200+ (Adam and Eve)

[Seyorni]

Must have been the organically grown, non-GM food.

[zon3d]

It's because the human DNA was much better back then than it is now. There has been many generations from then to us today and thus mutations occurred and corrupted the genome to a certain extent.

[sojourner]

Originally Posted by zon3d

It's because the human DNA was much better back then than it is now. There has been many generations from then to us today and thus mutations occurred and corrupted the genome to a certain extent.

But that's contrary to the way genetics works, which is that the organism constantly improves, not regresses.

[lockyfan]

it is because Adam and Eve were created perfect and had perfect bodies.

they were warned that if they sinned against God they would die (because si is imperfection) and they CHOSE to sin against God and God then followed through with what he said his punishment was going to be. Which is sin.

Then as the generations wore down, so did the human bodies ability to regenerate (which it has been scientifically proven it does once every seven years until you are 21 and then stops and scientists have no idea why) but it is because of sin that we die.

anyway the modern advances of technology has given us the chance to live longer now. but not forever, because only when God destroys the system of things that we live in now, will we be able to have to chance of living forever.

[Popeyesays]

I would suggest that the year in Judaic terms is only 360 days, for a start.

It is the habit in some traditions to mark the beginning of a year whenever some memorable event occurs--also to start a new calendar at the coronation of a king, for instance. There are many reasons to make a year not quite a year in some societies. What if one counted a new year at the birth of each child? That would make nine month years.

Today we mark years by reaching a mutually agreed upon new point in the rotation of the earth, that does not mean that was the case back in ancient times.

ALso years were marked differently in different cultures . . . . . . . just to add to the confusion. SHort form: Read it with several grains of salt.

Demanding one literal meaning to any scripture is a formula for disaster.

Regards,
Scott

[Sola'lor]

Originally Posted by sojourner

But that's contrary to the way genetics works, which is that the organism constantly improves, not regresses.

Not when imbreeding occurs.

Only natural selection or genetic engineering improves genetics.

So better medical care that allows those with weak genetics to survive and procreate will help decrease the genetic health of a group. So will repetative procreation within groups of individuals with similar genetics.

[Scott1]

Originally Posted by Phasmid

How is it that the early peoples described in the OT lived to be 200+ years?

I can think of two things:

1. They are just stories.
2. Bad translations:

But when we compare the Massoretic text with the Samaritan version and the Septuagint, we are confronted by many and strange discrepancies which can hardly be the result of mere accident. Thus, for instance, with regard to the antediluvian patriarchs, while the Samaritan version agrees in the main with the Massoretic text, the age at which Jared begot his first-born is set down as 62 instead of the Hebrew 162. Mathusala, likewise, who according to the Hebrew begot his first-born at the age of 187, was only 67 according to the Samaritan; and though the Hebrew places the same event in the case of Lamech when he was 182, the Samaritan gives him only 53. Similar discrepancies exist between the two texts as regards the total number of years that these patriarchs lived, viz. Jared, Heb. 962, Sam. 847; Mathusala, Heb. 969, Sam. 720; Lamech, Heb. 777, Sam. 653.
Comparing the Massoretic text with the Septuagint, we find that in the latter the birth of the first-born in the case of Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Malaleel, and Henoch was at the respective ages of 230, 205, 190, 170, 165, and 165, as against 130, 105, 90, 70, 65, and 65 as stated in the Hebrew. The same systematic difference of 100 years in the period before the birth of the first-born appears likewise in the lives of the postdiluvian patriarchs, Arphaxad, Sale, Heber, Phaleg, Reu, and Sarug. For this list, however, the Samaritan agrees with the Septuagint as against the Massoretic text.
http://www.holytrinitymission.org/books/english/bible_books_old_1.htm

[3.14]

wel 2 things first there were we have a cellular decay at a certain point where we grow old and die without that cells would just keep restoring themselfs (exept braincells) so if there was no major trauma and plenty of food you could grow realy old

in the old days people didn't protect the weak so they died nowadays the weak reproduce and cause more weakness, and they started out with stronger immune systeem

[Sola'lor]

Originally Posted by 3.14

in the old days people didn't protect the weak so they died nowadays the weak reproduce and cause more weakness, and they started out with stronger immune systeem

It almost makes me want to support a eugenics program. How long could humans survive if we are just a mass of weak deseased cells.

[3.14]

ask the amaricans they bound to have some examples