31% of American adults believe the Bible is Literal Word of God - Belief strongest among those without college degrees

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The explanation is a magical one. Any explanation that depends on God is no more meaningful than saying "it's magic".

Uh, the whole flood story has God all through it. The point is that God sent the flood, and gave Noah instructions for building the ark so that the animal species and Man would continue. Take God out of the story and there isn't much point to it anyway.

This is the part I struggle with. If God created the earth & everything in it, why did He need Noah at all? He could have saved the bits He wanted without getting Noah to build a boat. Or just destroy the planet and start again.

Whether or not you, were you God, would have done things differently says nothing about the existence of God or the truth of the Biblical account. He is God, we are not. He did it the way he did it.

But you can't deny that constrained by the limits of that particular story (as told), that it does seem rather ludicrous and arbitrary...

As I said, when you start looking at the practicalities and logistics that would be required to plan and go through with a plan like that - all by one man and his family, it just doesn't ring true.

[SteveLaura 0]

Scott, I have said nothing about the existence of God. I do doubt the veracity of the story of the ark, however. There are certain obstacles I can't overcome here. Cool for you if you have found a way through them, honestly. But don't any of these questions gnaw at you?

[Saddle Bronc 124]

But you can't deny that constrained by the limits of that particular story (as told), that it does seem rather ludicrous and arbitrary...

As I said, when you start looking at the practicalities and logistics that would be required to plan and go through with a plan like that - all by one man and his family, it just doesn't ring true.

FYI, there is a passage on this very subject, Isaiah 55:9. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

But you can't deny that constrained by the limits of that particular story (as told), that it does seem rather ludicrous and arbitrary...

As I said, when you start looking at the practicalities and logistics that would be required to plan and go through with a plan like that - all by one man and his family, it just doesn't ring true.

FYI, there is a passage on this very subject, Isaiah 55:9. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Sure - but all that does is say "dont question it because its inexplicable". These days most people – even those (like me) with a fairly casual faith can’t be expected to accept that reasoning when we’re talking about a old testament story that is actually very specific. Paint it any way you like – the Noah’s Ark story presents practical and logistical questions that are problematic and can’t be answered answered adequately using the technologies available at the time.

I see this story as myth, it may well be based on a real event (hence I mentioned the Asian Tsunami for comparative purposes), but its likely that Noah never actually existed, or exists as a combination of several people from the myths and histories of various ancient cultures.

The fact that people defend a story like this (which is largely irrelevant to the Christian faith) simply illustrates the problems inherent in fundamentalism. They defend the story, not specifically because anything about the story is necessarily true – but rather because the source can’t be called into question as that undermines the entire thing.

Again, having a more casual faith – I don’t see why Noah's Ark being myth presents a problem; but it certainly goes some way to validate the idea that religion is often used as an emotional crutch.

Edited May 30, 2007 by erekose

[GaryC 7]

I am curious, I am sure you have heard of the reports of a boat on the side of mount Ararat. How would your opinion change if they have positive proof of a boat of the size and construction described in the Bible?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I am curious, I am sure you have heard of the reports of a boat on the side of mount Ararat. How would your opinion change if they have positive proof of a boat of the size and construction described in the Bible?

Well that's a very big "what if".

[mawilson 2,133]

The explanation is a magical one. Any explanation that depends on God is no more meaningful than saying "it's magic".

Uh, the whole flood story has God all through it. The point is that God sent the flood, and gave Noah instructions for building the ark so that the animal species and Man would continue. Take God out of the story and there isn't much point to it anyway.

This is the part I struggle with. If God created the earth & everything in it, why did He need Noah at all? He could have saved the bits He wanted without getting Noah to build a boat. Or just destroy the planet and start again.

It was for God's own entertainment. Kinda like playing Sims.

[Niels Bohr 72]

I'm not a fan of the Bible God, or any Gods. I am above them all!

I can make my own stories. Write them up. Put it in a time capsule. Wait for 1000 years to pass. And, when it's discovered, I am God. Hehehe. Very easy to manipulate people with God.

Edited May 30, 2007 by consolemaster

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Even as a kid Roman/Greek pantheism appealed to me - but sadly there's no Church of Apollo.

I'm not a fan of the Bible God, or any Gods. I am above them all!

I can make my own stories. Write them up. Put it in a time capsule. Wait for 1000 years to pass. And, when it's discovered, I am God. Hehehe. Very easy to manipulate people with God.

Ever read A Canticle for Leibowitz?

[rclouse 0]

No it's not at all offensive when someone laughs at you. (where's the rolling eye smiley when you need it?)

Maybe you should read the article rclouse posted.

I don't mean to offend, but I think people who actually believe the story of Noah's Ark are kidding themselves. It didn't happen.

I opened rclouse's article, but did not appreciate the full-size pop-ups that tried to put cookies and spyware on my PC. I read a few paragraphs before I realized that this is exactly the kind of trite garbage that freshman philosophy students churn out and expect to get an A for.

Hmm, I didn't notice any popups or spyware and I have to use Windoze here at work... maybe the fact I'm using Firefox has something to do with it...

Ppl, the point of the article is to respect one another and understand what's motivating the respective sides. And to not be a ####### about it.