Talk:Antediluvian world

Speculation
I have made some changes to this article, but I still have concerns with the following:


 * (This is a minor one) Was Cain's city called "Enoch"? Genesis 4:17 says that his city was name after Enoch, but it doesn't follow that the city was therefore named Enoch.  Alice Springs in Australia was named after Alice Todd. Alexandria in Egypt was named after Alexander the Great, Jacksonville in the U.S.A. was named after Andrew Jackson.


 * "These libraries of knowledge did not begin to develop until the written word was invented" makes a presumption about when that occurred. Some people believe that Genesis 5:1 indicates that Adam knew how to write, and I don't know of any reason to think that he didn't.


 * "no archaeological evidence of even the most primitive forms of writing have been discovered earlier than ancient Babylon which followed the tower of Babel" This is contradicted by this site.


 * "Even several hundred years later, during the time of the Egyptians, only hieroglyphics were in use." But hieroglyphics are a form of writing.


 * "The development of symbolic language seemingly coincides with the decline in human longevity." Only if you accept the secular view on when writing arose, and mix that with the Biblical record of longevity.


 * "When people lived to be 1000 years of age there was little need to archive knowledge externally." This is rather presumptuous.  (Nearly) 1000 years of age would not have seemed a long time to them; rather it would have been a normal age.  Or even a short age, compared to living for ever, which is what God intended for their recent ancestor (Adam).  Besides, writing would still have been useful for transmitting information between two people geographically apart.


 * "Monumental constructions are a great source of pride for humans. It was most likely this type of technological development that God attempted to retard by creating the language barriers at the tower of Babel." It was not technological development that God was opposed to.  It was their rebelliousness against Him.  He had told Noah that they were to fill the Earth, but they settled in one spot.  So God confused their language and scattered them over the Earth.


 * "given God's reaction, it is logical to propose that nothing like it had been built prior to the flood."  This does not follow at all.  First, it could be that nothing had been built before with a similar purpose.  Second, it could simply be a case of different circumstances, not a different structure.


 * "Prior to the flood, the atmosphere is thought to have been much more stable than it is today, providing an almost globally uniform temperature." This was a component of the Canopy model, now largely rejected.  With a tilted axis, there would have been both seasons and a range of temperatures from the equator to the poles.


 * "This is evident by the discovery of fossilized ferns and amphibians on Antarctica." Which can also be explained by continental movement, so does not provide much support for even temperatures.


 * "It is also believed that it had not rained prior to the flood, but the earth was instead watered by free-flowing springs and mist." This is also part of the Canopy model, and not a safe argument.


 * "Nevertheless, any constructions during this period were likely made of wood or dried mud." On what basis is this argument made?


 * "An Antediluvial civilization can be recognized: ... If the civilisation did not use bricks. Genesis 11 records that man baked bricks only after the flood." It doesn't actually say that.  It merely says that they used bricks instead of stone.


 * "Discoveries of preflood civilizations / The Koonalda Cave beneath the Nullarbor plain:" The article doesn't offer any evidence that the art is non-aboriginal, nor does it explain how fragile art would have survived an extremely destructive flood.  This claim is fanciful.

Philip J. Rayment 14:39, 18 March 2006 (GMT)


 * (Philip)-Was Cain's city called "Enoch"? I found this. http://nabataea.net/eden8.html PrometheusX303 13:44, 19 March 2006 (GMT)

Plato
Plato recounts the account of an Egyptian priest and historian, in which he describes antediluvian Athens and Atlantis. He described antediluvian Athens as follows: ''Now the city in those days was arranged on this wise. In the first place the Acropolis was not as now. For the fact is that a single night of excessive rain washed away the earth and laid bare the rock; at the same time there were earthquakes, and then occurred the extraordinary inundation, which was the third before the great destruction of Deucalion. But in primitive times the hill of the Acropolis extended to the Eridanus and Ilissus, and included the Pnyx on one side, and the Lycabettus as a boundary on the opposite side to the Pnyx, and was all well covered with soil, and level at the top, except in one or two places. Outside the Acropolis and under the sides of the hill there dwelt artisans, and such of the husbandmen as were tilling the ground near; the warrior class dwelt by themselves around the temples of Athene and Hephaestus at the summit, which moreover they had enclosed with a single fence like the garden of a single house. On the north side they had dwellings in common and had erected halls for dining in winter, and had all the buildings which they needed for their common life, besides temples, but there was no adorning of them with gold and silver, for they made no use of these for any purpose; they took a middle course between meanness and ostentation, and built modest houses in which they and their children's children grew old, and they handed them down to others who were like themselves, always the same. But in summer-time they left their gardens and gymnasia and dining halls, and then the southern side of the hill was made use of by them for the same purpose. Where the Acropolis now is there was a fountain, which was choked by the earthquake, and has left only the few small streams which still exist in the vicinity, but in those days the fountain gave an abundant supply of water for all and of suitable temperature in summer and in winter. This is how they dwelt, being the guardians of their own citizens and the leaders of the Hellenes, who were their willing followers. And they took care to preserve the same number of men and women through all time, being so many as were required for warlike purposes, then as now-that is to say, about twenty thousand. Such were the ancient Athenians, and after this manner they righteously administered their own land and the rest of Hellas; they were renowned all over Europe and Asia for the beauty of their persons and for the many virtues of their souls, and of all men who lived in those days they were the most illustrious.''


 * I removed the above quote from article - unless someone can support why these cities should be considered antediluvian. Atlantis, if it did exist, would certainly be a post-flood city inundated by rising waters due to ice age melt-off. --Ashcraft - (talk) 17:56, 26 September 2011 (PDT)

Antediluvian society, Lifestyle and Technology:

 * - Agriculture. - Genesis 4:2, 3.
 * - Astronomy: - Genesis
 * - Botany. - Genesis...
 * - Exile. - Genesis 4:16...
 * - Horticulture. - Genesis 2:9.
 * - Linguistics: Poetry Genesis 2:23, word coining. - Genesis 2:20.
 * - Livestock: Genesis 4:20.
 * - Fashion. - Genesis 3:7; 21.
 * - Marriage unions: (mono) - Genesis 2:23, (poly) - Genesis 4:19.
 * - Metal forging: Tool making, knowledge of geography. - Genesis 4:22.
 * - Musical instruments: - Genesis 4:21.
 * - Songwriting. - Genesis
 * - Sheep herding. - Genesis 4:2-4. (Wool?)
 * - Religion. - Genesis 2:16; 4:1-4.
 * - Time keeping. - Genesis.
 * - Tent making: implies the preparing of fabric, and textiles making, etc. - Genesis 4:20.
 * - Vendettas. - Genesis....
 * - Village building; architecture, construction. - Genesis 4:17.
 * - Zoology. - Genesis 2:20.


 * - Paints a very different picture than "uniformitarianism." --Anaccuratesource 23:15, 21 December 2011 (PST)