How true is the bible?

Question

Question 1:

How would it be possible for Adam and Eve to populate the planet without inbreeding?

The bible conveniently leaves out that Cain and Abel would have had to have s*x with their mother.

Question 2:

"In the dark when it comes to real numbers, scientists have devised several formulas to estimate species diversity. Not surprisingly, the results vary wildly. One method--which extrapolates the ratio of temperate to tropical organisms among relatively well-known species to the rest of life on Earth--yields a figure of 3 million to 5 million species. Another based on a well-established relationship between an animal´s body size and its abundance suggests there may be 10 million species of land-dwelling animals alone."

http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?articleId=177&issueId=21

Let's give christians the benefit of the doubt and say there are only 3 million land dwelling species. I may be wrong here but I would believe you would need at least 4 of each specie to avoid inbreeding. This leaves us with a grand total of 12 million species to pack onto a single boat, but I believe the story says Noah only brought 2 (lol) of each which would be 6 million land dwelling animals. Some of you may try to debate that species have developed since then but we would also have to consider the much higher rate of species going extinct do to deforestation of the rain forest.

You may be wondering how big the ark was...

"And God said unto Noah, . . . Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this [is the fashion] which thou shalt make it [of]: The length of the ark [shall be] three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it. " (Genesis 6:13-16)

According to Hebrew scholars, a cubit is the distance between an adult's elbow and tip of the finger, generally 18-inches. This means that the ark would have been roughly 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.

So how exactly did Noah fit all the world's animals onto a boat that size?

Question 3:

If it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, if the flood lasted for 150 days and nights it would have been almost impossible for any vegetation to live... or did Noah bring all of the plants on his boat with him too?... (lol)

Answer 1

1.  Mrs Cain could not have been his mother because that would constitute incest.  So, where did she come from?  She and her people were already there.  That's the only way, no matter what people say.

2.  Too many people are expecting EVERY scientist or scientific study/theory to be in exact concordance with each other.  And yet, we are told to believe in something that cannot even be proved, or seen, or measured, or calculated.

There are no absolutes in life  But when the majority of scientific studies and theories are ALL moving in the same direction, you gotta wonder if maybe there is something there.  

The Noah story may have some, repeat, some source in antiquity, but it sure wasn't world wide as we know the world to be.

To the people of "Noah's time," the world was only what they knew about through trading or traveling on foot.  That's a small area.

3.  Well, you're laughing at your own question already.  I don't need to voice an opinion on it.

More people should be able to see all the discrepancies.  But, they choose not to.  What can ya do?

Answer 2

Bible's truth!!!

Answer 3

the word of God, it can not be more than that  

Answer 4

O.K.  So you proved that you are smarter than a fifth grader.  Now go and study the Bible for yourself, because you are asking some idiotic questions that you get off a site.

Answer 5

if the bible was written today, it would have been researched a lot better, but it doesn't change the fact that its a load of made up rubbish, based on lots of older myths and beliefs.

by the way, it has rained in Scotland for a lot longer than 40 days, i just got very wet!

Answer 6

Congratulations. You are much smarter than the great theologians who did not notice those errors.

You are right, and the theologians are wrong. The Bible is not the word of God... and the Bible itself declares it so, since the devil himself was the first to quote scripture in the Gospels.... he was trying to tempt Christ.

That goes to show that it is the person quoting that makes the words either the word of God or the word of the devil. More on these mix ups in my bio.

Answer 7

1.) The offspring of Adam breed with magical people that appear out of nowhere.  Therefore Adam was just the first Jew.

2.) I've never heard anyone explain this clearly, so I'm in the same boat (sic) as you.

3.) Spores could have traveled with the animals, although there wouldn't be nearly enough.  If it were winter in one hemisphere then the seeds could have survived.

(Of course you could just say RAPID EVOLUTION)

Anyway Christians more and more are reverting to saying that some parts of the Bible - basically anything that sounds like bullfeces - are metaphorical, and even that some parts (such as those about slaves and kosher food) are ' intended only for people of a different level of culture and progress '.

