Genesis Flood Local Or Global ?

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by pelathais

There is no geologic evidence that the entire land mass of the earth was covered by water at any time in the last 10,000 years. Nor for that matter - for the last 3.5 billion years.

No evidence. None. And, the Bible doesn't even try and make the case that it was.

So where's the baskets? Why haven't you cut off you right hand yet? C'mon! Jesus never said he was kidding - He said "CUT IT OFF!" Do you or do you not believe the literal and emphatic words of the Bible?

Gen 7:19-20 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

And the NT writers seem to believe it literally. Unless they were just stringing the parable along.

[Aquila]

I guess you'd say that I believe in a rather tranquil and global flood compared to the catastrophic mess the flood geologists might propose.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by pelathais

6,000 years ago?

Did I loose you? lol

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Timmy

Gen 7:19-20 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

And the NT writers seem to believe it literally. Unless they were just stringing the parable along.

There is a certain generalization in the language of the NT period that many fundamentalists use, but I think their conclusions are unwarranted. In one place someone quotes "the Law" and then comes right out and says the words of one of the prophets. Rather than looking at this as a case of "the Bible is obviously wrong!" I would look at the normal way in which people converse and the allowances that we make for one another to generalize.

It's a story or better - a "myth." And by "myth" I mean a myth in the ancient sense of the word. In the Bronze Age Greek speaking world there were usually 4 types of writings. One was a mythos. A mythos was a story that differed from a logos in that a logos could be debated, redefined, interpreted and even doubted. A mythos was considered "the final word" on a subject. And that final judgment was delivered in the terms of a parable or story with a moral ending.

With the rise of the philosophical age and especially the Roman school of stoicism with its skeptical and cynical outlook; and then coming into NT times, the word "mythos" took on a different meaning and thus, by the time it is used in the NT itself it is a synonym of "fable" and "tall tale."

The story of the flood comes from a time when the very genre of story telling was completely different from what we are accustomed to today. Personally, I believe the Biblical account to be an inspired account and I approach it reverentially. The story doesn't tell me "what happened"... it tells me "what happens." It's what happens when people turn away from their Creator. In a sense - it's even a prophecy, just as Jesus used it.

[Jermyn Davidson]

Originally Posted by Scott Hutchinson

Was the great flood in Genesis local or global ?
What say ye ?

What does the Bible say?
I echo the implications of the Bible: this was a global catastrophe.

[mizpeh]

Do you apply a more allegorical type of hermeneutic to the scriptures, Pel?

The story of the flood comes from a time when the very genre of story telling was completely different from what we are accustomed to today. Personally, I believe the Biblical account to be an inspired account and I approach it reverentially. The story doesn't tell me "what happened"... it tells me "what happens." It's what happens when people turn away from their Creator. In a sense - it's even a prophecy, just as Jesus used it.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Did I loose you? lol

Sorry... at work. You can't believe these people... a big defense contractor thought their websites were being blocked by us. "Where's my weapons!!!" That's what he asked, LOL. Dude, it's resolving. You've just go a problem in your server side scripting engine or something locally.

Sorry.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Aquila

Nope. In eternity past.

I believe that God spoke creative utterances during what we might define as six literal days... the results of those utterances weren't readily apparent exept in God's eyes (his eternal perspective which is transendant and outside of time). To God, once it was spoken it was DONE. However, to an observer, let's say an angel, billions of years may have passed before all things that had been spoken during those six days were completely manifest.

All that you see in the heavens above and here on the earth below, no matter how old it appears, is the result of one week of creative utterance. All things that you might see were created in six days.

Nice. I can accept that.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Aquila

I guess you'd say that I believe in a rather tranquil and global flood compared to the catastrophic mess the flood geologists might propose.

More of a "bath" than a "flood?"

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

Do you apply a more allegorical type of hermeneutic to the scriptures, Pel?

For those portions that are obviously out of synch with reality, yes. For the class of the "miraculous" I think we need to sort of slow down and look at events on a case by case (or author by author) basis.