of the tenability of the Tower of Babel

by inkling 11 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  inkling

  Ok, so when he subject of the absurdity of taking Biblical
  history and science serious, oft targets include such gems
  as the account of creation, and a global flood.

  It's quite easy to demonstrate just how massively misled all
  of current science and history would have to be in order
  for these things to be true.

  For the those of little faith like myself, that makes those
  Biblical accounts (and hence the Bible itself) "untenable".

  What about the Tower of Babel?

  Here the Bible claims a linguistic and cultural bottleneck
  some 4000 (?) years ago.

  What are the best pieces of evidence you have found to show
  this to be false? (or true, if you are a believer)

  [ink]

  [ink]
• 

  Gill

  Two things - 1) The Hebrews 'stole' or borrowed the history of the world from the Babylonians and other more advanced cultures.

  2) There is fossil evidence that homo sapien sapien, ie modern man may well have been around for several million years.

  That makes all that Bible stuff just a skewed view of Earth's history and a potentially warped and one sided view of their more 'modern' history.
• 

  inkling

  There is fossil evidence that homo sapien sapien, ie modern man may well have been around for several million years.

  Agreed, but that dosn't falsify the tower of Babel per se.

  I suppose I am looking for a few clear examples of "we know this happened at this time, and therefore the tower of babel makes no sense"
• 

  SacrificialLoon

  All Indo-European languages do have a common root, but it was further back than 4000 years ago. They also did build towers called Ziggurats in Sumeria, what is now present day Iraq, but one did not cause the other. Like most mythology there's some facts, but they are twisted to make a good story.
• 

  Thomas Poole

  Consider this for a start:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Language

  I think the research about this would be very interesting--trying to actually prove the Babel account (language origins) through secular research.

  Of course the Bible can not be proven merely using science, it can support it as it is able. Also, the Bible does not have to prove itself in every instance; however, the Bible explains how it is to be interpreted: verse upon verse, a little here, a little there. Then this is only done as God allows. During history and time, God has purposely kept people from knowing certain things until he decided to awaken them.

  Faith with proper understanding is not something misled (regarding the tower of babel); however, this "proper understanding," if you will, is dependent upon mysteries unvailed to them that sleep. Sleeping here means they were did not know or understand. They awaken when God opens up the their minds as the Holy Spirit speaks from the Bible

  So we start here perhaps:

  Ge 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. {language: Heb. lip.} {speech: Heb. words}

  Ge 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

  Ge 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

  Ge 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. {Babel: that is, Confusion}
• 

  cameo-d

  "god" caused them to begin to speak in many different languages.

  This is how it happened. First this "god" was actually the evil alien watcher angels who set themsselves up as gods.

  They are telepathic. So humans began to develop other methods of communication. First it was pictures. But that was too easy. The aliens began to figure that out.

  But when humans began to use the spoken word, it exercised a part of the brain and caused it to be blocked from being read by the "gods".

  So in a sense, yes, god caused them to want to develop another form of communication.

  These creatures cannot understand metaphor and the deeper nuances of language. That's why they could not understand parables.

  Even Jesus said so himself.

  Jesus said: "Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil."

  Those who serve satan cannot understand the parables or the deeper meanings of the scriptures. That's why only those with holy spirit can rightly divide the word.
• 

  Gopher

  Those who serve satan cannot understand the parables or the deeper meanings of the scriptures.

  What about people who studied the scriptures for decades (like me) but now realize they're just a set of writings from a religious priesthood designed to control mankind? I studied for deeper meanings, and get them. I just don't accept them. Am I a servant of Satan?
• 

  cameo-d

  What about people who studied the scriptures for decades (like me) but now realize they're just a set of writings from a religious priesthood designed to control mankind? I studied for deeper meanings, and get them. I just don't accept them. Am I a servant of Satan?

  Not in a million years, Gopher. If you were a servant of Satan you would still be sitting in a pew in the Kingdom Hall!!

  And besides I agree with you. Those scriptures were written by a religious (political) priesthood and yes, it was all designed to control mankind.

  Religion was born from magic. The watcher angels first taught man how to harness fire for light, warmth, and eventually cooking (when they began to eat meat). This is why "LIGHT" always plays a key note in their presence. ("New Light" blah blah...it's all from them.) The evil angels had a prophet school at Mt. Carmel. They taught simple technology to Abraham, Moses, and the rest of those heavyweights. There were many prophets we have not even heard of. Anyway, in exchange for simple science, which the prophets passed off as "MAGIC" to wow the crowds and get control, the prophets were required to deliver rules and laws, which poor little imperfect man just could not help but violate at times. So why all the rules? Because the "gods" needed blood sacrifice. The life is in the blood and these blooddrinkers need it to materialize in this realm. So for all the rules broken, they were guaranteed a feeding time.

  If you take a look at the Megiddo Ivories, there is a very old sort of "puu-puu" platter and on it are pomegranate shaped drinking vessels. The juice of the pomegranate runs as red as blood. So I suppose the blood was served in that. Interesting that the early Jewish priests were instructed to embroider pomegranates on the border of their special robes. I think the Catholic preists have pomegranates on their, too. It signifies the blood sacrifices.

  I do not accept that "Jesus died to save us from our sins." Does that make me a servant of Satan? No. It just makes me an enemy of restablished religions that teach that.
• 

  Witness 007

  Yeah everyone spoke Yiddish and hated Pork till.......Shazzam! One group spoke Italian and began cooking Pizza's......The African speking group spoke the "click click" langauage and hunted Hippo's. The Australian group cracked open some beers and sunbathed....yeah right very scientific......scientists wetting their pants with laughter.
• 

  jwfacts

  The same evidence that disproves a global flood 4000 years ago also disproves Babel.

  The highly detailed line of Egyptian Pharoahs goes back unbroken for over 4500 years. This includes the Pyramid of Giza which was built around 2580 BCE. The pyramid of Giza was the tallest building in the world for 3800 years, and built prior to when the Bible claims the tower of Babel was built. So not only does the Babel story fail on the grounds of its age, but also the concept that God was incensed at congregating to build "a tower with its top in the heavens" is inconsistent since it had already been done several hundred years earlier.