So, as an English teacher once said about some unrelated piece, it can be "true" even if it never literally happened.

Though I doubt this would function as a valid answer in your mind.

Answer 8

I hear you on all of that. But all of the bible was written for control of the dumbest, and continue to be used today for the same reason, yet those who believe it thousands of years ago, the OT that is and now the NT also, must be going backward instead of forward as some still are living in the time of the dark ages.

Answer 9

Gods ways are not our ways.  All of the human explanations gathered all together could not explain even one fourth of God.  Just read the Bible and open yourself up to hear the Holy Spirit.  Invite the Holy Spirit to reveal the things you question or don't understand or the things that make no logical sense to you to be revealed.  God will come to you and do this.

Answer 10

Why You Can Trust the Bible

Some people say the Bible is unreliable, and their views have gained wide acceptance. Thus many today dismiss what the Bible says as untrustworthy.

On the other hand, what Jesus Christ said in prayer to God promotes trust: "Your word is truth." And the Bible itself claims to be inspired by God.—John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16.

What do you think about this? Is there sound basis for trusting the Bible? Or is there really evidence that the Bible is unreliable, that it contradicts itself and is inconsistent?

Does It Contradict Itself?

While some may claim the Bible contradicts itself, has anyone ever shown you an actual example? We have never seen one that could withstand scrutiny. True, there may appear to be discrepancies in certain Bible accounts. But the problem usually is lack of knowledge regarding details and circumstances of the times.

For example, some persons will draw attention to what they consider a discrepancy in the Bible, asking: 'Where did Cain get his wife?' The assumption is that Cain and Abel were the only children of Adam and Eve. But the assumption is based on a misunderstanding of what the Bible says. The Bible explains that Adam "became father to sons and daughters." (Genesis 5:4) Thus Cain married one of his sisters or possibly a niece.

Often critics are just looking for contradictions and so may declare: 'The Bible writer Matthew says that an army officer came to ask Jesus a favor, while Luke says that representatives were sent to ask. Which one is correct?' (Matthew 8:5, 6; Luke 7:2, 3) But is this really a contradiction?

When the activity or work of people is credited to the one who is actually responsible for it, a reasonable person does not claim a discrepancy. For example, do you consider a report to be in error that says a mayor built a road even though the actual building of the road was done by his engineers and laborers? Of course not! Similarly, it is not inconsistent for Matthew to say that the army officer made a request of Jesus but, as Luke writes, that such a request was made through certain representatives.

As more details are known, apparent discrepancies in the Bible disappear.

Answer 11

http://viewvn.org/ViewEN.aspx

Answer 12

Wow that's a lot of boring bible c**p to read.

To sum it up, the bible is a collection of stories written by a primitive culture.

Answer 13

1. They had a lot more than just 2 kids. Though that would require them to have kids with their sisters. Another explanation is that anyone not Jewish (in that time, obviously it's nothing like that now, so don't go calling me anti-Semitic) wasn't considered a person until being Jewish for 6 generations. I couldn't make that stuff up, dude :P

2. I think he brought 7 of each of the "clean" animals, and only 2 of each of the "unclean". I could be wrong, so don't quote me on that. However, to answer that question, no, they couldn't fit. I'm a little bit curious how animals from drastically different climates could all stay together on a boat for that long without all dying.

3. Animals would most likely have reproduced by then, and he was allowed to eat the "clean" animals, which he brought more of. Logic also tells us that he would have to have brought food for the animals, which is meat as well as vegetation, so he could partially live off of that as well.

My answers are going on the assumption that I actually believe in that myth, which in actuality I do not.

Answer 14

Tell me. Is ignorance as blissful as they say?

Answer 15

In answer to your question of "How true is the Bible"? This one statement is all that is needed. The Holy Bible is the inerrant Word of God!