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

Kirk said:
"The implication of the text is that early man was together until God forced mankind to spread out. "

It also implies that just prior there was a worldwide flood that wiped out all humans except those who were on the ark- something I think neither of us accept. So if we believe that all humans weren't wiped-out, why believe all men lived in one city and had one language???

...Bernie

________________________________
From: Kirk Bertsche [mailto:Bertsche@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, April 13, 2009 8:48 AM
To: Dehler, Bernie; ASA Affiliation
Subject: Re: [asa] Noah's Ark- the debate over floods... and biblical interpretation

Bernie,

I don't follow your first objection. The implication of the text is that early man was together until God forced mankind to spread out. Whether or not the Babel account was historical does not affect the message of the text regarding the nature of man.

But I believe your second objection is valid. I suppose Gen 11 could be either a generalization, or a comment on only a subset of mankind.

Kirk

Your second objection is valid. yes,
On Apr 10, 2009, at 1:02 PM, Dehler, Bernie wrote:

Kirk said:
"But Gen 11 seems to imply the opposite; early man tended to stay together (even after the Flood) until God forced mankind to spread out."

That could be wrong on two counts.

First, the Babel event may never have happened, like the global flood. Maybe it would be easy to prove scientifically/historically that languages were always different- I don't know. (The Babel account implies all men were of one language prior- easy to believe if you think the Earth is only a few thousand years old.)

Second, it could be a generalization, like is all throughout proverbs (general sayings, not intended to be true in every case for every person). Maybe for the most part people tended to gather and be of the same language, but it may not be trying to indicate that all men everywhere were of one language and living in that one spot.

...Bernie

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Received on Mon Apr 13 12:04:25 2009