Antediluvian

It is only natural for one to be struck with curiosity about life; particularly, past life events that simply have no way of being proved. It is easy to recognize the existence of some things due to items such as artifacts, bones, etc., being preserved—but how could one possibly manifest the truth of a story? Where do you draw the line between a tall tale that was created to teach a lesson and a factual event? For example, the great flood. Civilizations and cultures all around the world have…

The film, Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Ari Handel was released recently in March 2014 and is based on the biblical event of Noah’s ark. Several historical books contain the story of Noah and early civilizations have flood stories recorded at around the same time period. It is hard to pin down what actually happened in the flood account because it happened in a very early time period and there are several different versions of the story. The film portrays the story of Noah in a…

To many people, the story of The Great Flood from the Bible is commonly known. But, what is not typically realized is the many similarities it shares with The Epic of Gilgamesh. In both the Bible and The Epic of Gilgamesh, there are many common themes including a great flood to wipe out humanity, saving the animals from death by the flood and blessing the builder of the ark after the flood subsided. The common theme of a flood wiping out humanity is shared between the Bible and The Epic of…

Three Different Cultures with Three Similar Flood Stories Globally, floods are one of the most devastating natural disasters. This is expected, as massive amounts of water drench the land, causing a great deal of damage to everything in its path. In many cultures, specifically in Greek, Christian, and ancient Mesopotamian beliefs, floods play a big role towards the “rebirth” of a better mankind. A flood story is present in each culture, each story having a main character: Deucalion, Noah, and…

In the readings I found a significant meaning to each story that involved a flood. I believe that the human concept of a disastrous flood had a reason behind every flood. In Genesis God seen that evil was overtaking humankind and God chose to “wipe out the human race” with a flood. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the story had the same concept as Noah’s Ark in Genesis and that was to destroy mankind and the sins that was within them. The flood(s) was definitely global, in many cultures the stories of…

What makes the story of Noah so captivating? Possibly the perspective of a widespread flood, or maybe that the story is considered unique to the Old Testament. However, what if I told you that the story of a global flood is not unique to the Old Testament, but it is in fact a story told in many different cultures. This is the case with the Old Testament, and the ancient Mesopotamian story the Epic of Gilgamesh. Although the two stories share many similarities, the flood stories in both piece of…

To my fellow college colleagues: Creationist and Evolutionist Is there really evidence that proves the world wide flood actually happened that is written about in the book of Genesis? The Bible tells us of the Great Flood, how it covered the whole earth. (Gen 17:7 [NKJV]) “Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it was raised high above the earth.” The Bible also gives many clues to how the flood was able to cover the whole earth by God’s…

The creation story, along with many other stories of the bible are not clear black and white of what can be considered right and wrong. This grey area is not only present in the story of Noah and the ark but also in other accounts such as, the Epic of Gilgamesh. Many scholars hold a belief that the story of Noah found in Genesis 6-9 and the Epic of Gilgamesh found in Israelite literature are accounts that have significant parallels. In the beginning of each story, the one deity or the gods…

Erica: Hi Noah, I was just telling the kids about how God gives all of us “do overs”and about the big thing God wanted you to do. Ryan: One day God told me he had a giant do-over planned for the World. He told me to build a boat that I called the “Ark”. Erica: How big was the Ark? Ryan: Well, it was huge. It was about 1 ½ football fields long and higher than a 4 story building. It had a deck that went around the boat that could hold 20 basketball courts. It was big & it was sweet.…

Flood Myths: Montagnais and Quechua Culture Myths of the New World might surprise someone unfamiliar with the multiple iterations of the universal flood myth. The Montagnais culture depicts a story where the hero, Messou, is faced with the problem of losing his dogs to a large lake. After being informed by a bird about the whereabouts of his dog, the brave Messou attempts to rescue his canine companion from the lake, but the lake overflows and the world is ruined. Furthermore, with the aid of a…