hephzibah wrote:See now Setanta, this is exactly what I'm talking about here. Most of you are just throwing a bunch of interpretations all into one bowl and stirring it up saying nothing works. Well yeah, if you throw a bunch of crap in one bowl it's probably going to turn out as green sludge... So lets take this one issue at a time here and really discuss the contradictions then. That's the point of this thread. I hope you all know me well enough by now to know that if I'm wrong about something I assert as truth I will at least admit it and try to look at it from a different angle. Am I the only one here willing to do this though? If I am, then this is just another pointless thread to argue in and I will gladly find something more interesting to move on to. I'm here for several reasons: to understand my own perspectives a little better and the root causes of those perspectives. To adjust that perspective if necessary. And to learn about others perspectives. If I can't do that, then it's pretty much a pointless endeavor on my part. So... what's the verdict?
OK, fine . . . here ya go:
Genesis, Chapter Seven (in its entirety, King James version)
7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
7:3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.
7:5 And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.
7:6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7:7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
7:8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
7:9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
7:10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
7:12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
7:13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
7:14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
7:15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.
7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
7:17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
7:18 And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
Did take two pairs of every beast, clean and unclean, or did he take seven pairs of the clean beasts and two pairs of the clean? Was he 600 years old, or was he 599 going on 600 ("in his six hundredth year")? Did he enter the "Ark" because there were flood waters, or did he enter the boat seven days before hand? Were the flood waters upon the earth forty days, or one hundred fifty days?
You may say that this is quibbling, but it is important because biblical literalists claim that Genesis was written by a single author, while reputable scholars point to these contradictions, and say there were several authors over a period of time, and that the Pentateuch was edited in the 5th Century BCE, to attempt (not very successfully) to remove contradictions. You're going to need to do some fancy dancing here, Boss.
(I've chosen the flood story because i've been working with that for a while now, and have recently re-read the relevant passages several times.)
That's exactly the point I was trying to draw out. The law came after the incident.
