Tower of Babel and Space Exploration

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Ryanb27

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How can these two things be reconciled? God put a stop to the Tower of Babel yet today we are born into a world where people “have gone” into “Outer Space”.
 
“We” (i.e., human beings) haven’t really gone that far; we haven’t even gotten outside the orbit of our own moon. Our machines have gone a lot farther, but to put it in Tower-of-Babel terms, we humans are still working on the first tier of bricks.

D
 
But if the tower was to be used to explore space would it still be standing?
 
God wasn’t “mad” because the people made something big and impressive. The punishment was for the pride of humans trying to be equal to God.
 
And people are trying to do that all the time and for centuries at least.
 
It would make more sense than a tower, but I’m still skeptical it would work.
 
Ryanb27 said:
people are trying to do that all the time and for centuries
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Perhaps we should look at the account as an allegory. There may well have been a tower as described, but the story carries a deeper meaning than just the literal one on the surface. The lesson is that mankind can never equal God no matter how advanced we become from age to age. God did not even have to intervene to make this point, but the writer of the story chose to take that stance.

Here’s a humorous bit I heard a while back. In the near future, a scientist meets God and claims he is now able to produce life as God did in the beginning, and in the same manner. “Fine”, says God, “Let’s both get at it”. They knelt beside a stream in the muck and mire and both began fashioning the form of a man. At this point God points to the scientist and says, “Hey, you make your own mud”.
 
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Ryanb27 said:
What about the idea of a space elevator
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That would still be within the orbit of the moon, very small beans on a cosmological scale. And as has been pointed out by other posters, the stated purpose of the tower and the purpose of 20th / 21st-century space exploration are completely different.

D
 
DaveBj said:
“We” (i.e., human beings) haven’t really gone that far; we haven’t even gotten outside the orbit of our own moon. Our machines have gone a lot farther, but to put it in Tower-of-Babel terms, we humans are still working on the first tier of bricks.

D
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Even if we invent the Warp drive and can create an United Federation of Planets; God’s not going to stop us from that.

The people who built the Tower of Babel were (1) not ready to understand outer space and (2) they were really trying to build a bridge to heaven. They were not trying to reach the moon and other planets. Our largest skyscrapers are taller than the Tower of Babel.
 
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I think it is worth noting the Church is 2000 years old. This question is not unique. Basically every question you have has been presented before and pondered. This one is probably a popular one in that regard since I have even wondered this myself.
 
What are you talking about? The United States already has warp capable spaceships, thanks to the Asgard.

Didn’t you ever watch the documentary Stargate SG-1?

:crazy_face:
 
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phil19034 said:
Didn’t you ever watch the documentary Stargate SG-1 ?
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😃 😃 😃

As a matter of fact, I am re-watching the series on the Amazon Prime channel. I’m in Season 8, which I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen.

D
 
I’m not an engineer, but my understanding is that there is a certain weight limit (depending on the material) where the bottom of a tower will simply crumble. Considering they didn’t have the materials we have today there’s no way there ever was a tower. Add in elements like the amount of material needed, the thinness of the air, and the previously mentioned fact that we’ve been to space – all that means we can safely dismiss this up to a fable by people who didn’t have access to the knowledge we have today.
 
If you note, it doesn’t say they succeeded. To the contrary, it seems to be a massive failure with consequences for their sinful intentions.
 
I agree and to me God was protecting those people from themselves, for one of two things would have happened: either the tower would have crumbled under its lofty weight or the lower oxygen levels at high altitudes would have damaged their health.
 
See, yeah.
I don’t thing God is in anyway offended when people do impressive things. OTOH, I think we honor our Creator when we use the gifts and talents He gave us to their highest use.
Where we run into trouble is by thinking we don’t need Him anymore, or that we accomplished by our own efforts all alone and try to hog all the glory for ourselves 🙂
 
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