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| − | ==Question: Why does the Church teach that the flood was a global event?==
| + | #REDIRECT[[The Flood]] |
| − | ===Without a doubt, the flood is always treated as a global event as it is taught by Church leaders===
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| − | Without a doubt, the flood is always treated as a global event as it is taught by Church leaders. This is not likely to ever change, since it is based directly upon a straightforward reading of the scriptures. The challenge comes to those who examine scientific data showing the diversity of plant and animal life, and the millennia required to achieve such diversity. The story of a global deluge then appears to be at complete odds with scientific data, which may encourage some not only to doubt the scriptures, but to even question the existence of God. Therefore, can one believe that the Flood of Noah may have been of limited scope, yet still accept what is taught in Church? We examine the scriptures from the point of view of the prophets who ''wrote'' the story of the Flood in order to answer this question.
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| − | ===One must examine the scriptures from the point of view of the prophets who ''wrote'' the story of the Flood===
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| − | Although this criticism is directed at the LDS church, it is really directed at ''anyone'' who believes in a literal reading of the Old Testament. LDS leaders have in the past taught the concept of a global flood based upon such a reading. Although the idea of the global flood has been used as an example, Church leaders have never stated that a belief in a ''global'' flood is ''necessary'' for salvation.
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| − | {{scripture||Genesis|7|19-23}} reads:
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| − | :19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.
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| − | :20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
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| − | :21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
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| − | :22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
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| − | :23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
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| − | A similar reference to the destruction of all flesh from off the earth is found in Latter-day scripture in {{scripture||Moses|8|25-30}}. These passages have long been interpreted to mean that the entire globe was covered by water (although some have pointed out that the reader is left to wonder how "the mountains were covered" by water "fifteen cubits" deep — approximately 23 feet.) The primary reason for this global interpretation is the use of the word "earth." When modern readers see the word "earth," they envision the ''entire planetary sphere''. Dr. Duane E. Jeffery elaborates:
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| − | <blockquote>
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| − | A critical issue in the Flood story in the King James Bible has to do with translations of the Hebrew words ''eretz'' and ''adamah'' as meaning the entire “earth.” What do these terms actually mean? It is widely recognized that Hebrew is a wonderful language for poets, since virtually every word has multiple meanings. But that same characteristic makes it a horrible language for precision. As it turns out, ''eretz'' and ''adamah'' can indeed be a geographical reference akin to what we usually mean by “the earth.” But it is not at all clear that the ancients had the concept of a spherical planet that you and I do. Many scholars argue that the Bible writers thought in terms of a flat earth that was covered by a bowl-shaped firmament into which the windows of heaven were literally cut..." <ref>{{Sunstone | author=Duane E. Jeffery | article=Noah’s Flood: Modern Scholarship and Mormon Traditions|num=134|date=October 2004|start=31|end=32 }} Jeffrey notes that ideas of a global flood may have resulted from a widespread local problem. A current hypothesis that has been gaining ground since 1998 is that a significant flooding event occurred in the area now occupied by the Black Sea. Evidence has been discovered which has led a number of researchers to believe that the Black Sea area was once occupied by a completely isolated freshwater lake at a much lower level than the ocean. The theory is that the sea level rose and eventually broke through the Bosporus shelf, resulting in a rapid flooding event which would have wiped out all life living along the shores of the lake (see p. 34). Whether this is the source for the Genesis flood remains conjecture.</ref>
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| − | </blockquote>
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| − | ===The concept of a spherical earth did not appear in Jewish thought until the fourteenth or fifteenth century===
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| − | In fact, the concept of a spherical earth "did not appear in Jewish thought until the fourteenth or fifteenth century." <ref>{{Sunstone | author=Duane E. Jeffery | article=Noah’s Flood: Modern Scholarship and Mormon Traditions|num=134|date=October 2004|start=30|end=}}</ref> The word "earth," as used in the Bible, simply refers to solid ground or land, as opposed to water (see {{scripture||Genesis|1|10}} — "God called the dry land Earth; and...the waters called he Seas...."). It is, of course, possible that earlier prophets had a more advanced view of the nature of the earth—this perspective could, however, have been lost to later centuries and scribes.
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| − | ===The concept of a global flood has become further reinforced within the Church by the fact that Church leaders teach that the flood washed away the earth's wickedness (Baptism of the earth)===
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| − | The concept of a global flood has become further reinforced within the Church by the fact that modern day prophets and apostles have taught that the flood washed away the earth's wickedness. For example, in 1880 Elder Orson Pratt stated that God "required our globe to be baptized by a flow of waters, and all of its sins were washed away, not one sin remaining." <ref>{{JDfairwiki|author=Orson Pratt|title=The Earth's Baptism In Water|date=1 Aug. 1880|vol=21|disc=36|start=323}}</ref> Joseph Smith, Jr. taught that Noah was born to save seed of everything when the earth was washed of its wickedness by the flood. <ref>History of the Church 1:283; Evening and Morning Star, August 1832.</ref> Such wickedness could include ''man's'' wickedness, or it could imply a need for the earth itself to have a type of baptism.
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| − | {{endnotes sources}}
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| − | <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE -->
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| − | [[Category:Letter to a CES Director]]
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| − | [[Category:MormonThink]]
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| − | [[es:Pregunta: ¿Por qué enseña la Iglesia que la inundación fue un evento global?]]
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| − | [[pt:Pergunta: Por que a Igreja ensina que o dilúvio foi um evento global?]]
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