sooda
Veteran Member
Best explanation I have seen. "In Sumer of Abraham's supposed time the earth was where the sky met the horizon.".
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A Flood of Nonsense
- Thread starter sooda
- Start date
Best explanation I have seen. "In Sumer of Abraham's supposed time the earth was where the sky met the horizon.".
Native
Free Natural Philosopher & Comparative Mythologist
Have you thought of the time implications of this? Is the Sumer culture just as old as the story of Creation?
sooda
Veteran Member
Older.. in Sumer they were practicing irrigation and organized agriculture while Yahweh was busy in the garden of Eden.
Native
Free Natural Philosopher & Comparative Mythologist
So you think the Sumerian culture existed "while (or even before) Yahweh was busy" creating the Eden in six days?
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ecco
Veteran Member
I have to disagree with you on this. The people who wrote the OT put together stories and oral traditions passed down from generation to generation. These stories were an oral history and were accepted as truth, not as myth or allegory.
Asserting that some parts are allegory, as even many Jews and Christians do, is attacking the Bible.
BilliardsBall
Veteran Member
......not "lovingly", anyway........
I think you missed the irony of my post, that I was indeed making corrections, lovingly, of course!
exchemist
Veteran Member
Love it!I think you missed the irony of my post, that I was indeed making corrections, lovingly, of course!
exchemist
Veteran Member
Yes I think that is the origin usually quoted.
But I find this is a rather intriguing alternative idea. I did not imagine that effects of sea level rise after the ice age could be so dramatic.
sooda
Veteran Member
Well, China, Anatolia, the Arabian peninsula, the British Isles and elsewhere have no flood footprint... neither does Egypt or Afghanistan or the rest of Mesopotamia.
The retreat of the glaciers was quite slow over millions of years.. That raised sea levels a bit but caused the desertification of Arabia and the Sahara.
The flood story is teaching narrative.. like Aesop's Fables. Its for children. Adults should be more concerned with the message than the fairy tale.
sooda
Veteran Member
No they weren't accepted as truth.. Even in the 2nd century BC the Jews knew the Jonah story was teaching narrative. Oral "transmission" is common in illiterate populations but its still teaching narrative.
Jesus said, "my father's house has many mansions".. You think that's literal?
The Koran has over 30 descriptions of heaven.. all are allegory.
Think about this.. Jesus taught in parables.
Subduction Zone
Veteran Member
I agree with that too. I am trying to work from a Christian perspective. As a Christian if one demands that the Bible is inspired then there has to be a reason that its stories can be excused for . Like in most cases the simplest explanation is best, the writers of it followed oral traditions and myths of the time and wrote them as if they were history and believed them. Just as the writers of any other holy book believed their myths.
exchemist
Veteran Member
How do you think the Greeks regarded what we call the Greek myths?
Subduction Zone
Veteran Member
I am not sure. There were probably many that believes them. Currently I am trying to move our science deniers along with baby steps.
ecco
Veteran Member
What's the basis for your comment? Even today, many people accept Genesis as fact. Six thousand years ago, few would have questioned it. There was no other viable alternative. The oral stories that eventually were inscribed were around for thousands of years in some form or another. These stories were history for the people of the times.
ecco
Veteran Member
As truth. At least insofar as their gods and the stories about their gods.
sooda
Veteran Member
I suppose they do.. There are lots of flood stories and creation myths around the world.
Genesis of Genesis: Where Did the Biblical Story of Creation Come From?
sooda
Veteran Member
Some Greeks.. certainly not all.
Did the Greeks really believe in their gods? : AskHistorians
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/17...
Not to the extent that modern religions believe in their gods. Ancient Greeks believed in the existence of the Olympian pantheon, but also acknowledged that there were other gods in other pantheons, as well as making comparisons between their own gods and others.
Wandering Monk
Well-Known Member
Um, so what? Are you suggesting that primitive people knew more about the universe than we do today?
sooda
Veteran Member
By definition, a historian is a scientist. Herodotus is generally considered the "father of history" and he distinguishes myths from historical facts, or at least tries to. At least the gods to not interfere in his history directly (except by pronouncements of the oracles which in his and in the later Greek accounts are always relevant, but this is not related to the myths). Homer is not considered a historian, of course, and was not considered one by the Greeks.
So the short answer is that Greek historians always distinguished myths from historical facts.
sooda
Veteran Member
Did the Greeks Believe Their Myths? - ThoughtCo
https://www.thoughtco.com/did-the-greeks-believe-their-myths-120390
Jun 18, 2018 · In his book on the subject, Did the Greeks Believe Their Myths?, Paul Veyne writes: "Myth is truthful, but figuratively so. It is not historical truth mixed with lies; it is a high philosophical teaching that is entirely true, on the condition that, instead of taking it literally, one sees in it an allegory."
https://www.thoughtco.com/did-the-greeks-believe-their-myths-120390
Jun 18, 2018 · In his book on the subject, Did the Greeks Believe Their Myths?, Paul Veyne writes: "Myth is truthful, but figuratively so. It is not historical truth mixed with lies; it is a high philosophical teaching that is entirely true, on the condition that, instead of taking it literally, one sees in it an allegory."