S4 natural, common sense & traditional interpretation human author s intention 300+ flood stories throughout the world

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1 Flood 2 Episode 134 X. What about Noah s Flood? 1. Global Flood Theory Young Earth Creationist position Date of Flood: 2344 BC/E Determined by adding up Biblical genealogies Date of creation: 4000 BC/E Period from creation to flood: 1656 yrs (Gen 5 genealogy) PRO ARGUMENTS: S4 natural, common sense & traditional interpretation human author s intention 300+ flood stories throughout the world S5 H28 evidence for a flood & it was remembered by those in the ark and then passed on through their descendants who repopulated the entire world CONTRA ARGUMENTS: Lamoureux Extinction Purpose of the ark was to save ALL the animals: 16. God: Noah bring into the ark two of ALL living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Gen 6:19 QUESTION: Why save animals in the ark only to have 99.9% go extinct? (conservative estimate) Post-Flood Command S7 17. God: Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you so that they can multiply on the earth. Gen 8:15-17 COMMENT No hint that 99.9% of ark animals would go extinct Scripture does not state: Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you so that they can GO EXTINCT. Ark Volumetrics Not enough room in Ark for pairs of all species & their food for 1 year Size of the Ark: little longer than a football field width inside the numbers on the field height about the same as the goal posts Consider just one type of dinosaur: Brachiosaurs: 100 ft long, 30 ft at the shoulder, 90 tons, 30 species room for 60 on the ark? And food for 1 year? S8 S9 Archeological & Historical Records Nations living throughout the world prior to the 2344 BC/E flood date NO evidence they were completely wiped out NO evidence of a Global Flood Layer Geological Record NO evidence of a Global Flood Layer should be a mixing of all creatures EG humans & dinos Fossil Pattern Prediction of a global does not align with the fossil record S10 S11-15 H52 134

2 Flood 2 Episode Local Flood Theory Progressive Creationist position Flood limited to the Mesopotamian Flood Plain between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers all the earth = all the earth in a local region water above the highest mountains = highest hills in local region Hebrew word har can mean either a mountain or a hill PRO ARGUMENTS: Harmonizes Two Divine Books: Science & Scripture intuitively satisfying for Christians There is a lot of geological evidence for local floods in ancient Mesopotamia between Tigris & Euphrates Rivers: layers of flood sediment in between archaeological sites of habitation: Ur (12 feet thick), Uruk (5), Shuruppak (2), Kish (1) & Lagash (1) radiometric dating of sediments close to biblical dates: BC/E S4 H28 CONTRA ARGUMENTS: Lamoureux S5 IF a local flood takes 40 days to cover hills in the Mesopotamian flood plain, THEN, why bother with building an ark? GO TO HIGHER GROUND!!! The mountains/hills are identified: Ararat Mountains (Gen 8:3-5) 18. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. The waters continued to recede until... tops of the mountains became visible. Gen 8:3-5 COMMENT: a mountain range like the Rockies (12-16,000 feet) Therefore NOT hills in the Mesopotamian flood plain The Biblical Flood of Noah is NOT local, but worldwide 3. Re-Cycled & Re-Interpreted Flood Motif Theory S7 View held by most Old Testament scholars QUESTIONS Where do civilizations first emerge? ANSWER: Rivers What do these rivers do? ANSWER: Flood their banks sediment for agriculture EG Tigris, Euphrates, Nile How would a destructive flood be perceived by ancient people? ANSWER: Judgment of God/s PARALLEL: S8 How are thunder & lightning perceived by the ancients? ANSWER: Divine interventions from upset God/s just overhead EG Thor Norse god of thunder & lightening uses a hammer to pound the heavens MORE QUESTIONS How would a destructive flood be INTERPRETED by ANE people? ANSWER: DE-CREATION EVENT a collapsing of the Waters Above nd a reversing of the 2 Day of Creation for the Hebrews What would result? ANSWER 1: Survivors would tell flood stories EG survivor stories of 2004 Tsunami & claims that God saved their life ANSWER 2: Stories would become part of Oral Traditions & Histories of the community 135 S9 S10

