RE: [asa] Noah's Ark- the debate over floods... and biblical interpretation

Hi Dave:

The land between the rivers in southern Mesopotamia is very flat. There are
mountain ranges north and east with terrain rising slowly in those
directions.

Sedimentation layers were found by archaeologists in the major cities of
Iraq which are all located in the south, Ur, Kish, Shuruppak, Erech, Lagash,
and Nineveh, but Nineveh was not settled by Semites until after the flood.
There is no economic reason to dig randomly around the country to try and
find sedimentation layers. The flood appears to have been confined to the
area of population in the south.

Yours faithfully,
 
Dick Fischer, GPA president
Genesis Proclaimed Association
"Finding Harmony in Bible, Science and History"
www.genesisproclaimed.org
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Wallace [mailto:wmdavid.wallace@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 8:59 AM
To: Dick Fischer
Cc: ASA
Subject: Re: [asa] Noah's Ark- the debate over floods... and biblical
interpretation

Dick

As best I recall Glenn raised two issues against a Mesopotamian flood,
when we discussed this a few years ago:

1. The land slopes into the Persian Gulf, so that water would drain off
the land fairly quickly

2. The lack of a sedimentation layer that should result from a flood a
year long, especially with all the debris from a civilization, animals,
plants etc.

Now I would like there to be a historical basis underlying the story in
Genesis and would be willing to grant that God might have performed a
miracle to dam up the waters. Such an act would be part of a sign to
the people. However, the lack of a sedimentation layer seems fatal as
having a miracle to prevent sedimentation would be somewhat like an
appearance of age scenario in creation, in that God would not appear to
be trustworthy and that is something I would be unwilling to posit.
Also having a sedimentation layer would appear desirable from the point
of view of providing an indication of the truth of the story down
through the ages.

Dave W

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Received on Wed Apr 8 15:15:17 2009