Fudging The Evidence

[William]

Q: Why did The Creator hide the evidence for The Flood while revealing the evidence for The Dinosaurs?

[Replying to JehovahsWitness in post #81]

Surely the whole story is allegorical and not meant to be literal fact.

WAS THE FLOOD ACCOUNT MERE ALLEGORY?

Opinions differ on this question but in my opinon the biblical account is very much presented as a literal factual event. Rather than present Noah and his family in vague mystical terms, Noahs lineage and decendants are specifically listed. Although his location is not presented, the events are documented within a specific timeframe, logging months and years to that effect. The record includes where and in what mannet the vessel came aground and more importantly for Christians, Jesus refered to the account in speaking of prophecy involving future real word events, indicating he believed it an actual historical event.

The universiality flood myths can also be seen as indicative that there was indeed some kind of global event that impacted mankinds historical "memory".

CONCLUSION : As one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I believe that the authour is not presenting allegory but rather was recording a real historical event.




RELATED POSTS

How does one determine what is or is not literal?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 95#p890395

Are Jehovah's Witnesses "biblical listeralists"?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 28#p868428

Was the biblical flood story mere allegory?[this post]
viewtopic.php?p=1048372#p1048372

To learn more please go to other posts related to ...

THE FLOOD OF NOAH'S DAY , KILLING and ... BIBLICAL LITERALISM

And yet you try to pass off the guarantee uttered by Jesus that a prayer made with faith even as small as a mustard -seed (apparently the Disciples had less even than that) will enable one to relocate real -estate for land -reclamation as 'metaphor' (quote) and yet you want to present the Flood - nonsense as fact, with God faking the world up afterwards to look like it never happened (unless one denies the science). And you even seem to regard Job as factual and I'm pretty sure it's regarded more as a polemic poem.

[William]

[Replying to Eloi in post #16]

this topic begins with a false premise: that God hid evidence of the Flood.

On the contrary, the OPQ was purposefully presented to scope the irony that Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs, even that said evidence continues to strengthen through discovery. Whereas, evidence for the flood can be explained in other ways, the evidence for the dinosaurs can't.

The premise that begins by presuming the existence of The Creator, is for the sake of cutting to the chase.

The expression "hide the evidence for The Flood while revealing the evidence for The Dinosaurs?" isn't literally saying that is what happened, but rather that no evidence is hidden, which Christians haven't hidden from themselves...and attempted to hide the evidence from the world...because clearly The Creator isn't hiding the information re these two subjects, from us at all.

[Eloi]

[Replying to Eloi in post #16]

this topic begins with a false premise: that God hid evidence of the Flood.

On the contrary, the OPQ was purposefully presented to scope the irony that Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs, even that said evidence continues to strengthen through discovery. (...)

I do not know where did you get that idea from.
Who told you that "Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs"?

[William]

[Replying to Eloi in post #16]

this topic begins with a false premise: that God hid evidence of the Flood.

On the contrary, the OPQ was purposefully presented to scope the irony that Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs, even that said evidence continues to strengthen through discovery. (...)

I do not know where did you get that idea from.
Who told you that "Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs"?

Christians.

Are you a Christian? If so, what do you have to say about the evidence of the dinosaurs?

[Eloi]

[Replying to Eloi in post #16]

this topic begins with a false premise: that God hid evidence of the Flood.

On the contrary, the OPQ was purposefully presented to scope the irony that Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs, even that said evidence continues to strengthen through discovery. (...)

I do not know where did you get that idea from.
Who told you that "Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs"?

Christians.

Are you a Christian? If so, what do you have to say about the evidence of the dinosaurs?

I do not even understand what that question means
Do you think that being a believer means "to resist" archaeological evidence?

Archaeological evidence is being supporting biblical events, characters, ancient places, kingdoms, etc from the very beginning of its existence as a science.

[Tcg]

[Replying to Eloi in post #16]

this topic begins with a false premise: that God hid evidence of the Flood.

On the contrary, the OPQ was purposefully presented to scope the irony that Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs, even that said evidence continues to strengthen through discovery. (...)

I do not know where did you get that idea from.
Who told you that "Christians have resisted the evidence of dinosaurs"?

Christians.

Are you a Christian? If so, what do you have to say about the evidence of the dinosaurs?

I do not even understand what that question means
Do you think that being a believer means "to resist" archaeological evidence?

Archaeological evidence is being supporting biblical events, characters, ancient places, kingdoms, etc from the very beginning of its existence as a science.

Paleontology is the science that primarily seeks to understand fossil evidence:

Paleontology lies between biology and geology since it focuses on the record of past life, but its main source of evidence is fossils in rocks. For historical reasons, paleontology is part of the geology department at many universities: in the 19th and early 20th centuries, geology departments found fossil evidence important for dating rocks, while biology departments showed little interest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleontology

It would be quite a stretch to suggest that it supports biblical accounts.


Tcg

[William]

Is it known whether the bible mentions dinosaurs - perhaps as 'dragons'? Perhaps as some other thing which can be linked.

I see no reason to think that large fossils were unknown to Humans back in those ancient times...perhaps the explanation for them can be found in a variety of descriptions across all cultures...

[Tcg]

I see no reason to think that large fossils were unknown to Humans back in those ancient times...

Perhaps because there is no evidence that humans had uncovered them in those ancient times? In any case, the eventual discovery of these fossils doesn't support the claims of the Bible in any way. That is the point that matters here.


Tcg

[Eloi]

I see no reason to think that large fossils were unknown to Humans back in those ancient times...

Perhaps because there is no evidence that humans had uncovered them in those ancient times? In any case, the eventual discovery of these fossils doesn't support the claims of the Bible in any way. That is the point that matters here.


Tcg

Neither I nor any of Jehovah's Witnesses feel that our faith is changed in the least by the matter of the dinosaur remains that have been discovered buried. It seems to be some imaginary idea that some anti-Christian has imagined ... a straw man, isn't that how you call it?

[JehovahsWitness]

I see no reason to think that large fossils were unknown to Humans back in those ancient times...

Perhaps because there is no evidence that humans had uncovered them in those ancient times? In any case, the eventual discovery of these fossils doesn't support the claims of the Bible in any way. That is the point that matters here.


Tcg

Which biblical claims are you referring to here?

[Eloi]

Is it known whether the bible mentions dinosaurs - perhaps as 'dragons'? Perhaps as some other thing which can be linked.

I see no reason to think that large fossils were unknown to Humans back in those ancient times...perhaps the explanation for them can be found in a variety of descriptions across all cultures...

Without mentioning dinosaurs specifically, the Bible does refer to groups of creatures that may include them:

“Great sea creatures,” or “monsters.”​—Genesis 1:​21; New American Bible.

“All the creeping animals of the ground.”​—Genesis 1:​25.

“The wild animals of the earth.”​—Genesis 1:​25.
https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/q ... the-bible/