Bible verse by verse

[_The Erotic Apologist]

There is real proof of the Flood.

The Epic of Gilgamesh--which predates Genesis--also describes a great flood. Therefore the Epic of Gilgamesh is true.

[_Quasimodo]

There is real proof of the Flood.

The Epic of Gilgamesh--which predates Genesis--also describes a great flood. Therefore the Epic of Gilgamesh is true.

How can that be true, Erotic? Nothing pre-dates the Bible, except maybe Buddhism, the Rigveda, the Upanishads, the Tao Tse Ting, the Gita, Zoroastrianism, the Iliad, the pyramid texts and the Epic of Gilgamesh . Besides that, the bathtub ring around the Pyramids says it all.

[_The Erotic Apologist]

...the bathtub ring around the Pyramids says it all.

I'm pretty sure Jesus was a closet Buddhist.

[_LittleNipper]

...the bathtub ring around the Pyramids says it all.

I'm pretty sure Jesus was a closet Buddhist.

Jesus was not a closet anything. He is what he is.

Question: "What did Jesus mean when He said 'I AM'?"

Answer: Jesus, in response to the Pharisees’ question “Who do you think you are?” said “‘Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” The violent response of the Jews to Jesus’ “I AM” statement indicates they clearly understood what He was declaring—that He was the eternal, incarnate God. Jesus was equating Himself with the "I AM" title God gave Himself in Exodus 3:14.

If Jesus had merely wanted to say He existed before Abraham’s time, He would have said, “Before Abraham, I was.” The Greek words translated “was” in the case of Abraham, and “am” in the case of Jesus, are quite different. The words chosen by the Spirit make it clear that Abraham was “brought into being,” but Jesus existed eternally (see John 1:1). There is no doubt that the Jews understood what He was saying because they took up stones to kill Him for making Himself equal with God (John 5:18). Such a statement, if not true, was blasphemy and the punishment ascribed by the Mosaic Law was death (Leviticus 24:11-14). But Jesus committed no blasphemy; He was and is God, the second Person of the Godhead, equal to the Father in every way.

Jesus used the same phrase “I AM” in seven declarations about Himself. In all seven, He combines I AM with tremendous metaphors which express His saving relationship toward the world. All appear in the book of John. They are: I AM the Bread of Life (John 6:35, 1, 48, 51); I AM the Light of the World (John 8:12); I AM the Door of the Sheep (John 10:7,9); I AM the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14); I AM the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25); I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6); and I AM the True Vine (John 15: 1,5).

Recommended Resources: Jesus: The Greatest Life of All by Charles Swindoll and Logos Bible Software.
While he is not the author of every article on GotQuestions.org, for citation purposes, you may reference our CEO, S. Michael Houdmann.
Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/I-AM.html#ixzz2jUSfS7Ro

[_LittleNipper]

Deuteronomy 30:1-19 So, when all these things have happened to the Israelites —the blessings and the curses listed— they will meditate upon them as they live among nations where the Lord God has driven them. If at that time they want to return to the Lord God, and if they and their children begin wholeheartedly to obey all of the commandments given, the Lord God will rescue them from that captivity! He will have mercy and gather Israel out of all the nations where he will have scattered them. Though they are everywhere upon the earth, God will go and find them and bring them back again to the land of promise of the ancestors. they shall possess the land again, and God will do good and bless them even more than he did their ancestors! God will cleanse hearts and the hearts of the children and of the children’s children so that they will love the Lord with all their hearts and souls, and Israel shall come alive again!
If Israel will return to the Lord and obey all the commandments, the Lord will take his curses and turn them against your enemies—against those who hate and persecute Israel. God will prosper everything they do and give them many children and much cattle and wonderful crops; for the Lord will again rejoice over Israel as he did over their ancestors. He will rejoice if they obey the commandments written in this book of the law, and if they turn to the Lord --- heart and soul.
Obeying these commandments is not something beyond strength and reach; for these laws are not in the far heavens, so distant that they can’t hear and obey them, and with no one to bring them down to believers; nor are they beyond the ocean, so far that no one can bring this message. They are very close at hand—in the heart and on the lips—so obey them.

Moses has set before Israel life and death, depending on whether they obey or not. Moses commanded that Israel love the Lord and follow his paths and keep his laws, so that they will live and become a great nation, and so that the God will bless them and the land they are about to possess. But if their hearts turn away and they won’t listen --- are drawn away to worship other gods— then Moses declares that they shall surely perish; you will not have a long, good life in this land they are on the verge to possess. Moses calls upon heaven and earth to witness this declaration and prays that Israel will choose the blessings rather than the curses of God.


Young's Literal Translation (YLT)


1 `And it hath been, when all these things come upon thee, the blessing and the reviling, which I have set before thee, and thou hast brought [them] back unto thy heart, among all the nations whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee away,

2 and hast turned back unto Jehovah thy God, and hearkened to His voice, according to all that I am commanding thee to-day, thou and thy sons, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul --

3 then hath Jehovah thy God turned back [to] thy captivity, and pitied thee, yea, He hath turned back and gathered thee out of all the peoples whither Jehovah thy God hath scattered thee.

