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Original poster

To ask a stupid question? Noah's Ark

284 replies

Besttimelftheyear · 29/08/2024 16:44

So I am not religious, but I would say I was brought up Christian. I would say my parents were non practicing Christians, but I was taught bible stories as truth and facts. The logical adult in me now says that most of the events can be explained quite simply.

Onto the question. Noah's Ark, is there any evidence of a global flood? Noah was supposed to have taken two of each animals onto the boat while the earth was flooded and wiped out everything else.

Surely this was simply a regular flood like we see today?

What are peoples beliefs or knowledge on this?

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HowardTJMoon · 30/08/2024 10:54

Calmomiletea · 30/08/2024 10:14

Sincerely, if you truly seek God and seek to know Him you will. Just as God warns the people in Noah's day he does today. He has given you free will.

If I didn't know Him and know this to be true, I would not be spending the time writing this.

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Has God specifically told you that the story of Noah's ark is literally true?

Original poster
Besttimelftheyear · 30/08/2024 10:36

If we did have science, surely we'd have all believed that God sent Covid, and thousands more would have died than did.

Same more modern day floods and extreme weather events.

Any big event that we didn't understand - blame it on God.

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Pettyhangingbaskets · 30/08/2024 10:26

Calmomiletea · 30/08/2024 10:14

Sincerely, if you truly seek God and seek to know Him you will. Just as God warns the people in Noah's day he does today. He has given you free will.

If I didn't know Him and know this to be true, I would not be spending the time writing this.

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So God gives you free will then drowns everyone in a worldwide flood for using that free will ? Including all the children, babies and people who lived in areas that hadn’t heard of your God ?
Do you not realise how silly that sounds ?
And you don’t ‘know’, you believe

Calmomiletea · 30/08/2024 10:14

HowardTJMoon · 30/08/2024 09:30

Read the Bible. The world lies. God doesn't.

While that may or may not be true, you'd first have to demonstrate that the Bible is the actual word of God.

Sincerely, if you truly seek God and seek to know Him you will. Just as God warns the people in Noah's day he does today. He has given you free will.

If I didn't know Him and know this to be true, I would not be spending the time writing this.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr · 30/08/2024 10:14

It’s not a fossilised boat.

Some rocks exist

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 30/08/2024 10:09

There is a photo of a fossilised boat shape on or near Mt Aratat. I know the dimensions of Noah's ark are given in the Bible (in cubits, which is the length of elbow to fingertips) and i wouldnt be at all surprised to find that they match. I can't post the photo but it'll be Googleable.

Pettyhangingbaskets · 30/08/2024 10:09

Calmomiletea · 30/08/2024 09:51

Really.. what's so unrealistic about it, in your mind?

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Seriously ?

ShillyShallySherbet · 30/08/2024 10:06

I’m sure there were floods but remember that long ago there would have been no concept of how huge the whole world is. When there are no cars, planes, space rockets etc a large flood in your area could feel like it was the whole world.

I think Bible stories have truth in them but have been exaggerated and also the same stories cross over into other religions/myths etc

x2boys · 30/08/2024 10:03

Besttimelftheyear · 30/08/2024 10:01

Oh and in my childhood bible Jesus was a blonde haired blue eyed man.

Lol yes!

Original poster
Besttimelftheyear · 30/08/2024 10:01

Oh and in my childhood bible Jesus was a blonde haired blue eyed man.

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RibbonEels · 30/08/2024 10:01

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This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Original poster
Besttimelftheyear · 30/08/2024 09:58

@x2boys I do vaguely remember my dad explaining to me that the Old Testament was not 'true' or not to be taken as literal but I don't think I really understood.

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MrsTerryPratchett · 30/08/2024 09:56

Moonmelodies · 30/08/2024 09:37

There a few 'kinds' of aardvarks that eat a diet almost entirely of termites - a lot of termites. I wonder how many tons of termites would have had to be kept on board to feed those aardvarks. Also, what do termites eat?

Wood, so they gradually ate the boat while it sailed around. Obviously!

Theologian here Grin

Original poster
Besttimelftheyear · 30/08/2024 09:55

KrisAkabusi · 30/08/2024 09:45

I’m not religious, but IMO there are plenty of Christians nowadays who don’t take everything in the Bible literally, and can accept that in bygone eras had to find ways to explain things they didn’t and couldn’t understand.

I don't understand how anyone can believe in religion in this situation. Once you accept that most of your holy book is a story, how to you decide "but not this bit, this thing definitely happened" when there is no more evidence than for any other part.

That's what I think. How do humans today decide which bits to believe.

It seems to me that people interpret their own meanings which is fair enough. But I fail to see even any symbolic meaning in a lot of these stories.

