Thanks, Glenn and Bill for the replies.
[eretz and whole earth]
> The universalist case is not as firm as they would want you to believe. And
> a "straight forward" (whatever that is) reading of Genesis 6-9 in English,
> is quite different than a "straight forward" reading in Hebrew. Especially
> when comparison is made to how the phrases are used elsewhere.
How do you account for what seems a parallel to other flood and creation
stories in which the flood is a cosmic phenomenon--a return to the
primordial chaos from which the world was made. I agree that in our
present view of the universe, this seems like the wrong direction to go,
but don't you think that at least a world-wide cataclysm maintains the
original intent? Or do you think the original intent translated into
our present understanding of the scale of the universe would come out
looking significantly different?
-Greg