Originally posted by Phage
Because, as pointed out, many (all) civilizations began in coastal areas and river valleys. Tsunamis and floods. A tsunami or flood had the potential
to wipe away an entire civilization. The stuff of legend.
Possible, but I'm inclined to believe otherwise- ancient civilizations, including China, Babylonia, Wales, Rusia, India, Hawaii, Scandinavia,
Sumatra, Peru, Polynesia, and even America all have accounts of a world-wide flood.
Here's a few, from
this site here.
Africa, Southwest Tanzania (which I would like to point out is not near the coast).
Once upon a time the rivers began to flood. The god told two people to get into a ship. He told them to take lots of seed and to take lots of
animals. The water of the flood eventually covered the mountains. Finally the flood stopped. Then one of the men, wanting to know if the water had
dried up let a dove loose. The dove returned. Later he let loose a hawk which did not return. Then the men left the boat and took the animals and the
seeds with them.
North America- Aztec
A man named Tapi lived a long time ago. Tapi was a very pious man. The creator told Tapi to build a boat that he would live in. He was told
that he should take his wife, a pair of every animal that was alive into this boat. Naturally everyone thought he was crazy. Then the rain started and
the flood came. The men and animals tried to climb the mountains but the mountains became flooded as well. Finally the rain ended. Tapi decided that
the water had dried up when he let a dove loose that did not return.
United States- The Ojibwe (living in Minnesota since 1400 AD)
There came a time when the harmonious way of life did not continue. Men and women disrespected each other, families quarreled and soon villages
began arguing back and forth. This saddened Gitchie Manido [the Creator] greatly, but he waited. Finally, when it seemed there was no hope left,
Creator decided to purify Mother Earth through the use of water. The water came, flooding the Earth, catching all of creation off guard. All but a few
of each living thing survived.
A lot of these stories are not "scientifically probable", yet they all carry similar characteristics- they all agree on "destruction by water" and
that Humans and animals were spared. A lot of them also attributed it to God and even say a warning was given.
Now, certainly it's
possible that these are all coincidences, that this flood only destroyed their own little "universe", yet there's a lot
of problems if you go down that road. Why would they say a boat was built? Why not just say it was a flood and they escaped past their valleys? Why
would they say it covered
all the mountains? I certainly think these legends got skewed a bit, but the meat and potatoes of it always stay the
same.
Originally posted by olliemc84
My belief is that the "great flood" was already a distant memory 3,900 years ago. IMO I think the flood happened between 12,000 and 9,000 BC.
I believe it was 4,400 years ago, as I believe in a literal 6-day creation, and that this Earth is a few years short of 6,000 years.
Originally posted by zazzafrazz
There is absolutely no evidence of a worldwide flood 4000 years ago, or 7000 years ago, the scars on the earth from natures impact (including humans)
are all there to read, you just have to be bothered to source science journals and not ficticious literature.
I disagree, we are looking at the exact same data but coming to different conclusions- for the Creationist, the data matches perfectly with the
Biblical account of the Deluge, and I believe that the evidence is incredibly abundance- everything from fossils, to the sedimentary rocks, to the
grand canyon, to the clams on top of Mt. Everest-
I implore you to do your own critical thinking and not place so much faith in scientific journals.
