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To: ctdonath2

Doesn’t matter if you look at the Bible as a relationship book (how to relate between God and man), rather than a historical, factual recording of the past.

IMHO, the Bible is meant to be instructive and relational, not factual. It highlights important people who showed their devotion to God, and uses easy-to-remember numbers and stories to show that devotion.

Like Samson killing 1000 with the jawbone of a donkey. Assuming that was his weapon, it was clearly hand-to-hand combat. Assuming a 14 hour day (about as long as they get in Israel), that is more than 1 man a minute, non-stop.

Did Samson actually kill 1000, or 1001, or 997? Doesn’t matter. What DOES matter is that Samson, armed with the barest of the bare weapons, succeeded in the face of insurmountable odds because God was on his side.


21 posted on 08/24/2016 9:13:46 AM PDT by Shanghai Dan
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To: Shanghai Dan

Yes, exact precision doesn’t really matter. Order-of-magnitude does, insofar as it indicates whether it’s “ballpark” reasonable or just plain absurd. Yes, Samson could kill something on the order of a thousand people (alright, maybe it was several hundred) within a reasonable time (less than a day). But if we look at the objective reality about animal species & sizes, compared with a pretty clear statement of how big the boat is, and conclude they’re incompatible by (as I like to put it) orders of magnitude of orders of magnitude, then the “Noah’s Flood” story is just preposterous ... or maybe the numbers do work out kinda close, making the story plausible (allowing for details unnecessary in a summary telling of the story).


24 posted on 08/24/2016 9:18:42 AM PDT by ctdonath2 ("If anyone will not listen to your words, shake the dust from your feet and leave them." - Jesus)
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To: Shanghai Dan

The scribes of the Fertile Crescent at that time always exaggerated numbers by orders of magnitude.


39 posted on 08/24/2016 10:27:30 AM PDT by C19fan
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