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To: Dataman
ok, 7 pairs of some animals and one pair of others. But my point is (see my earlier posts to BibChr): SO WHAT, in light of the larger issue of the theological message of the story?

Also, I did not claim that it was "borrowed" in a simplistic fashion. Source criticism of the Pentateuch has moved beyond the mere isolation of strata. What does seem likely is that the human authors of Genesis 6-9, under divine inspiration mind you, and aware of the traditions about a Great Flood that preceded them and that existed in other cultures, traditions that suggest a certain viewpoint regarding the relationship between humans and God, crafted their own Great Flood story, drawing on similar motifs but radically altering the message.

As for scholarship, a quick review of the books on my shelf demonstrate amazing unanimity on this point: see Blenkisopp (Pentateuch); see Whybray's article, "Genesis," in the Oxford Bible Commentary; see C. Westermann's Genesis 1-11; see the relevant sections of K. Sparks, The Pentateuch: An Annotated Bibliography.

67 posted on 07/23/2003 9:50:08 AM PDT by Remole
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To: Remole; BibChr
What does seem likely is that the human authors of Genesis 6-9, under divine inspiration mind you, and aware of the traditions about a Great Flood that preceded them and that existed in other cultures, traditions that suggest a certain viewpoint regarding the relationship between humans and God, crafted their own Great Flood story, drawing on similar motifs but radically altering the message.

That seems unlikely. There is no evidence to support your claim, only speculaton. Do you think that maybe-- just maybe Genesis predates the other flood stories? Who sent the flood? The gods of Gilgamesh? It seems that those who find a relationship between Genesis and other ancient texts reject the idea of a worldwide flood. IOW presuppositions trump manuscript data. For a technical but fascinating examination of the evidence, see I Studied Inscriptions From Before The Flood, Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1-11, Volume 4, 480pp. There are 25 scholars who contribute to this volume. Your position does not hold up.

73 posted on 07/23/2003 10:55:17 AM PDT by Dataman
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