Philosophy Now Forum

There's a good chance the flood story in genesis was lifted from the epic of gilgamesh.

nemos wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 4:18 pm Well, myths are not always 100% fiction. It's just that people tend to "slightly" exaggerate the highlights of a story to emphasize their importance. And over time, the story can become so overgrown with all kinds of details that even its author will no longer recognize it.
As a kid at summer camp, I happened to lie a friend that I catch a small catfish, but I released it back, so I can't show it. I thought this lie was so trivial that it could be considered a joke. However, the next day, in front of the whole camp, I was unexpectedly rewarded for an unheard of feat ... This is how myths and legends are born.

So a geezer who might have been called Noah, had a fishing boat and ferried his sheep through a flood once?

promethean75 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 4:25 pm There's a good chance the flood story in genesis was lifted from the epic of gilgamesh.

No. It was definitely lifted.

Sculptor wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 5:21 pm So a geezer who might have been called Noah, had a fishing boat and ferried his sheep through a flood once?

Yeah, not a bad start. All that remains is to give it the form of a product in order to be able to sell it.

There is an ex-JW that covers most of the logical issues with the story such as all life should stem from a mountain in the Middle East and progress outward if the story were true -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9XryKMRATE

Modern geology has 4 main arguments against the idea of a world flood based on erosion, geochronology, sedimentary rock features and physics.

Historians are also certain that Genesis is a reaction myth to similar Mesopotamian stories. They confirm this using intertextuality to show a story is dependent on another. The Mesopotamian myths are older and found on tablets. Hebrew kings were exposed to them during the exile period.

John Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible 3rd ed.
“Biblical creation stories draw motifs from Mesopotamia, Much of the language and imagery of the Bible was culture specific and deeply embedded in the traditions of the Near East.
2nd ed.

The Formation of Genesis 1-11, Carr
“The previous discussion has made clear how this story in Genesis represents a complex juxtaposition of multiple traditions often found separately in the Mesopotamian literary world….”


The idea is that Genesis is upgrading the older myths to make Yahweh a superior deity.