Fundamentalists and the Bible 01

26 Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech for seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters.

27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

28 When Lamech had lived for one hundred and eighty-two years, he became the father of a son;

29 he named him Noah, saying, 'Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.'

30 Lamech lived after the birth of Noah for five hundred and ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters.

31 Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

For verses 7 through 32 above, see the previous "Notes about being pregnant" and the limits of time female eggs have before they are all used up, or degenerate.

The time between the birth of Cain, and that of Seth is not given, just that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born. Of possible interest at some point soon may be that, from what we are told here, the time span between Adam's birth/creation, to Noah's is 1, 056 years, and that time span is 1,556 years by the time Noah had 3 sons, Ham, Shem, and Japeth, plus the verses starting in chapter 6 below, and people multiplying, which is presumably, the time of the flood.

There are 3 major errors in chapter 5.

Chapter 6

The Wickedness of Humankind

1 When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,

2 the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.

This seems as if these "sons of God" are different from those like Adam who were made in the likeness and image of God. Did God have a wife, perhaps Sofia, as is in some legends?

Still, the questions remain as to who these sons of God were, and why they came down to earth (presumably they were heaven born beings), and marry them. Were their women ugly, or were there any women, daughters of God? And if they were "sons of God", how is it that they became so totally displeasing to God in so short a time? More importantly to the story being told as if it is sacred scripture for humanity's use—what difference does this make? And if no difference, why even put it in here? It seems out of place, and rather ridiculous.

3 Then the Lord said, 'My spirit shall not abide* in mortals for ever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'

Are the "sons of God" mortals? That doesn't make any sense either. And how could "sons of God" become such that God himself couldn't abide them? And, laughably, he couldn't abide them but for an additional one hundred and twenty years! Again, this, it seems, is so ludicrous that something like this is even here unless Genesis is more than tinged with tales being told and believed by other people than those directly descended from Adam and Eve in this time.

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterwards—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

These "Nephilim" are definitely presented as different from "the sons of God" in the previous verse. Or are they? We're not definitively told. Who are they? Where did they come from? They don't seem to be children of Adam and Eve, "the mother of all who live". If they're the same as the "sons of God", why aren't we told? Internet searches reveal many different thoughts on it, but nothing is truly stated in the Bible.

If one uses the rules of egg fertility, one has to wonder how it is that the Nephilim are said to be heroes of old, and warriors of renown? Heroes, warriors of renown, are something said of men of valor in great battles. As condensed as the Bible makes its history to be seen, there is no way cities could come into being, and certainly not as Sumer, and others are, as is historical.

Yes, if one doubles something each day, one gets an astronomical number at the end of, say, sixty-four days of doubling from each previous day. But that's assuming, in this case that all living continue to live. If, as the Bible says, the Nephilim were warriors of renown, that means killing others; just how many men remained to procreate? Surely it was young men who were mostly the ones to die, for they're the ones with surging testosterone.

Then too, there were lions in the area in those days, as well as other predators. How many died from predators? What about death from disease? Or just sickness that no one knew how to cure that we so easily cure now? We must remember that there were no dietary laws of any kind back then. We're not even told that they knew how to use fire.

As well, if they were warriors of renown, then, as humans often do, they pillage, rape, and kill, else why would God have said that in the next verses that the earth was full of wickedness. No, a multitude of people doesn't make sense. The sense of too many "warriors" and wickedness seems more like "Conan" movie fare.

At the end of the note for the previous chapter (5), we find that Noah is one thousand, five hundred, and fifty-six years from the birth of Adam to when he is said to have three sons at five hundred years of age.

Again, how could there be heroes of old when there aren't enough people to war against, much less become "renown"? It sounds more as if there were bullies in the village. Again, too, read the notes on the life of viable eggs for reproduction.

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.

