. Biblical scholars and archaeologists around the world have been stunned by the evidence.
Although there is no proof yet that the Jews had written scriptures in 1300 BC, I would bet that, sooner or later, archaeologists will show that they did. And a second point: the Jews had always claimed that their oral tradition was as important and as true as their written scriptures. They claimed this during the time Christ was on earth. You will note that the Catholic church has continued this belief in what we call the sacred deposit of faith. Some centuries after Christ, the Jewish oral tradition was written down and became the Torah.
On the other hand, it could be that Genesis existed in oral form for many centuries before it was written down and that this oral tradition was older than the ark story in the Gilgamesh epic. And yes, recent studies in orality do show how reliable it can be. No, it is not like the old telephone game.
God bless, Annem
For the last century or so liberal scholars have been claiming the Jews copied the Noah’s ark story from the Gilgamesh epic. The Gilgamesh epic is very old, although the part of the story about the ark only began around 1300 BC.
Frankly, the Gilgamesh story and Noah’s ark are very similar and it does appear some borrowing was going on. Liberal scholars insisted the Jews must have swiped the story about the ark because the Jews did not appear to have writing before (depending on the scholar) 900-500 BC, long after the time when the Gilgamesh epic story can be shown to have existed. And the same liberal scholars claimed the Jews didn’t appear to have had a kingdom, or a nation at all, in 1300 BC. David never existed, the bible was only a grab bag of old myths from various cultures, and so on–that was the position of the liberal scholars.
Well guess what! Just this last year Professor Gershon Galil announced they had found a copy of the oldest Hebrew biblical inscription ever at Khirbet Qeiyafa. The inscription has been dated to the 10th century BC. Biblical scholars and archaeologists around the world have been stunned by the evidence.Although there is no proof yet that the Jews had written scriptures in 1300 BC, I would bet that, sooner or later, archaeologists will show that they did. And a second point: the Jews had always claimed that their oral tradition was as important and as true as their written scriptures. They claimed this during the time Christ was on earth. You will note that the Catholic church has continued this belief in what we call the sacred deposit of faith. Some centuries after Christ, the Jewish oral tradition was written down and became the Torah.
On the other hand, it could be that Genesis existed in oral form for many centuries before it was written down and that this oral tradition was older than the ark story in the Gilgamesh epic. And yes, recent studies in orality do show how reliable it can be. No, it is not like the old telephone game.
God bless, Annem
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Larry1700
Guest
Interesting and informative article on the subject here:
newadvent.org/cathen/04702a.htm
I encountered this article while wrestling with, uh, “scholarly” opinions posited ad infinitum by the Little Rock Scripture Study used by a Bible study at our church. I don’t like LRSS at all, and I’m trying to get the facilitator to move towards more orthodox material.
newadvent.org/cathen/04702a.htm
I encountered this article while wrestling with, uh, “scholarly” opinions posited ad infinitum by the Little Rock Scripture Study used by a Bible study at our church. I don’t like LRSS at all, and I’m trying to get the facilitator to move towards more orthodox material.
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Monica4316
Guest
Thanks!
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