www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Found Noah's Ark in Iran?

I am getting rather discusted with WND because they seem to be so anti-Catholic. But this is very interesting, especially the pictures included with it. Could it really be?

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50857

Why does it keep moving from one country to another?

CDL

Bob Cornuke is thought of as a conartist, read his bio on Wikipedia. [en.wikipedia.org]

Subject: Noah in the Year 2006

THIS IS SOOOOO TRUE!!!!!!

It is the year 2006 and Noah lives in the United States.

The Lord speaks to Noah and says: "In one year I am going to make it rain and cover the whole earth with water until all is destroyed. But I want you to save the righteous people and two of every kind of living thing on the earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an Ark."

In a flash of lightning, God delivered the specifications for an Ark.

Fearful and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build the Ark.

"Remember," said the Lord, "You must complete the Ark and bring everything aboard in one year."

Exactly one year later, a fierce storm cloud covered the earth and all the seas of the earth went into a tumult. The Lord saw Noah sitting in his front yard weeping.

"Noah." He shouted, "Where is the Ark?"

"Lord please forgive me!" cried Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems. First, I had to get a permit for construction and your plans did not comply with the codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans.

Then I got into a fight with OSHA over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system and floatation devices.

Then my neighbor objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by
building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.

I had problems getting enough wood for the Ark, because there was a ban on cutting trees to protect the Spotted Owl. I finally convinced the U.S. Forest Service that I needed the wood to save the owls. However, the Fish and Wildlife Service won't let me catch any owls. So, no owls.

The carpenters formed a union and went out on strike.

I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Union. Now I have 16 carpenters on the Ark, but still no owls.

When I started rounding up the other animals, I got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me only taking two of each kind aboard.

Just when I got the suit dismissed, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take very kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of the Creator of the universe.

Then the Army Corps of Engineers demanded a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe.

Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that I am practicing discrimination by not taking godless, unbelieving people aboard!

The IRS has seized all my assets, claiming that I'm building the Ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes.

I just got a notice from the state that I owe some kind of user tax and failed to register the Ark as a recreational water craft.

Finally the ACLU got the courts to issue an injunction against further construction of the Ark, saying that since God is flooding the earth, it is a religious event, therefore unconstitutional..

I really don't think I can finish the Ark for another 5 or 6 years!"
Noah wailed.

The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine and the seas began to calm. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully.

"You mean you are not going to destroy the earth, Lord?"

"No," said the Lord sadly. "The government already has."

AMEN!

I suspected as much.

CDL

hehehehe, Rose that's funny.

The narration of Noah appears in a part of scripture (Genesis) which is a cosmogony. The 'cosmogony of Moses' as the early fathers and early Council documents call it.

As such it has no direct and literal correlation with literal history as we would write it. While using some historical items to weave the cosmogony... real historical research has proved that these are often out of place and changed for the purposes of the author.

As for a world wide flood... modern research into ancient documents (such as its mention in Homer) have revised their opinion. Their interpretation of such things had been very tinted by the then current and popular belief that such a world wide thing had actually happened. Archeology and literary research has now joined to find that these records refer to different times and places and to such things as tidal waves after an eruption. For example - what some had imagined to be the sinking of �Atlantis� - turns out to be a tsunami like wave that destroyed one major Greek city. In other words Homer said it right - we (scholars) just read him wrong because we insisted on finding a world wide flood in his words.

As to Noah himself� it is a personification within the cosmogony. The meaning of his name in Hebrew is given right in the text �rest from our labor�. Those who transliterated to the Greek (Septuagint) selected �Noe� which is the word �noetic� which indicates the hidden knowledge imparted during contemplative prayer. So one does well to consider the two meanings together (spiritual rest//hidden knowledge). As such he is a type (as St. Paul often explained) of contemplative prayer.

The ark � if we wanted to take it literally - is a type of stone coffin used at that time for royalty. But taken figuratively - is a figure of the Ark of the Covenant - and the ark within which Moses was found on the river - but most importantly it is the symbol of the dark night which St, John of the Cross speaks of. We can also see in it (as a figure) the tomb of Christ� in fact the early church fathers were almost unanimous in seeing in Noah - the figure of Christ himself and the time in the ark as the time Jesus was in the tomb. But just because this was the majority opinion - did not make it correct.

While there has always been a portion of the church (either Jewish under Moses �or Christian) who have insisted to interpreter the cosmogony as literal history� they were decidedly a minority in the early catholic church. As I said, the majority interpreted in various figurative ways. But at about the same time that John�s Revelation began to be interpreted literally (as something to take place in the future and not as something already done within the crucifixion and resurrection) so too did Genesis, interpreted as literal history � begin to grow from being held by only a minority to a much larger portion of church membership.