6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

7 So the Lord said, 'I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.'

Now how can God be God, omniscient as he must be as God, and be "sorry" that he didn't have the foresight to see how his creations must turn out? This is beyond believable. At least two asterisks on this, though it should be five. **

8 But Noah found favour in the sight of the Lord.

Note: Between this part of chapter 6, and the next chapter, all but the "willfully blind" will see the hand of man in writing Genesis, as well as the whole of the Bible. Note the vast differences, and wonder at which you are supposed to believe, or if you can truly believe both regardless of the vast discrepancies.

Noah Pleases God

9 These are the descendants of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.

10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth.

How can the earth itself become corrupt? Flesh, yes, though as his creatures, he should have easily foreseen it, but the earth? Not possible. Yet no matter that "the earth was corrupt" and "filled with violence", he gave it, and them, another one hundred and twenty years in verse 3 above. This, as said then, is ludicrous.

Two asterisks for this in case any wish to argue it. **

13 And God said to Noah, 'I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

14 Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

Well, for a literally taken Bible, it is not true that he destroyed the "earth" as in the end of verse 13. For Fundamentalists who say the word of God is sacrosanct, this is not correct for the earth was, and is, still here. *****

Note that a cubit is seen by just about everyone as being one and a half feet. Therefore, in our terms, the ark was supposed to be four hundred and fifty feet long, its width seventy-five feet, and its height forty-five feet.

16 Make a roof* for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17 For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.

18 But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.

19 And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

For literalist Fundamentalists, verse 17 contradicts itself when it says God will destroy "from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life," then continues on and adds "everything that is on the earth shall die."

Not everything that has the breath of life is literally on the earth. Whales come to mind, as do porpoises, dolphins, sea turtles, seals, manatees, etc. This is picky, but the Fundamentalists are pickier than picky. This is an error for them. *****

Again, another literal reading reveals a discrepancy, for being the exact word of God, and unchangeable. Verse 19 says that "...of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female." The KJV and the Catholic Bibles say the same thing.

Okay, how do you fit in two blue whales, two humpback whales, two killer whales, two beluga whales, etc., and all the other mammals from the water that breathe and are "flesh"? Yes, we all know what the intent is supposed to be, but those of Fundamentalist views insist that God's word is God's word, and that's all there is to it. This is another Fundamentalist error, as well as the Bible's. *****

By the way, even fish are a part of "living flesh".

Two of a kind is very important, and what we are all used to hearing about the animals on the ark. For those familiar with Summer Bible School, many may have heard a song played by a music teacher to the children about the animals going into the ark in "twosies" to lock in that idea into their minds.

20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to you, to keep them alive.

This includes insects and bugs of every kind; earthworms, nematodes, dragon flies, ants, and even bacteria for they also need oxygen, and thus "breathe".

And according to "their kinds" is taken to be each animal is to be taken as a species of a significant kind: that is, a leopard and a cheetah are of a species, but not of each other's kind.

Be that as it may, as of August 4, 2012, according to one Internet site, there are three hundred fifty (350) to three hundred seventy-six (376) species of primates, and nine thousand, five hundred and forty-seven (9,547) species of reptiles. I didn't bother to check on birds, insects, bugs, snakes, or bacteria, for these figures are more than enough for our purposes. What is now has to be what God made according to Fundamentalist views. In other words, there isn't enough room in the ark for all of these animals. This is a humongous error, to be sure. *****

21 Also take with you every kind of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them.'

Please note that there is not a word said about "manna" from heaven, but "every kind of food that is eaten", and it is to be stored up for as long as it is needed as food for all of them.

How in the world can that tiny ark hold food for all of the animals above? See above for how many there had to be food for, for God's word is perfect, and not to be denied according to Fundamentalists. This is another error. *****

Lest any think that it is possible to store enough food for only the forty days that it rained, please wait to see what God's word is in chapter 7, which is next.

22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

There are 5 major and 2 probable errors in chapter 6.

Chapter 7

The Great Flood

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, 'Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.

2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate;

3 and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth.

Seven pairs? Not two of each kind? Then another pair of the animals that are unclean too? Whoa, this is not what it says in chapter 6. How can this be the inerrant (no errors) word of God when a humongous contradiction like this is present?