3 Flood2 Episode 136 CONCLUSION: Flood stories have REAL HISTORICAL events behind them of: (1) an actual destructive flood by a river (or tsunami) (2) actual people who survived & told their story & INTERPRETATION of the event ARCHEOLOGY & HISTORICAL CRITICISM Flood Accounts Worldwide S4 H accounts in regions susceptible to flooding S5 H28 EG rivers, tsunamis, flash floods near mountain ranges, Therefore, worldwide flood accounts are: NOT accounts of Noah s flood passed down through Noah s three sons BUT due to the common experience of flood events throughout the world Mesopotamian Flood Stories: Sumerian Flood ( BC/E) Atrahasis Epic (1700 BC/E) Gilgamesh Epic (1600 BC/E) NOTE: The flood hero in all 3 accounts comes from Shuruppak, which when flooded would have been a HUGE FLOOD SIMILARITIES with Biblical Flood Account (Gen 6-9): Divine justification to destroy the world by a flood Divine warning to build a boat & its construction by the flood hero flood destroys all life on earth preservation of the hero, his family & animals in the boat hero sacrifices to God/s, who smell/s the offering use of stylistic numbers 7 and 60 S7 H28 S8 H29 SIMILARITIES even more striking with the Epic of Gilgamesh & Gen 6-9: S9-10 H28, boat landing on a mountain after the flood dove & raven used to determine if the earth is dry stylistic 7 day periods for the bird reconnaissance THE QUESTION: Too many similarities to be coincidental, who borrowed from who? (1) The Mesopotamians borrowed from the Hebrews OR (2) The Hebrews borrowed from the Mesopotamians S11 (1) The Mesopotamians Borrowed from the Hebrews S12 The traditional Christian position & that of Young Earth Creationists REMEMBER: Christian tradition is rooted in a Global Flood the flood account MUST descend through Noah s 3 sons BUT NO scientific evidence for such a flood THEREFORE: though Christian tradition is valuable, it might be a stumbling block at times Considerations: Mesopotamians pre-date the Hebrews by over 2000 years! st 1 city (Uruk) population 10, BC/E st 1 archeological evidence the Hebrews existed 1200 BC/E (Merneptah Stele) ASSUMES that Major Civilization (Mesopotamia) would inherit an account from a small insignificant tribe (Hebrews) & then make it a major part of their history 136 S13

4 Flood 2 Episode 137 Mesopotamian flood stories predate ( BC/E) Genesis 6-9, which was composed between 1000 to 500 BC/E (see below) (2) The Hebrews Borrowed from the Mesopotamians View of modern Old Testament scholars Hebrews inherited the Flood Motif from Mesopotamians Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they replaced the pagan theology with Spiritual Truths EG The reason for the flood S4 Mesopotamian Accounts: the gods couldn t sleep because humans were too noisy Gen 6-9: rampant human sin THEREFORE: The Flood Motif is an incidental vessel that transports Messages of Faith THE ORIGIN OF THE BIBLICAL FLOOD ACCOUNT (GEN 6-9) Six Stages: Real Destructive Floods actually happened in the Mesopotamia flood plain Evidence: numerous flood deposits some people survive to tell their story the stories become part of the Oral Traditions of the community S5 S7 H28 Ancient Historiography Greek historia history graphô to write S8 DEF: the writing of history by ANCIENT people In an attempt to understand their history, the Mesopotamians included flood stories drawn from their Oral Traditions. major destructive floods would have been an important part of their history NOTE: S9 ALL histories include metaphysical interpretations The historical fact of a great flood in Mesopotamia is interpreted through a Pagan Theology Israel Appears Late in ANE & Inherits Flood Motif most likely in an Oral Form The Great Flood is part of the history-of-day in the ANE Israel RE-CYLES & RE-INTERPRETS Flood Motif under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit IF in an oral form, THEN it would have been easy to reinterpret & change EG Darwin s Origin of Species (1859) most Christians have never read it BUT there is an oral tradition in churches that it is an atheistic book The Main Motif: remains intact biological evolution The Metaphysics (Theology): changes from DEISM ATHEISM Israel Becomes Literate & Writes Down at Least TWO Flood Accounts evidence for literacy roughly 1200 BC/E st 1 account probably around 1000 BC/E Termed: Jahwist (J) Flood Account nd 2 account probably around 500 BC/E Termed: Priestly (P) Flood Account (See next section) S10 S11 S12 S13 137

