Could the biblical stories such as Noah's Flood be 'based' on real events?

[Fanghur]

I'm just interested in knowing whether anyone thinks that the various stories in the Bible, and by that I mean those that are patently absurd as actually described in the Bible, could possibly have any grain of truth to them and actually be based (albeit extremely loosely) on actual events? For example, the story of Noah's Flood as described in the Bible has been so thoroughly debunked and is such an absurd claim that even most Christians and Jews don't even attempt to try and say that it's true. However, I remember reading somewhere that toward the end of the last ice age a massive ice dam in North America (at least I think it was in North America) broke, releasing a gargantuan amount of water into the world's oceans which caused ocean levels around the world to rise by over a hundred metres (I may have that number wrong, but either way, it rose by a huge amount).

 

I know that there are some scientists who believe that there may have been human civilizations existing in the last ice age (Atlantis being only the most obvious) on the basis that many artificial structures have been found under the ocean all around the world, some as far down as several dozen metres deep. Are there any non-bible literalists here who think that the story of Noah's Flood may be a reference to that event? It seems to me that it is possible at least in theory. Most myths and legends do tend to have at least a small grain of truth to them, however distorted.

Edited August 4, 2012 by Fanghur

[iNow]

History is loaded with floods. Just think about it for a moment. Humans tended to grow their tribes and increase their populations near water sources. Of course, when you reside near water the chance of flood goes up dramatically, especially during heavy storms. For that reason alone, mythologies and tribal stories are very often centered around floods... So sure, it's possible that there is a "grain of truth" in those stories. What's ridiculous nonsense is the idea that some ethereal dictator or cloud surfing sky pixie did all this, and that some dude named Noah grabbed two of every animal on to that boat and all others died.

 

At the following link, there's a whole section just on the flood itself: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-noahs-ark.html

[leolRasheed]

"This global descent into cold climate started about 100,000 years ago and ended 11,700" - How it works

 

I don't rotate nor revolve myself around Climate Change; so for me to say what happens after, would be stupid and ignorant - not to mention giving false information out. The distance between Noah's story, and the ending trivial of the event is [approximately] 7000-8000 years. I don't think it's pleasurable to say this gives some evidence to the story. But then you have to exert yourself and go on to say that "it may be 'based' that two-kind of each Animal on Earth, were able to fit in Noah's boat; and that they had food and water; nor kill each other.

 

They should be taken literally, because if they're thrown away or excused as a metaphor, or as you say 'an exaggeration'; then it shouldn't be in the Bible; but it is, and it's the truth. If you don't commit yourself, then you must doubt the story of Jesus; Genesis; Exodus, so on so forth. It's cherry picking.

 

Ohh, and Genesis: Just lol.... lol.

[Joatmon]

There is evidence to suggest that at one time the Mediterranean Sea was much lower than the Atlantic Ocean with a natural dam across the Straits of Gibraltar. This "dam" apparently gave way and the level of the Mediterranean rose quite quickly. This seems to have been well before humans developed the ability to record events, but perhaps a fear of floods was passed from generation to generation?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8404363.stm

[iNow]

This seems to have been well before humans developed the ability to record events, but perhaps a fear of floods was passed from generation to generation?

Indeed, and that process was well documented in a book called the Singer of Tales.

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singer_of_Tales

The Singer of Tales is a book by Albert Lord that discusses the oral tradition as a theory of literary composition and its applications to Homeric and medieval epic. It was published in 1960.

 

The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the author concentrates on the theory of Oral-Formulaic Composition and its implications for bards who would recite epic poetry and the eventual literary figures who converted that oral material into written form. His development of the theory is firmly rooted in studies of contemporary Serbo-Croatian poets who primarily use oral formulas to remember long passages that make up songs and epic.

[Athena]

I would bet my bank account that the biblical stories, especially the story of Eden and the flood, are translated Sumerian stories, and that understanding the story as recorded history will unlock the mystery of what is happening to the planet today.