I've found a copy of my old childhood bible, it's made me want to order one and try to decipher it.

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x2boys · 30/08/2024 09:54

KrisAkabusi · 30/08/2024 09:45

I’m not religious, but IMO there are plenty of Christians nowadays who don’t take everything in the Bible literally, and can accept that in bygone eras had to find ways to explain things they didn’t and couldn’t understand.

I don't understand how anyone can believe in religion in this situation. Once you accept that most of your holy book is a story, how to you decide "but not this bit, this thing definitely happened" when there is no more evidence than for any other part.

Well realistically there couldnt have been just one man and women that gave birth to the whole of the human race ,they had sons too so how wouldn't hat have worked ?

My very Catholic convent primary school taught us that a lot of the parables were stories to try and help people understand ,good and evil etc with some historical events thrown in.
We were supposed to beleive that the new testament was based on fact

Calmomiletea · 30/08/2024 09:51

HowardTJMoon · 30/08/2024 07:57

@Calmomiletea I have read genesis 6. It reads like fantastical mythology rather than factual account. It's as impossible a story as the one about Finn McCool building the Giant's Causeway because he wanted to go and beat up another giant but didn't want to get his feet wet crossing the Irish sea.

Why should we believe the story about Noah's ark but not the one about Finn MacCool?

Really.. what's so unrealistic about it, in your mind?

KrisAkabusi · 30/08/2024 09:45

I’m not religious, but IMO there are plenty of Christians nowadays who don’t take everything in the Bible literally, and can accept that in bygone eras had to find ways to explain things they didn’t and couldn’t understand.

I don't understand how anyone can believe in religion in this situation. Once you accept that most of your holy book is a story, how to you decide "but not this bit, this thing definitely happened" when there is no more evidence than for any other part.

Moonmelodies · 30/08/2024 09:37

There a few 'kinds' of aardvarks that eat a diet almost entirely of termites - a lot of termites. I wonder how many tons of termites would have had to be kept on board to feed those aardvarks. Also, what do termites eat?

Original poster
Besttimelftheyear · 30/08/2024 09:36

Thanks for all the responses and so interesting reading all these replies, I can so easily fall down a rabbit hole with this type of stuff because it's fascinating.

The thing is, as I child I was told these stories, not just by my parents but by school today (not even a faith school). I just believed it, like Santa. I was certainly never taught to take the stories as symbolic only.

But it's simply not possible.

Even with symbolic meaning, the idea that a loving God would kill all of his people including children, babies and animals.

How evil were these people?

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x2boys · 30/08/2024 09:35

MrsHamlet · 29/08/2024 18:14

Mount Ararat, which used to be in Armenia.

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Yes I thought they had found evidence that an ark shaped object waa buried there ?
I was brought Up as a Catholic and was always taught that much of of the old testament was not to be taken in the literal sense more about ancient stories trying to describe good and evil and some historic events may have got mixed in
I'm agnostic at best now.

HowardTJMoon · 30/08/2024 09:30

Read the Bible. The world lies. God doesn't.

While that may or may not be true, you'd first have to demonstrate that the Bible is the actual word of God.

Kendodd · 30/08/2024 09:26

00BonneMaman00 · 30/08/2024 07:25

And the poo. Imagine all the poo 💩

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Maybe Noah worked for Thames Water and just chucked it all in the sea like they do now.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 30/08/2024 09:25

LastTrainEast · 30/08/2024 09:09

I remember being taught even back in the 60s that those biblical events could have had natural causes and of course that will be what happened.

But when Christians agree (as they mostly do) then they are admitting that all god's actions were not his at all, but just natural events that the priests used to fool people.

Which is accurate, but I wonder how Christians can handle the contradiction.

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I’m not religious, but IMO there are plenty of Christians nowadays who don’t take everything in the Bible literally, and can accept that in bygone eras had to find ways to explain things they didn’t and couldn’t understand.

Even in late Victorian times many people still found Darwin’s theory of evolution sacrilegious. And of course fundamentalist Christians, especially across the pond, still do.

Coatscoatscoast · 30/08/2024 09:22

I think most of the stories have some basis in fact but have been exaggerated/added to of course over the years. I saw a programme years ago about the plagues of Egypt and how they could be attributed to seismic activity. Volcanic eruption = ash (black sky), leading to pollution in the river (rivers of blood) which lead to frogs relocating in search of food. Cattle drank from the river and became diseased and the first born sons got the lion share of the meat and were poisoned etc etc. can’t remember how the locusts and boils came into it but it all made sense and of course back then with no science it was simply attributed to God. Finally they said the Red Sea parting could have been the waters pulling back before a tsunami. Could have all been bunk but was very interesting!