Why Would Noah's Flood Have Been the Best Way for God to Cleanse the Earth?

[URAVIP2ME]

.........Do we really think if God wanted things to work out a certain way that they wouldn't? God had full control, there were no variables that God couldn't control. So the buck stops with God. If God really wanted to create wise and disciplined people who would follow the rules (as exists in many of us already) they wouldn't have disobeyed.

Sounds to me you wanted God to create man as an automaton, a robot who doesn't have to think or have a choice.

 

[F1fan]

Sounds to me you wanted God to create man as an automaton, a robot who doesn't have to think or have a choice.

I never any such thing, did I? Don't you know mature people can make wise choices to NOT break rules and screw up? Adam and Eve did screw up, which tells us they weren't created smart enough to follow rules. Not their fault.

I'm critical of God creating naive and unprepared people and giving them rules they don't understand or realize the consequences. Plus God went so far as to tempt them.

If God made them like Buddhist monks they would have been wise enough to follow the rules. God set them up to fail.

 

[Aupmanyav]

However, this seems unlikely, as such a process would have had to occur within a very confined time period.

It is a continuous process. Happens all the time. Geology describes it very well.
In The Future, Earth Will Have Just One Continent. It Might Look Like This

 

[metis]

Well, if you are correct, then the writers of Genesis did a poor job at conveying that since there are a lot of believers who don't and didn't view that story as a rebuttal of the earlier and more widespread Babylonian narrative, but viewed it as historical, including Jesus himself.

We don't and can't exactly know what the authors intended, and most theologians I've read on the believe that the creation accounts were probably from the oral tradition that later was put in written form.

What we do know at least is that some in eretz Israel knew of the Babylonian narrative as a tablet in northern Israel was found with at least part of it being inscribed there, which is older than at least the written narrative of Genesis.

Again, storytelling was heavily used by early cultures as a way of teaching others since so many were illiterate. Thus, the importance of Genesis is not as some sort of literal history but what is being taught within it that was a refutation of neighboring polytheistic creation accounts, such as that we believe in One God and that creation was "good" for starters.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

................. Adam and Eve did screw up, which tells us they weren't created smart enough to follow rules. Not their fault. I'm critical of God creating naive and unprepared people and giving them rules they don't understand or realize the consequences.....................

Please tell us what you don't understand about Genesis 2:17
What is in that verse that can't be understood ___________
The rule was ' don't eat from one forbidden tree '. Out of all the trees on Earth only one tree was forbidden.
The understanding was: that 'death' was the consequence.
Just step on an ant and one sees and knows what death is.

 

[Audie]

Please tell us what you don't understand about Genesis 2:17
What is in that verse that can't be understood ___________
The rule was ' don't eat from one forbidden tree '. Out of all the trees on Earth only one tree was forbidden.
The understanding was: that 'death' was the consequence.
Just step on an ant and one sees and knows what death is.

Excepting there had been no
death ( as per story) and they didnt die
upon fruit - eatin', so where does what you
say make any sense.

 

[David Davidovich]

To me, gifting us with free-will choices is Not bullying but: choice giving.
I wonder how many people think of 'traffic laws' as governmental bullying.
True, a speeding ticket for going through a red light is not considered as sinning against the motor vehicle code.
However, who would like to drive without any traffic signs or lights ________
So, it was with God's temporary Constitution Law of the Old Mosaic Law.

To me, God was Not being a Bully when he gave us the assignment to take care of Earth - Genesis 1:28; Psalms 115:16
We were created with the intelligence to take care of Earth by living by God's standards for us. - Isaiah 45:18-19
An Earth that is perfectly placed and balanced in our Milky Way to support life.
Earth placed as some have said: perfectly placed in a ' Goldie Locks ' position with Earth's tilt and does Not wobble.
Or, as King David wrote at Psalms 8:3-4 that God takes care of us. Rather, it is man who is the Bully.
For MAN's Old and New history shows that MAN has dominated MAN to MAN's hurt, MAN's injury.
The Constitution Law of the old Mosaic Law was only for one nation, the nation of ancient Israel (period).
I suppose one could feel that by man breaking God's Law that God was the Bully by Not allowing that.
However, if everyone one on Earth lived by God's Golden Rule of Leviticus 19:18 people would obey out of love.
That command is Not a burden but promotes our well being.
God always warns before taking action.
This is why the good news of God's Kingdom (Daniel 2:44-45) is now being declared world wide.
Declared just as Jesus instructed to do at Matthew 24:14; Acts of the Apostles 1:8
So, it is MAN's bullying that can't promise peace ( it's more than we need more peace )
It is people who often pursue 'peace' but only for self or selfish reasons.
Whereas, in the end (of wickedness) it will be God's justice for all righteous people - Matthew 25:31-33

Red Herring

Description: Attempting to redirect the argument to another issue to which the person doing the redirecting can better respond. While it is similar to the avoiding the issue fallacy, the red herring is a deliberate diversion of attention with the intention of trying to abandon the original argument.​

click here: Red Herring (logicallyfallacious.com)

URAVIP2ME, if you don't want to answer my thread question, you don't have to participate in this thread. Also, perhaps you should start another thread about whether or not the God of the Bible is a Bully... I'm sure there are a lot of people here at this forum who would like to discuss that.