4 `If thine outcast is in the extremity of the heavens, thence doth Jehovah thy God gather thee, and thence He doth take thee;

5 and Jehovah thy God hath brought thee in unto the land which thy fathers have possessed, and thou hast inherited it, and He hath done thee good, and multiplied thee above thy fathers.

6 `And Jehovah thy God hath circumcised thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, for the sake of thy life;

7 and Jehovah thy God hath put all this oath on thine enemies, and on those hating thee, who have pursued thee.

8 `And thou dost turn back, and hast hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and hast done all His commands which I am commanding thee to-day;

9 and Jehovah thy God hath made thee abundant in every work of thy hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, for good; for Jehovah turneth back to rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers,

10 for thou dost hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep His commands, and His statutes, which are written in the book of this law, for thou turnest back unto Jehovah thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

11 `For this command which I am commanding thee to-day, it is not too wonderful for thee, nor [is] it far off.

12 It is not in the heavens, -- saying, Who doth go up for us into the heavens, and doth take it for us, and doth cause us to hear it -- that we may do it.

13 And it [is] not beyond the sea, -- saying, Who doth pass over for us beyond the sea, and doth take it for us, and doth cause us to hear it -- that we may do it?

14 For very near unto thee is the word, in thy mouth, and in thy heart -- to do it.

15 `See, I have set before thee to-day life and good, and death and evil,

16 in that I am commanding thee to-day to love Jehovah thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, and His statutes, and His judgments; and thou hast lived and multiplied, and Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in the land whither thou art going in to possess it.

17 `And if thy heart doth turn, and thou dost not hearken, and hast been driven away, and hast bowed thyself to other gods, and served them,

18 I have declared to you this day, that ye do certainly perish, ye do not prolong days on the ground which thou art passing over the Jordan to go in thither to possess it.

19 `I have caused to testify against you to-day the heavens and the earth; life and death I have set before thee, the blessing and the reviling; and thou hast fixed on life, so that thou dost live, thou and thy seed,

20 to love Jehovah thy God, to hearken to His voice, and to cleave to Him (for He [is] thy life, and the length of thy days), to dwell on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them.'

[_The Erotic Apologist]

There is real proof of the Flood.

The Epic of Gilgamesh--which predates Genesis--also describes a great flood. Therefore the Epic of Gilgamesh is true.

Getting back to the topic of the Great Flood, why isn't the Epic of Gilgamesh regarded as a more accurate record of god's dealings with mankind than the Bible?

The Epic of Gilgamesh predates the Bible by more than a thousand years. Moreover, the Epic of Gilgamesh seems to be the true source of the account of the Great Flood that is found in Genesis.

[_LittleNipper]

The Epic of Gilgamesh--which predates Genesis--also describes a great flood. Therefore the Epic of Gilgamesh is true.

Getting back to the topic of the Great Flood, why isn't the Epic of Gilgamesh regarded as a more accurate record of god's dealings with mankind than the Bible?

The Epic of Gilgamesh predates the Bible by more than a thousand years. Moreover, the Epic of Gilgamesh seems to be the true source of the account of the Great Flood that is found in Genesis.

We can see that the Epic of Gilgamesh cannot predate Noah's, because there are also oral traditions that obviously are connected with the actual Flood. Moses being adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, would have been exposed to most anything ancient Egypt had to offer and also Hebrew traditions of his real mother & family. The story of Noah is more realistic, without the fantasy, and more to the actual point of what God was doing... There are also descriptive Flood verses throughout the Bible including what Jesus had to say about Noah without any mention of Gil.

[_The Erotic Apologist]

We can see that the Epic of Gilgamesh cannot predate Noah's, because there are also oral traditions that obviously are connected with the actual Flood.

Gilgamesh can't predate Genesis because of "oral traditions"? What "oral traditions"? That's pretty vague...

And the story of Noah is more realistic, less of a fantasy, and more to the actual point of what God was doing...

Uh, no. Both accounts are equally fantastical. This is one of the reasons why many Christians reject Biblical inerrancy.

There are also descriptive Flood verses throughout the Bible including what Jesus had to say about Noah without any mention of Gil.

All of which are pre-dated by Gilgamesh.

[_LittleNipper]

We can see that the Epic of Gilgamesh cannot predate Noah's, because there are also oral traditions that obviously are connected with the actual Flood.

Gilgamesh can't predate Genesis because of "oral traditions"? What "oral traditions"? That's pretty vague...

And the story of Noah is more realistic, less of a fantasy, and more to the actual point of what God was doing...

Uh, no. Both accounts are equally fantastical. This is one of the reasons why many Christians reject Biblical inerrancy.

There are also descriptive Flood verses throughout the Bible including what Jesus had to say about Noah without any mention of Gil.

All of which are pre-dated by Gilgamesh.

Read this and ponder: http://www.worldwideflood.com/ark/gilga ... gamesh.htm

[_LittleNipper]

The Epic of Gilgamesh is equal to the Bible? You tell me... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOrfrHys8g8