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Why It is Unlikely God Wrote the Entire Bible


Here is an email I received in response to one of my essays.

Why It is Unlikely God Wrote the Entire Bible : Earle Cardinal : recardinal@yahoo.com : 2000-09-29

Good morning:

Have just been reading your essay, Why It is Unlikely God Wrote the Entire Bible. I am a Fundamentalist, but still found your arguments compelling. I must admit that because of my ignorance in many of the matters discussed, I cannot give you a cogent reply. On two issues, however, I offer the following Biblical references for your consideration. If you are already familiar with them, I apologise and thank you for your time.

First of all, not all the water of the Flood came from rain. "In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were opened." Genesis 7:11 (RSV) Thus, it was not just from the sky from which the water came, it was also from beneath the ground.

Good observation! However, the implausibility of the flood comes not just from that much rain but also from the consequences of that much water materialising. See the revised essay on the flood which goes into the physics of that.

Where did all the water go after the flood? "(5) Thou didst set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be shaken. (6) Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. (7) At thy rebuke they fled; at the sound of thy thunder they took to flight. (8) The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which thou didst appoint for them. (9) Thou didst set a bound which they should not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth." Psalms 104:5-9 (RSV) From verses 8 and 9, we see that the waters are still here. Apparently the topography of the Antediluvian Earth was much flatter. There were seas, but not the great oceans that existed thereafter.

Oddly there is no geologic evidence to back this up. God for some reason covered his tracks making it look as if that never happened.

Another interesting and little known fact is that humans were herbivorous: (17) And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; (18) thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. (19) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:17-19 (RSV) Notice in 18 and 19 that the diet of man is vegetarian. Then after the flood, God said to Noah,(2) “The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. (3) Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” Genesis 9:2-3 (RSV) with special attention to verse 3, note that the diet of man has now become omnivorous.

These verses are why I detest the Christians such as George W. Bush who think they own the planet to do with as they please, without any regard for preserving it for future generations or other species besides man.

Thank you again for your time. I have enjoyed reading your thoughts and having this opportunity to respond.

It a pleasure to debate with you. You fight fairly and honestly.

With Christ’s love,

Earle Cardinal


As of 2001-03-31 there are 66 more emails in my mail basket I have not processed yet. This page is only one of many projects I have underway. It may take years before I get round to them all. Not many people read these feedback pages so I tend to put maintaining them on low priority.


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