Re: Special Creation

> I am concerned about Glenn's argument against evidence for a substantial flood in neolithic times, which I think is the
> strongest argument against Dick's view, (and this would apply to Phil's view also).
 
It's all a matter of how substantial it had to be to match the text. Appealing to the literary norms under which it was written might reduce that requirement somewhat (but I don't want to get into a discussion over how big the hills or mountains had to be...I'm not prepared for that discussion).
 
Has Carol Ann Hill's paper on the geology of the flood appeared in PSCF, yet? IMO, that paper, and the paper by her husband, answer quite well Glenn's objections against a very significant mesopotamian flood. Maybe it wasn't as large as even Carol and her husband argue, but I think they show quite well the physics and geology for a large regional flood are not out of the question.
 
Regardless of the geology, a very important counter argument that the Flood had to be in Mesopotamia is the deep parallelism to the Gilgamesh epic. Here is an original observation I had while reading that epic. The scholars can't figure out what Inanna's "lapis lazuli flies" refers to. I think it is a reference to the rainbow, parallel to the biblical rainbow after the flood. I think this is actually pretty obvious:
 
"Then she went up to the big flies
Which Anu [the sky god] had made, and (declared) before the gods,
?His grief is mine! My destiny goes with his!
He must deliver me from evil, and appease me!
Let me go out in the morning (?) [ ]
[ ]
Let these flies be the lapis lazuli of my necklace
By which I may remember it (?) daily (?) [forever (?).? "
They are gemstones "lapis lazuli" indicating they are colorful. They are "up" in the sky. The sky god made them. They are "flies" rather than ordinary gemstones because they stay suspended in the air. They are a gift of the sky god to the earth goddess. They are her "necklace", implying a long, thin structure (as opposed to a cloud or a sphere) and probably having an arched shape like a necklace hung around the neck. The idea of a rainbow being a necklace given by the sky god to the earth goddess is quite comprehensible and a good picture of a rainbow for ancient peoples.
 
Here is the kicker: Inanna declares that this necklace will henceforth be her reminder of the tragedy the humans experienced during the flood. When she looks on this sky necklace she will be reminded of the flood. Just as God says that when he looks on the rainbow, He will remember his covenant to never bring another flood on the earth. Now is this a biblical parallel, or what?!
 
Seeing this deep level of connectedness between gilgamesh and the Bible we must conclude there is a literary dependence between them. I have to conclude that the flood stories prevalent in mesopotamia are a degraded version of the true flood story in the bible, and that the reason flood stories were so prevalent in mesopotamia is that the actual event was not too ancient and really was located there. I don't think there is any way around that.
 
 
God bless!
Phil Metzger
 
 
asdf
 
 
Received on Wed Mar 1 11:03:46 2006