This is perhaps the plainest to see error in the Bible, a contradiction unlike any other, and proves without a doubt that the Fundamentalists are wrong. The Bible was written by at least two men, and probably at two different times. *****

It's hard enough to imagine two elephants, two hippos, two crocodiles, two alligators, two giraffes, two lions, two leopards, two cheetahs, two wildebeests, two bison, two horses, two donkeys, two chimpanzees, as well as two of every "kind" of monkeys, two baboons, two hares, snakes, etc., etc., etc., much less seven (7) pairs of each clean type, whatever they were supposed to be back then, plus the one pair of each of the unclean animals.

Note: This, of the "clean" and "unclean" animals, wasn't determined until after the so-called Exodus was begun as part of the Law. This is further proof that men wrote this, and not God, nor even Moses as dictated by God. Another error. *****

If any are as I was in the past, I never bothered to read beyond the two pairs in chapter 6 and always took it for granted that it was as I was told, that there were two pairs, never mind how many animals that meant, nor the food part either.

On another note, what were they supposed to do with all the body waste? Who cleaned it, or did they train them to put their butts over the side to potty and urinate?

This is proof positive, and plainly seen by any who have eyes to see, and are not willfully blinded, that there are two stories about the exact same event in the bible, and no "spiritual" as well as "physical" aspect to it. The Bible is plainly erroneous in what it says.

4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.'

Ah, here we see that we must add seven (7) days in the ark before the rain came. He couldn't have waited until the waters came to enter the ark with all the animals. And how did Noah get hippos, crocodiles, and such to enter the ark?

How could he possibly have rounded up giraffes, etc., from Africa, and other lands such as Australia, South America, the Artic, etc., in seven days? The continents and countries we have now are what they were in these days for there is nothing that evolves according to Fundamentalists. What God made stays as he made it. Giraffes, chimpanzees, wildebeests, etc., are from Africa, and other animals are from their respective continents. This is an obvious error in the Bible. *****

In sequence, verse 1 said for Noah to go into the ark, and continuing in verse 4, saying he was going to bring the waters in seven (7) days.

5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth.

7 And Noah with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood.

8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,

9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came on the earth.

We are now given Noah's age at the time of the flood: six hundred years. This is one thousand, six hundred and fifty-six years after Adam.

Note that Noah's sons were over one hundred years old when the flood ended, and they had no children. By this time, the wives of Noah's sons had no eggs with which to have children. At the rate of twelve per year, the five hundred or so viable eggs for reproduction (about a forty-two year supply), they had all passed out of their bodies without the interruption of pregnancy, and more, of time passed.

There would have been no children after the flood—unless they were married just before the flood, and to very young girls just past puberty. This is another probable error, as the ages of the wives of Noah's sons are not given. **

In verse 9 we have a positive repeat of the clean and unclean animals going into the ark, and not as stated in chapter 6.

11 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.

12 The rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights.

13 On the very same day Noah with his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons, entered the ark,

14 they and every wild animal of every kind, and all domestic animals of every kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every bird of every kind—every bird, every winged creature.

15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.

Noah is now six hundred years old, and his sons at least one hundred years old, or more.

The "...windows of heaven were opened." Refer back to chapter 1 when God separated the waters above from the waters below and the so-called dome.

Is this saying that, yes, it rained when God opened up the windows to release water held in the heavens that was separated from the earth as in chapter 1? It seems to be so. There are no windows. This is an error. *****

In verse 15, we have a problem in what is said is God's exactness, as the Fundamentalists say. "...two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life". All flesh with the breath of life could be taken to mean all that in the sea that breathe, keeping with the "inerrancy" of the Bible.

For sure, if we say that fishes do not breathe (at least not as we do), but whales, and other mammals in the waters do. This is another repeated error in the Bible. *****

16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.

17 The flood continued for forty days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth.

18 The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth; and the ark floated on the face of the waters.

19 The waters swelled so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered;

20 the waters swelled above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep.

21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all human beings;