 

Geologist believe they have found the 4 rivers of Eden. This would be in the area of Iran. We might consider what might happen that would cause all four rivers to flood, and what this experience would be for anyone living this valley with flood waters coming every direction. There is no place to run. It would be like being a bath tub and the water keeps rising. As the comedian Bill Cosby would asked, "How long can you tread water?".

 

Shall we look at the original story for clues? This naughty river ate a goddess's plants. In other words, it flooded. The goddess was furious with the river and order that it should die. The river was almost dead, when a clever fox convinced the goddess to let the river live. Remember in another time, people did not make the distinctions of living things and non living things that we do. They did not have the language for making such distinctions and catagorizing things, which must occur before there can be science. Anyway, the goddess and several other goddesses heal the river. One of the goddess specializes in healing ribs. She is the goddess of the "lady of rib" and the "lady who makes live". That is, she is Eve, the "lady who makes live", who was made from a rib. when the story was translated, some adjustments had to be made, so a story of many gods and be a story of one god.

 

So now the river is healed, and life returns to the valley and we get Eden and Adam. In cuneiform Eden means "uncultivated plain" and Adam means "settlement on the plain". The story is telling us of climate change, a flood, and then very long dry spell that is so severe it dried up the rivers, and then a return to normal climate and life in the valley. If we treat the story as recorded history, we may unlock the mystery of what is happening to us today. Geologist have found evidence of the whole story, but they are not climatologist.

[TheVillageAtheist]

Flood myths exist in most cultures because people tend to settle around bodies of water. If you live near a river now, you see how flooding even today can be a major problem, and major flooding can be catastrophic, so imagine how even a mild flood thousands of years ago could totally turn civilization on its ear. That said, the Biblical flood story isn't necessarily based on a real flood.

 

First of all, Noah's flood story is based on the flood story from the epic of Gilgamesh, and the flood part of that story may itself be a late addition based on the flood myth from the epic of Atra-Hasis, so it's unlikely that there was any singular event that triggered the Noah flood myth. Instead, there probably were several floods that ingrained themselves into the culture, and became a popular backdrop for morality and hero stories. A modern example would be counter-terrorism/special ops/black ops books/movies/games that pit heroes against forces of radical political or religious ideologies. Now, we can't say any one particular terrorist attack served as a catalyst for this kind of story, but their ever-present threat make them fertile ground for such stories.

Edited August 4, 2012 by TheVillageAtheist

[iNow]

And now for something completely different:

 

[ecoli]

I would bet my bank account that the biblical stories, especially the story of Eden and the flood, are translated Sumerian stories, and that understanding the story as recorded history will unlock the mystery of what is happening to the planet today.

 

I'd be happy to take all your money.

[KenBakerMN]

There is evidence to suggest that at one time the Mediterranean Sea was much lower than the Atlantic Ocean with a natural dam across the Straits of Gibraltar. This "dam" apparently gave way and the level of the Mediterranean rose quite quickly. This seems to have been well before humans developed the ability to record events, but perhaps a fear of floods was passed from generation to generation?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8404363.stm

A similar theory is a flood through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea.

[harshgoel1975]

there is a similar story in Sanskrit texts... i did some comparison

 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/112003760/Resemblance-Between-Story-of-Noah-and-Ancient-Indian-Noa-Kha-The-Story-of-Manu-V-90

 

Bother stories are more and less same .. represent the same event.. even the mountain they landed started with alphabet... and so on...

[Hendrick Laursen]

Actually, the "Flood" story is indeed a Sumerian one. The tale says:

 

As people started doing evil and paid no more attention to gods, they became very frustrated and wanted their revenge. So they sent a flood which drowned all of the humans, except a guy named "Shamash- N' Pishtim" (Note that Shamash was the Sun God of Sumer) was saved.

 

Also they're strong evidence that probable this flood was a rise of "Persian Gulf" which stretched up to Sumerian cities then.