“I think that the Behemoth situation has been pretty well described historically, biblically and linguistically by other commenters.” No, no it hasn’t. The other commentators are not biblical scholars. Neither am I... I just try to use reason and the tools I have like most here.
If the scientific community is not trying to prop up a grant, they are generally bent on presenting evidence in the direction to support their foregone conclusions. You know as well as I do that from medicine to religion most people step onto the scene with predetermined opinions then make everything from the Bible to the Constitution support their personal beliefs instead of the other way around. The problem is weeding through that compulsion and looking at the real evidence. You believe or have been taught all your life that the evidence supports a certain thing and are not willing to look at other theories as a possibility. I’m not challenging your faith yet the internal reaction is exactly the same as if I had. I would encourage you to look at the opposing argument seriously and with an open mind. Do some studying of the evidence and not the suppositions of a couple of websites.
I appreciate your time and comment. Sorry if I was a bit coy. That’s a knee-jerk reaction and doesn’t generally move the conversation along.
It saddens me to see how many people think that scientists are only interested in getting grant money. Some of the greatest early work was done by people who were driven by fascination and curiosity in spite of great personal cost. Simon Winchestor’s book “The Map that Changed the World” demonstrates this with great clarity. In the late 1700’s, William Smith, a canal surveyor, became intrigued by the changing earth/rock layers he saw as he surveyed canal routes. He began to recognize identical layers in different areas with identical fossil remains. Eventually after many years of study and mapping, he developed and published in 1815 a geological map of all of Great Britain. It has been changed only slightly in modern times. Producing the map destroyed him financially, he ended up in debtors prison, and lost his home. The following two links tell his story and the story of English geology. Winchester’s book was a fascinating read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Smith_(geologist)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geology_of_the_United_Kingdom
There were no foregone conclusions when he studied and published. I strongly encourage you to look at this unprejudiced man’s life work. If you look at the second link, near the bottom of the article is a cross section of the underlying rock formations of England. It was this gradual change of layers that piqued his curiosity. I had the same feeling as I traveled the interstate across Kentucky where you can see layer after layer of rocks gradually being covered by new layers. If you figure each inch of rock equals 100 years, it soon becomes apparent what an amazingly long time it took for all these layers to be deposited. My time suggestion is just a guess, but you get the idea. Charles Darwin and others were influenced by this man’s pioneering work, which made it hard not to recognize the great age of the earth.
Another fascinating book is “When Life Nearly Died: the Greatest Mass Extinction of all Time”, by Michael J. Benton. This book goes into considerable detail regarding the scientific arguments in the early 1800’s and the discoveries that led to conclusions generally accepted today by most scientists.
A third book I recommend is “Engless Forms Most Beautiful” by Sean B. Carroll. This book covers the recent findings in genetics and developmental biology. Some of the conclusions are mind boggling.
I have spent considerable time reading the bible and attempting to understand how the writers were seeing and trying to describe their world. I challenge you to read at least one of these books and get back to me afterward. God is not diminished by the complexities scientists have discovered in our world. The people who try to simplify the world into a magic 7 day creation that has only existed for 6,000 words are the one’s who diminish this great and complex creation we live in.