With the Protestant Reformation - the literal interpretation of Revelation became even more prominent (for political reasons) and the Church became the whore of Babylon and the Pope became the anti-Christ etc� as this served the purpose to sever the population from Rome and allow for Kings to be the heads of national churches. With this - Genesis followed - and the book of Daniel also. And a literal interpretation took over. Scholars of various European kings now had mandate to prove the historical accuracy of such books� and this tinted their glasses. Neapolitan was famous for this and funded many such activities especially in Egypt� and repressed any such findings which went contrary to his idea that he had been selected by God to bring about the third glorious age of the world.

I do not know about the Eastern churches so well� but I do know that despite the popular belief of the members (toward the literal interpretation) the Catholic church itself maintains that Genesis is a cosmogony and Revelations had it fulfillment in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is consistent with Council documents up to the 11th Council.

The clean animals (in the Noah narration) represent the virtuous inclinations of our animal and spiritual nature. Patience, tolerance, fortitude, charity, honesty, temperance.. Etc.. etc.. The �waters� are a reference to the division of waters during the seven days of creation. Specifically �life giving waters� or �waters of life� (the waters-above) and death-giving waters (like the Dead Sea). The imagery is (of course) more expansive than I have given. Both waters being the same (the acts of Providence) but the effects depending upon the conscience and cooperation of the individual.

It is interesting to note that in the narration - in the Hebrew - the waters do not really �rain� � they - expand. This is hard to describe in English. The water - swells up (so to speak). And internal expansion (no addition waters added). Very mush like the experience of swelling of a river when one does not see the cause. The waters will swell and expand for forty days (a figurative time not a literal number of days). But one would do well to note �40 days� as a time of testing and trial and temptations. One gets more the image of a river swelling (which of course if taken literally would imply rain to the literal minded) . One should think more of the way the Nile (or Jordan) swells had flooded the land seasonally. Each overflowing causing damage but at the same time fertilizing the land for fresh growth.

In any event. If Noah�s ark is ever found (and fundamentalists will certainly keep searching) it will either be a hoax or misguided misinterpretation of something else.

Christ�s own lines about the �sign of Jonah� were sometimes thought (early fathers) to also refer to Noah as a type of Christ being three days in the tomb (three days in belly of the leviathan - the underworld) however the sign of Jonah referred to Jonah�s message being rejected by those he was sent to (as was Jesus rejected). But Jesus does refer to the image of Noah when he said �As it was in the days of Noah�� it will seem to those who did not believe in him that nothing had changed and they will go on doing as they always did. Ignoring the fact of the coming of their own death at which moment Jesus will come to then personally to judge them (refer to the parable of Abraham�s bosom and one seeing Jesus coming on the clouds of heaven).

Peace to you and your church.
-ray

Kinda like the "40" days of Lent?

I've read a few books by secular historians and archelogists that support the worldwide flood (even though that wasn't the overall focus of the books.) They cited fossils of fish that have been found in the mountains of Antarctica and other weird findings. It makes one wonder.

As far as that archeologist is concerned, I think anyone can find something that he is looking for if he looks hard enough.

Am I really reading this on here that Orthodox/Catholic Christians are doubting that God destroyed the old order by a real, literal, wet...!, flood of actual water..??? This etherealizing of a real , literal event smacks of the Da Vinci Code blasphemers who trample the Blood of the Son of God underfoot. Be it far from us all to do that. mik

Dear Friends,

Has anyone else contemplated that those Protestants and Evangelicals who say that our Catholic and Orthodox Churches worship "idols" and "graven imges" seem to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy seeking out Biblical "relics"?

Without, of course, actually getting close enough to said "arks" to actually retrieve evidence of what they claim?

It seems to me that in these days of Google Earth and GPS, they could actually go and retrieve a sliver of something for testing.


John
Pilgrim and Odd Duck

You silly guy!

It floated there, of course! :rolleyes:

ok here is another article, kind of says what y'all said. http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=4229&t=Noah\'s+Ark+and+a+rainbow

I believe that it is only fitting that Monotheists would look for the evidence of God's work upon the earth. Isn't that what separate monotheists from monists and Gnostics? I'm not so sure that the first chapters of Genesis are mere Cosmogeny. Maybe. Maybe not. In any case if the remains of Noah's ark are ever found I will rejoice. If not I will still rejoice.

CDL

How long did Noah have to wait for the kangeroos, kualla bears, panda bears and and penguins to voyage to Iran? Those little penguins don't move to fast you know and Antartica is pretty far from Iran.
Fundamentalist you go beyond reason to prove Noah's ark was a literal story miss the bigger picture and go to a relic hunting that would make midevil catholics seem like normal hobbiest.