Why do people cite flood tales from other cultures to add credibility to the biblical flood account?

Doesn't the bible say that everyone, with the exception of Noah and his entourage, was killed in a global flood? If other cultures have a record of the same flood, doesn't that do more to discredit the biblical account than anything?|||Anthropology hat on.





OK Valid point, all depends on the source of the material.





SOME "flood stories" actually share a common socio-history ancestry. The Epic of Gilgamesh is believed to be about the opening of the Black Sea. It is believed the Torah (??)/Koran/Bible historically adopted the story from the Babylonians as a certain Nomadic tribe travelled through the area.





Now the OTHERS.... well as I keep telling my daughter if you're convinced you're going to find something you will interpret available evidence to support your position. (Look at the Victorian hunts for Troy - found an unknown city %26amp; called it Troy) That's just human flaws no conspiracy theory.





FTR there's no Flood creation stories in Aboriginal Dreaming. Guess we're just a major dry country.





{waving at Thumbs Downers}


.|||All cultures came from Noah and his family. Think it doesn't make sense or is impossible? All cultures also came from Adam and Eve. Believe in evolution and not believe the Bible so the Adam %26amp; Eve and Noah arguments don't work for you? Then all cultures came from monkeys. Either way, one way or another, all cultures came from 1 type of organism or person.





The reason people use that to add credibility is that if so many different cultures from all across the world that haven't come into contact with each other have almost the exact same account of something happening in history, there is a great likelihood that it really happened.|||Well, since the cultures would have developed after the flood, it wouldn't be a contradiction if they had a flood story as well. After all, Noah had kids, and they supposedly spread out over the earth.





That different groups have a similar idea in their flood stories (ie, that God flooded the earth because of sin) is what's used to argue that they came from the same source. The problem is, some of these accounts (like the Epic of Gilgamesh) were written before the bible. This sort of ruins the biblical account's credibility, in my opinion.|||Well, the argument is that the flood stories all come from a common event. This is a good observation except for two things: one, we know that flood stories developed at different times (varying by thousands of years) and except for the word "flood" they don't agree on anything; Second, there simply is no evidence of a global flood.|||No it doesn't discredit it. It actually makes it more true. Noah had three sons, and there are three origins of man Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Ne%26amp;roid. Therefore his sons must have been of different origins and that also makes the story more true.|||Well spotted BUT fundie will tell you that all the people of all the world have Noah at the top (well, after Addy and Evie) of the family tree.





So, although you bring up an excellent point, 'they' will defeat it quite easliy.


~|||No not necessarily(double negative,I know) it could also mean that a few or several generations after Noah they split off and recorded the story again somewhere else.|||also, did noah take two people of every ethnicity on the ark with him, because i'm pretty sure that's not what the bible says happens|||It tells us that there was a flood, but details are a bit sketchy. What you must remember, then, is that not all unbiblical accounts agree totally.|||well if all ancestors go back to noah all cultures would have a flood story. which would make it a more reliable story|||I guess the hav nothing else to go on, or this is just one of the places where they decide not to take things literally.|||It discredits mans account.|||Excellent point. Gold star for you.|||ouch. That one smarts.





ummm... maybe the other cultures settled in the exact same spots where previous cultures scribbled on the walls about a big flood whilst breathing through hollow bamboo shafts? maybe?|||The phrase is, 'clutching at straws.'