RE: [asa] FW: Noah's Ark Replica

A replica of the Tower of Babel would be more appropriate and better
fits the YEC mentality. BTW, here is a recent review of my book (one of
the less flattering ones):

In Historical Genesis, author Richard James Fischer sets out to show
that the people and events described in chapters 2-11 of Genesis were
very real. Basing his analysis on archaeological, cultural, linguistic,
and historical information gleaned primarily from the wealth of data
coaxed out of the sand during the last two centuries, he argues that the
knowledge we have gained of ancient Sumer, Akkad, and other contemporary
kingdoms largely supports the Biblical account. Before Christian
fundamentalists (of which I am one - albeit one who subscribes to the
theory of evolution) get too excited, though, I must point out that
Fischer isn't necessarily endorsing the version of the Creation Story
you learned in Sunday School.

Fischer is certainly not the first person to aver that the early
chapters of Genesis are literally true, but his interpretation is based
on a nuanced retranslation of significant terms in the original texts.
Even as he argues that the story related in Genesis chapters 2 through
11 is literally true, his interpretation of that "truth" includes some
fairly controversial "facts." His Adam and Eve lived in and were
expelled from Eden, but they were not the first human beings on the face
of the earth; he rejects the notion of a global flood, arguing instead
for a local flood that devastated the area of Mesopotamia only; and his
view of the chaos wrought under the facade of the Tower of Babel does
not include the disbursement of languages across the globe. He does an
excellent job, for the most part, in explaining his interpretation of
the Genesis story (although I think it starts to break down a bit when
he gets to Babel, especially when he proffers the most ridiculous
interpretation I've ever heard concerning the people of Babel being "of
one voice"), but his main focus is in showing how archaeological
evidence from contemporary ancient civilizations, particularly the
Sumerians and Akkadians, supports the people, places, and events
referred to in the opening chapters of Genesis. Anyone who knows
anything about ancient civilizations know that the story of a Great
Flood is far from unique among the nascent Hebrew civilization, but
Fischer goes to great lengths to compare and contrast the details of
other ancient Flood accounts from Mesopotamia (the story of Ziusudra
revealed in the Sumerian King Lists, that of Atrahasis in Babylonian and
Assyrian sources, the legend of Utnapishtim found in the Epic of
Gilgamesh, and the account of Xisuthros reported in the now-lost 3rd
century B.C. history compiled by a Babylonian priest named Berossus).

Fischer's theory offers a simple explanation to the "who did Cain
marry?" conundrum, but it begs new questions without many proffered
answers. His theory that mankind existed in significant numbers long
before Adam and Eve came on the scene in Eden allows him to evade the
thorny issues surrounding the age of the Earth vis-à-vis the Biblical
timeline, but it begs many a theological question regarding all of these
preexisting men and women who were not apparently formed in God's image.
These problems are only exacerbated by Fischer's theory that the Great
Flood was local to Mesopotamia. That notion implies that all of the
other peoples of the Earth at that time were not punished along with the
Adamites because they knew nothing of God or His laws (and, as such,
were not disobedient). Fischer goes to great lengths to "prove" that all
the peoples of the Earth could not be descendants of Noah, but he never
reconciles the huge gap he has created between those who knew God and
those who did not - and when exactly all those other people would have
been adopted into the family of God. It seems to me that Fischer has
excluded the overwhelming majority of men and women living then as well
as now from any connection whatsoever with the Lord, and that surely
makes for a strange way of defending the literal truth of the Genesis
story.

Historical Genesis is a well-written, provocative book, but the author's
most significant points and arguments seem to be at least as subjective
as they are factual - from his dissection of humanity into the Adamites
and non-Adamites, to his assigned correlations between the Biblical
patriarchs and the names found on the ancient Sumerian and Akkadian king
lists, and all the way up to his most unusual ideas regarding the
goings-on that played out in the shadows of the Tower of Babel.
 
Dick Fischer, GPA president
Genesis Proclaimed Association
"Finding Harmony in Bible, Science and History"
www.genesisproclaimed.org

-----Original Message-----
From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On
Behalf Of Randy Isaac
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 5:03 PM
To: asa@calvin.edu
Subject: Re: [asa] FW: Noah's Ark Replica

Seems that Newsblaze
http://newsblaze.com/story/20080919073434zzzz.nb/topstory.html has
picked up
an old story from April 2007:
http://journals.aol.com/kingbing1/FortiFi/entries/2007/04/29/working-rep
lica-of-noahs-ark-opens/3243
In any case, he's too short by a factor of 2 and should be higher by 2/3
and
50% wider. Why not do it right?
Randy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Christine Smith" <christine_mb_smith@yahoo.com>
To: <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2008 3:06 PM
Subject: [asa] FW: Noah's Ark Replica

> FYI--Thought this might be of interest to everyone; alas, I can't
foward
> the pictures, but they were pretty impressive looking.
>
> In Christ,
> Christine
>
>
>
> Working Replica of Noah's Ark
> Opens In SCHAGEN, Netherlands
> Embedded image moved to file: pic04060.jpg)
>
> The massive central door in the side of Noah's Ark was thrown open
> Saturday for the first crowd of curious Pilgrims and townsfolk to
behold
> the wonder.
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic23502.jpg)
> Of course, it's only a replica of the biblical Ark , built by Dutch
> Creationist Johan Huibers as a testament to his faith in the literal
truth
> of the Bible.
>
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic01207.jpg)
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic08549.jpg)
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic05983.jpg)
>
> The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 cubits wide. That's
> two-thirds the length of a football field and as high as a three-story

> house. Life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles,
zebras,
> bison and other animals greet visitors as they arrive in the main
hold. A
> contractor by trade, Huibers built the ark of cedar and pine -Biblical

> Scholars debate exactly what the wood used by Noah would have been.
> Huibers did the work mostly with his own hands, using modern tools
and
> with occasional help from his son Roy. Construction began in May 2005.
On
> the uncovered top deck - not quite ready in time for the opening -
will
> come a petting zoo, with baby lambs and chickens, and goats, and one
> camel. Visitors on the first day were stunned.'It's past
comprehension, '
> said Mary Louise Starosciak, who happened to be bicycling by with her
> husband while on vacation when
> they saw The ark looming over the local landscape.
>
> 'I knew the story of Noah, but I had no idea the boat would have been
so
> big.' There is enough space near the keel for a 50-seat film theater
where
> kids can watch a video that tells the story of Noah and his ark.
>
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic03689.jpg)
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic13664.jpg)
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic27766.jpg)
>
> Huibers said he hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity
in
> the Netherlands , where church going has fallen dramatically in the
past
> 50 years.
>
>
>
>
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Received on Thu Oct 9 11:31:38 2008