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Noah's Ark

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by weslinder, Apr 28, 2010.

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weslinder Contributing Member

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http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3095&art_id=iol1272434091100D562

As believers in the literal truth of the Bible, they knew it was there.

Even so, the explorers who say they found seven large wooden compartments beneath snow and volcanic debris near the peak of Mount Ararat can be forgiven their excitement.

'It's not 100 per cent that it is Noah's Ark, but we think it is 99.9 percent that this is it,' said Yeung Wing-cheung, a filmmaker working with the 15-strong team of fundamentalist Christians exploring the Turkish mountain.

The snow-capped peak of Mount Ararat. The discovery is said to have been made 12 000ft up the mountain which lies in eastern Turkey.

In the Bible, the story of Noah's Ark appears in chapters six to nine of the Book of Genesis.

It tells how God, spurred by the wickedness and corruption of man, vows to send a great cleansing flood. Deeming Noah to be the only righteous man worth saving, God commands him to build a vast ship, the ark - capable of saving himself, his family and a representation of the world's animals.

When Noah has completed his task, and God has sent 'two of every sort' of animal to the Ark, the flood waters rise until all mountains are covered and life (except fish) is destroyed. When the flood subsides, the animals leave the Ark and God vows to never again send a flood to destroy man. The story can also be found in the texts of Judaism and Islam. Although considered a historical event, most scholars and archaeologists do not believe in a literal interpretation of the Ark story. The vessel was said to measure '300 cubits, by 50 cubits, by 30 cubits', which translates to up to 515ft long, 86ft wide and 52ft high.

They said wood taken from the site, which is more than 13,000ft above sea level, dates to 2 800BC. If it is the ark, the discovery would be the greatest in the history of archaeology and bear out one of the most famous stories in the Bible.

The team of Turks and Chinese researchers from Noah's Ark Ministries International in Hong Kong say they made the discovery on Ararat - the biblical resting place of the ark - in October.

At a press conference on Tuesday to announce the discovery, another team member, Panda Lee, said: 'I saw a structure built with plank-like timber.

'Each plank was about eight inches wide. I could see tenons, proof of ancient construction predating the use of metal nails.

'We walked about 100 metres to another site. I could see broken wood fragments embedded in a glacier, and some 20 metres long.'

The structure had several compartments, some with wooden beams, the team said.

The wooden walls of one compartment were smooth and curved while the video shown by the explorers revealed doors, staircases and nails.

The team said the wood appeared to be cypress although, according to the Bible, the ark was built from gopher.

The group ruled out identifying the find as a human settlement, saying none had been found so high up in that area. They are keeping the exact location secret.

Four years ago and following a decade of research, US national security analyst Porcher Taylor claimed a satellite image revealed a baffling 'anomaly' on the mountain's north-west corner that he believed to be the remains of the Ark.

But Mike Pitt, a British archaeologist, said the evangelical explorers had yet to produce compelling evidence.

He added: 'If there had been a flood capable of lifting a huge ship 4km up the side of a mountain 4 800 years ago, I think there would be substantial geological evidence for this flood around the world. And there isn't.'

Nicholas Purcell, a lecturer in ancient history at Oxford University, said the claims were the 'usual nonsense'. He added: 'If floodwaters covered Eurasia 12 000ft deep in 2 800BC, how did the complex societies of Egypt and Mesopotamia, already many centuries old, keep right on regardless?'

According to Genesis, the first book in the Old Testament, Noah was told to build the ark by God, who wanted to flood the world to punish sinners.

The story was widely seen as fact until the 19th century, when scientists began to question the evidence for a worldwide flood.
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#1 weslinder, Apr 28, 2010

durvasa Contributing Member

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The team of Turks and Chinese researchers from Noah's Ark Ministries International in Hong Kong say they made the discovery on Ararat - the biblical resting place of the ark - in October.
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Have they actually shown the evidence to someone who is not part of this ministry?

