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Post by curious on Aug 4, 2008 8:59:46 GMT -8
What about stories like Noah's ark/ the Flood? There are a lot of different cultures that have a similar story that the Bible probably borrowed from.
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Post by Josh on Aug 4, 2008 9:02:56 GMT -8
In regard to the Flood, it's uncanny that cultures in regions as far-flung as South America and ancient Mesopotamia have such similar stories about a great, ancient deluge. Interestingly, the further these stories are found (whether by distance or time) from the epicenter of early human activity and civilization (the Middle East), the less realistic they are. For example, whereas in Hebrew and Mesopotamian myth the ark is an actual boat, in other cultures further removed it might be the back of a giant turtle. All this is great evidence that, through oral history, humans around the global remember some actual historical event, and that the closer a culture is to the event (again, in time and distance) the more accurate their version is. And the Hebrew account in Genesis is one of the closest.
It's interesting that you assume here that multiple authors and multiple versions of a story is a strike against historical authenticity. Far from it, the more different but at least generally compatable versions and reporters of an event there are, the more likely it is that the event really occurred.
The Q'uran (the holy book of Muslims) had a single author (either Mohammed or God, depending on one's perspective). Muslims take this as a sign of it's validity. However, from a skeptics' perspective, is it better to believe the claims of one person or a multitude of witnesses?
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