5 Flood 2 Episode 138 J & P Flood Accounts edited together by a REDACTOR (R) to form Gen 6-9 probably around 500 BC/E EVIDENCE FOR TWO SOURCES IN GENESIS 6-9 REMEMBER: The conflict of creation events between Gen 1 & 2 SOLUTION: Gen 1 Priestly (P) Creation Account Gen 2 Jahwist (J) Creation Account S4-5 H34 BUT with P & J Flood Accounts, it is more complicated than mere juxtaposing two accounts J & P verses intertwined ie, a verse of J, then a verse of P, then a verse of J, then a verse of P, etc 1. Conflict of Events Problems H33 Two different divine orders to load the animals EG take: two of every kind of bird seven of every kind of bird Two different accounts of entering the ark EG enter ark & flood starts: 7 days later the same day 2. Chronology Problems S7 H33 the dates of Noah s age & the period of days for events do not align EG From start of the Flood to the landing on Ararat Mountains Using Noah s Age: 150 days Using the days mentioned for the period of events: 340 days 3. Coherence of the individual J & P Flood Accounts S8 H35 (J) H37-38 (P) REASSEMBLED narratives stand on their own & make perfect sense 4. Distinct linguistic features in J and P Flood Accounts S9 H36 (J) J author Divine name Lord (Yahweh) phrase never again will I repeat to... (2X) stylistic numbers 7 & 40 P author Divine name God ( Elôhîm) S10 H39 (P) covenant (9X) stylistic number Similar linguistic features in the J Flood & J Creation (Gen 2) Accounts S11 H36 (J) an indication of the same author Divine name Lord (Yahweh) man/husband ( ish) & woman/wife ( issah) face of the ground 6. Similar linguistic features in the P Flood & P Creation (Gen 1) Accounts S12 H39 (P) an indication of the same author Divine name God ( Elôhîm) male (zâkâr) & female (neqçbah) man is made in the Image of God according to its/their kind/s 138

6 XI. The BIG Question: Who Was Noah? ANSWER: Noah is the creation of a theological re-interpretation. There are real Mesopotamian people behind the Mesopotamian Flood Accounts Flood 2 Episode 139 The Mesopotamian flood hero in these accounts was MORPHED into the flood hero of Gen 6-9 Noah NB: Noah is NOT a literary invention or fictional character in a story or allegory He is a REAL PERSON in REAL HISTORY according to: (1) Priestly author (2) Jawhist author (3) Redactor of the J & P flood accounts S4 Think like the ancient Hebrews: S5 They would have argued: YES, there really was a worldwide flood, everyone knows that! BUT NO it was not launched because noisy humans stopped the gods from sleeping INSTEAD it was launched by the God of the Hebrews because humans were sinful YES, the God of the Hebrews really saved a man, his family & animals in an ark BUT NO it was not the pagans Ziusudra, or Atrahasis or Gilagmesh INSTEAD it was the only righteous man Noah Parallel to Evolutionary Creation: RE-CYCLE & RE-INTERPRET YES, life originated through biological evolution BUT NO it is not a dysteleological process INSTEAD it is a process that was ordained & sustained by God THE BOTTOM LINE: The Biblical man Noah never existed! S7 S8 The Message-Incident Principle: A New Application S9-10 MESSAGE OF FAITH Holy Spirit inspired Noah typological (an example) of a righteous person God saves the righteous person from His Judgment GREAT FLOOD MOTIF S11-12 ancient historiography the history-of-the-day in the ANE an ancient understanding of history used as an incidental vessel to deliver Spiritual Truths an accommodation by Holy Spirit 139