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Human longevity: Difference between revisions
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→Post-flood decline
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{{Bible quote|''"Then the L<small>ORD</small> said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." ... The L<small>ORD</small> saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The L<small>ORD</small> was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the L<small>ORD</small> said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."'' - |book=Genesis|chap=6|verses=3-7}} | {{Bible quote|''"Then the L<small>ORD</small> said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." ... The L<small>ORD</small> saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The L<small>ORD</small> was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the L<small>ORD</small> said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."'' - |book=Genesis|chap=6|verses=3-7}} | ||
As the Flood occurred 100 years after God commissioned Noah, the number "120" cannot apply to when the Flood would occur. It is however, very compelling that the maximum life expectancy for humans hovers around 120 years. The longest verified modern lifespan on record for a human was Jeanne Calment who lived to be 122 years of age[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Calment]. | |||
It is a foregone conclusion that after the | It is a foregone conclusion that after the Flood, the environment was substantially different. The [[fossil record]] indicates that prior to the flood, the Earth was a tropical paradise. The destruction of the Earth by flood would have altered the environment in harmful ways about which we can only speculate. Further, post-flood inbreeding would have been extreme with only a father, mother, three sons, and their wives remaining, causing the loss of a great deal of [[heterozygosity]], and making humans more vulnerable to the new and harsher environment. Their view is consistent with [[biology]] (particularly [[genetic drift]],) [[flood geology]], and the [[decline of humanity]]. | ||
It is important to note that God declared Noah "righteous" only after he built the Ark. Prior to this time, God had declared all mankind "only evil continually", so no righteous humans existed for God to pick from. The Scripture says God chose Noah because he was "perfect in his generations", and this directly refers to his physical breeding, not his spiritual condition. One could argue God chose Noah because of his more pristine genetics, which would preclude the malaise associated with a genetic bottleneck. Noah was only the 10th generation from Adam, containing relatively few mutations from Adam's pristine genetics. In addition, God told Noah he would send the animals, not that Noah would have to gather them. Only God would have visibility to the animals with the most viable genetics for the post-Flood world. That the animals arrived in two-by-two is a direct assent of honoring the genetic model originally put in play on Day 5 when the animals were created to breed "after their kind". | |||
=== Chaotic events === | === Chaotic events === | ||