 

[David Davidovich]

I read 150 days at Genesis 7:24 and Genesis 8:3.
So, the 40-day rain still left the people in the Ark for much more than 40 days.
Genesis 10:25-32 is about earth's population being divided, and what happened at Genesis 11:9 ( Babel )
​

Thank you for the correction. Therefore, I'll change my statement to: It would be really hard for me to believe that the: Breakup of Pangea - Dive & Discover (whoi.edu)-link only took 150 days (i.e., 5 months).

 

[David Davidovich]

Please tell us what you don't understand about Genesis 2:17
What is in that verse that can't be understood ___________
The rule was ' don't eat from one forbidden tree '. Out of all the trees on Earth only one tree was forbidden.
The understanding was: that 'death' was the consequence.
Just step on an ant and one sees and knows what death is.

I know I'm going against my own advice, but Genesis 3:22 shows that Adam and Eve's continued life was contingent upon if they ate from the tree of life. Therefore, even though, Adam and Eve sinned, according to Genesis 3:22, they still had to be kept away from the tree of life in order to really prevent them from having everlasting life:

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”​

Genesis 3:22

But once again, you should start your own thread topics for the questions that you have.

 

[David Davidovich]

What we do know at least is that some in eretz Israel knew of the Babylonian narrative as a tablet in northern Israel was found with at least part of it being inscribed there, which is older than at least the written narrative of Genesis.

Well, I'll say that just about says it all.

 

[F1fan]

Please tell us what you don't understand about Genesis 2:17
What is in that verse that can't be understood ___________
The rule was ' don't eat from one forbidden tree '. Out of all the trees on Earth only one tree was forbidden.
The understanding was: that 'death' was the consequence.
Just step on an ant and one sees and knows what death is.

Let me ask you this, if you were in place of Adam and Eve would you have eaten from the forbidden tree?

 

[Aupmanyav]

It was Eve who tempted Adam.

 

[YoursTrue]

I'm reading some of the comments here, and while I certainly can't account for everything -- obviously -- it seems to me that humans alone argue about religion. Plants do not. Lions do not. Gorillas do not.

 

[Subduction Zone]

It was Eve who tempted Adam.

And the serpent was the only one that did not lie in the story. Yet somehow the serpent "deceived Eve".

 

[Aupmanyav]

-- it seems to me that humans alone argue about religion. Plants do not. Lions do not. Gorillas do not.

Plants, lions, gorillas do not have such useless thoughts like Gods and religions. Their are practical - 'how much that deer weighs', 'that is a well fermented fruit, will eat that and play with the ladies of the harem', etc.

 

[Audie]

I'm reading some of the comments here, and while I certainly can't account for everything -- obviously -- it seems to me that humans alone argue about religion. Plants do not. Lions do not. Gorillas do not.

Deep

 

[metis]

Well, I'll say that just about says it all.

Well, laugh if you want, but it does show that at least some in Israel prior to the writing of Genesis knew of the Babylonian narrative. Maybe study instead of laughing at someone and I think you'll probably get much further ahead.

BTW, laughing at someone in a sarcastic manner really isn't compatible with Christ's teachings, but then you're a Trump supporter if I remember correctly.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Excepting there had been no death ( as per story) and they didnt die upon fruit - eatin', so where does what you say make any sense.

You are Not alone in wondering, and having an inquiring mind one wants to know.
In Bible speak, so to speak, we find the word ' day ' has shades of meaning.
Even today we speak of 'grandfather's day' and we know that is more than a 24 hour day.
ALL of the creative days notice are summed up by the single word ' day ' at Genesis 2:4.
What we find is that Adam and Eve would die in the ' day ' they ate, but Not in a 24-hour day.
Adam lived 930 years and the oldest person lived 969 years - Genesis 5:3; Genesis 5:27.
In God's eyes a thousand years is as a ' day ' so they died within that thousand year time frame or 'day'.
- Psalms 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8. In other words, No one would live past age 1,000.
Just as Jesus' coming 'Millennium-Long Day' is a thousand-year day or a time frame of one-thousand years.

 

[URAVIP2ME]

I know I'm going against my own advice, but Genesis 3:22 shows that Adam and Eve's continued life was contingent upon if they ate from the tree of life. Therefore, even though, Adam and Eve sinned, according to Genesis 3:22, they still had to be kept away from the tree of life in order to really prevent them from having everlasting life:

And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”.....​

.... and because of Jesus' ransom price (Matthew 20:28) we find the return of the ' tree of life ' - Revelation 22:2,14
The ' tree of life ' for the humble meek people who will inherit the Earth - Matthew 5:5; Psalms 37:9-11​

 

[URAVIP2ME]

Let me ask you this, if you were in place of Adam and Eve would you have eaten from the forbidden tree?

I remember when I was about age 20 there was a local ice cream farm store.
As I ate the delicious ice cream it was so fresh tasting as if it was just made directly from the cow.
A silly thought entered my head that I wondered if Adam could have tasted this would he have sinned ________
Can any of know what we would have done.
I like it here on terra firma (Earth) and I know I don't want to leave it.
So, if I would feel that way in Eden I would think I would have been content to be here forever.
Remember: Adam did Not eat until after Eve presented the fruit to Adam.
So, could be Adam deliberately chose to listen to Eve because he did Not want to live without Eve.
Did Adam chose suicide rather than live without Eve over trusting his God ______