And they ruled out that it is a human settlement because none had been found so high up in those mountains. By the same logic, shouldn't they also rule out that it is the remnants of a giant ark?

#2 durvasa, Apr 28, 2010
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Notice the OP only posted a link and left no comments of his own about the article.

#3 Dave_78, Apr 28, 2010
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A team of "fundamentalist christians" from Noah's Ark Ministries International claims to find the actual ark on Mt. Ararat.

#4 rhadamanthus, Apr 28, 2010
DonnyMost be kind. be brave.

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I gather from the article that they've found a large, 5000 year old wooden structure near a biblical site. I really don't see how we can extrapolate that this is "Noah's Ark" from this yet.

#5 DonnyMost, Apr 28, 2010
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DonnyMost said:

I gather from the article that they've found a large, 5000 year old wooden structure near a biblical site. I really don't see how we can extrapolate that this is "Noah's Ark" from this yet.
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Conveniently, it leaves out the other half: evidence that the oceans rose to the mountaintops.

#6 Depressio, Apr 28, 2010
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Hopefully it was big enough to fit a male and female of every species of animal.

#7 moestavern19, Apr 28, 2010

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Like anything else in religion, those who want to believe will...and those who don't want to believe won't.

#8 Vanilla Rice, Apr 28, 2010
B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

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Why all y'all hating on the ark?

#9 B-Bob, Apr 28, 2010
durvasa Contributing Member

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Vanilla Rice said:

Like anything else in religion, those who want to believe will...and those who don't want to believe won't.
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What about those who choose to believe based on evidence and logic?

#10 durvasa, Apr 28, 2010
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durvasa said:

What about those who choose to believe based on evidence and logic?
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They will burn in the special hell for using the mental powers God bestowed them with.

#11 moestavern19, Apr 28, 2010
DonnyMost be kind. be brave.

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durvasa said:

What about those who choose to believe based on evidence and logic?
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We'll most likely get lumped into the second group by people in the first group.

#12 DonnyMost, Apr 28, 2010
B-Bob "94-year-old self-described dreamer"

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moestavern19 said:

They will burn in the special hell for using the mental powers God bestowed them with.
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Special hell = party with physics and math majors where the only drink is ZIMA?

#13 B-Bob, Apr 28, 2010

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durvasa said:

What about those who choose to believe based on evidence and logic?
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In my experience, this group tends to find reason(s) not to believe. What sort of evidence would it take? Anything short of finding Noah's DNA along with a sign that says "This is the Ark God told me to build", will come up short.

That said, I don't think there is any way at all to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is Noah's Ark. It's where that pesky 'faith' comes in.

#14 Vanilla Rice, Apr 28, 2010
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durvasa said:

What about those who choose to believe based on evidence and logic?
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That doesn't prove anything.

#15 professorjay, Apr 28, 2010
DonnyMost be kind. be brave.

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Vanilla Rice said:

In my experience, this group tends to find reason(s) not to believe.
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In my experience, the first group tends to find reasons to believe that this group is trying to find reason(s) not to believe.

#16 DonnyMost, Apr 28, 2010

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I agree with you all. Uncanny, I know.

#17 CrazyDave, Apr 28, 2010
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This would've been a good Indiana Jones movie if aliens didn't abduct and probe the last one.

#18 Invisible Fan, Apr 28, 2010

DonnyMost be kind. be brave.

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Vanilla Rice said:

That said, I don't think there is any way at all to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is Noah's Ark.
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You'd be surprised. Don't think that just because we can't find enough evidence for/against "Noah's Ark" that it isn't possible to prove it, or disprove it, using the sci/tech we have today. Scientists are already probably trying to figure out what it would take to get a boat that big that high up, etc.

#19 DonnyMost, Apr 28, 2010
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DonnyMost said:

In my experience, the first group tends to find reasons to believe that this group is trying to find reason(s) not to believe.
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True statement. I LOL'd at that.....

#20 Vanilla Rice, Apr 28, 2010

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