While quite large even today, neither an elephant, or a rhino or any other creature around today have a tail like a "cedar tree".
I agree. I would also go far enough to state that with the bibles given measurements of Noah's ark, there is no way a Brontosaurus, (or two in fact), would have fit. The same can be said of the other vast array of dinosaurs that were therefore also in existence. This wouldn't include the fire breathing leviathan, who was water based, and as such had no need to go on the ark.
In the meantime, while I await biblical reference to global anihilation via meteorites, and also the sources for the press releases you speak of, I might aswell mention a couple of other points of worth, (or no worth depending on your view).
At this stage in the game, we must surely then accept and concur that all "strange" mystical type beings spoken of in the bible did in fact exist. Not only does this include the behemoth, (which could well be a 'small' version of a Brontosaurus. Sure, some stage tommorrow I will measure some dino remains to see if they could have sheltered under lotus plants), but it also includes a wide variety of other beings that require some form of 'closure'.
We have Giants, (Nephilim/Anunnaki - whichever you prefer).
We have dragons, which although have been a topic of myth and legend throughout history - lack any real credibility, (unless we can show that they did actually exist via remains or by showing that dinosaurs could breathe fire).
Unicorns on the other hand do have some evolutionary logic. Many animals, even today, have 'horned protrusions'. These are openly evident in the animal kingdom, and I'm sure a possibility exists that they were merely an early form of horses. They too have been written about by many cultures around the world, with varying names. It would certainly be a big step if we found the remains of a unicorn.
We have angels - godly sent beings that were seemingly ever present during the OT years, but have for some reason, fallen from sight of humankind recently.
While I will sit and research all these things throughout a variety of belief systems and cultures, it seems apparent to say you have no inclination to do so. I find that somewhat saddening. Even if you were that lucky that you had the truth to everything, it can surely do you no harm to read other materials, to see what they have to say. By all means laugh at it once you've read it, but to do so beforehand is pure ignorance.
Now, on to Quantum Quack:
I know I may be a little pedantic here but I feel that if we keep the terms of reference to the very early parts of the Bible , namely the creation and eden thing.
I somewhat agree with you. The dilemma we now face is the open and simple dismissal by Visitor. I fear I will be cast of as 'devils-breed' if I continue along the same path. Unfortunately the rebuttal doesn't serve as much purpose either.
"god/s created man in Sumeria, who then wrote a satan-possessed account of creation, and then several thousand years later, the jews wrote the true version".
What we do need to look at and understand, are the natural progression of events. Belief/superstition moves forward and changes with the times. A long while back within the history of the Christian church, was the benediction of salt for the health of the body and the expulsion of evil spirits. There were also rituals involving salt to bless homes, cattle, crops, ships, tools, armor, wells and kilns. Also rituals for sick animals, driving away thunder and making the marriage bed fruitful.
I'm sure most here will be aware of the superstition involving throwing salt over your shoulder to "blind the devil", who was always lurking behind. Before that there were other methods, and 'pagan' rituals. The Christian church 'killed' those 'witches' and then proceeded with their own bizarre rituals.
Nowadays, salt isn't used, and the whole thing is ticked off the list as mere superstition. This adapted into excorcism and baptism. In turn, this lead to changes in vampiric beliefs that they were somehow subsceptible to holy water - and we all watch in glee as the priest sends the vampire to hell via the acid burns of holy water. Technically this leads to the churches own versions of 'supernatural' powers.
Other themes of this nature, developed and maintained for a while by the christian church, are such things as covering the mouth when yawning- to ensure the devil didn't jump in your mouth and take residence in your gut.
This is how things progress, how ideas evolve and adapt to suit cultures and environments. Nowadays, many of these superstitions will be laughed at - even by christians. Even so, they were a part of the belief system at one time or another, and it was as "true" as everything people currently believe within the same, but slightly evolved, system.
We can see the same adaptation in Christian festivals such as Christmas, (Sol Invictus), Easter, (Ostara), Pentecost, (Lugnasao) - all pagan holidays incorporated by the church to suit their beliefs.
We can see that the christian religion has been a "borrower" of ideals, rituals and beliefs since it's dawn. Not to mention it's founded itself on the word of the jews- a people the christians have often despised. It's no surprise therefore, that the 'new' christian god completely did everything in reverse to the OT god, and ended up with the jews losing out. It's mere politics.
Things always move forwards, but Visitor would rather claim the opposite. In this instance, the
younger text, (the biblical accounts), are not as credible or valid as the
older texts.
Archaeology, history, science works together to find this evidence. They find out when a 'people' lived, they date all written works, all excavation sites etc etc in order to find out one thing only: The truth.
Currently the only dispute to this collection of evidence is: "No, those gods are frauds, my god is real". There is no contest here.
Aside from that, we have the assumption that a bunch of people somehow mistook a global, mankind killing flood, as a mere river deluge - then 1,500 years later, the jews came along and corrected the somewhat daft error of their predecessors.
It's quite simply ignorant.
If it's all ok with you, I shall finish this later. My brother has just popped round for dinner, be back soon
