Why did people in the bible live so long?

i really believe the theory of the water canopy. The water canopy was an additional atmosphere above the troposhere that worked like a greenhouse. It protected us from solar radiation, and contributed directly to the great lifespan of antediluvian man and also to the great sizes of plants and animals we know call dinosaurs. The water canopy was pierced by a colossal meteorite and with that the canopy dropped its water on earth causing the great flood.

it could also be related to earth having higher pressures on those ancient times but i tend to believe the first theory.

reply to post by Picollo30


And it was that colossal meteorite that caused the 'fountains of the great deep (to) break up' - KJV Gen 7:11. It was the start of the splat. The 'windows of the heavens were opened' after the fountains of the deep broke up. The poles froze and the equator became hot after the canopy was lost.


[edit on 13-4-2009 by lostinspace]

so lostinspace you also believe that a water canopy existed in those ancient or you are just quoting the bible?

If a water canopy existed and i believe it did, who created it and with what technology?

btw i'm not a christian but i believe in some of the stuff in the bible, mostly from the genesis. its kinda a whole metaphor for an alien intervention in our planet.

[edit on 14-4-2009 by Picollo30]

reply to post by Picollo30


I believe earth looked like Venus in its early days. The atmosphere of Venus is 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen and trace gases, with a pressure 90 times that of earth. The temperatures on Venus can soar to 867 Degree F or 464 Degrees C. If there is water to be found on Venus it would be in gaseous form.

I believe all of the water on earth was in gas form in its beginning. Something caused it to condense into a liquid form near the surface of the earth, the rest remained in gas form near the upper atmosphere. The area in between the two waters was filled with carbon dioxide. The first plants thrived in that environment because that’s what they inhale. The plants then exhaled oxygen which made life possible for the rest of the animals.

Then another event happened that changed the equation which cause the water to condense in the upper atmosphere and fall as rain. It’s hard for me to believe aliens can orchestrate such an astronomical event. I guess you could say mother nature had all this in mind. But I prefer to call it father nature with the title God. This flood event, I believe, was meant to shorten the life span of humans.

Originally posted by rapunzel222
reply to post by waynedg

 

whats it about?

have you read gods of eden by william bramley?

hi rapunzel222

i have not read that book you mentioned but sounds interesting.

gods of the new millenium is a book on who we are and where we came from and it answers the questions wat are the strange buildings and statues we have around the world. what alan has done is taken zacharia sitchens work and just enhanced it.

i am not saying its all gospel but it sure is an eye opener.

thanks, i will read. gods of eden is a really interesting book i thought. worth a read. if only for the bit about ufos and bubonic plague -which was quite weird.

reply to post by rapunzel222


hmmm i will google it now and keep a look out for the book.

with gods of the new millenium i posted the conclusions of all 15 or so chapters on another forum i am on.

thanks

i dont have the time to read through all the 22 pages of posts, so i dont know if this has been said yet. simple answer, the older stories of the bible are NOT fact, but stories. true they are based on real people and events, but much symbolism is used. the massive ages of the leading figures of religion is just a symbol for wisdom. old people=wiser people, maybe not in today's society, but back then thats how it was. even if biblical figures actually did live that long, it was most likely due to simplicity of living, exercise, healthy conditions, etc etc.

Originally posted by deathhawk21

simple answer, the older stories of the bible are NOT fact, but stories. true they are based on real people and events, but much symbolism is used. the massive ages of the leading figures of religion is just a symbol for wisdom. old people=wiser people, maybe not in today's society, but back then thats how it was. even if biblical figures actually did live that long, it was most likely due to simplicity of living, exercise, healthy conditions, etc etc. [

I don't have the time or patience to read all the way thorough this thread either. I've read some convincing arguments that mistranslations in portions of the the original Aramaic to Greek account for some numbers being multiplied by ten. i.e. 853 years is meant to be 85.3, etc.

As demonstrate by genuine biblical scholars and historians, not aligned with religious institutions, the Old Testament is a weaving of legends and mythologies form the Middle East cultures including the Sumerians, Egyptians, Syrians, Babylonians, etc. Names were changed and locations to centralize it to the collective historical record of the monotheistic God and the Hebrews of the Sinai peninsula.

The later books written are closer to history with the Babylonian captivity, etc.

Where modern Israel now is, a desert outpost of the Egyptian Empire, was a Neolithic primitive agrarian society lacking the wide use of metals, architecture, weapons and animal drawn vehicles when the stories of the Great Hebrew Kings was supposedly happening. We find no reference to them in the writings form neighbouring cultures, when they were said to be at their height, 2000- 100 B.C.

In a nutshell, no Moses or King Solomon, or any of the very early books back to Genesis. The Great Flood is a shared story among virtually every mythology cycle with details, names, and locations changing.

A handed down for generations oral tradition of stories told and retold, embroidered, embellished, form the basis of the still surviving Old Testament. It was actually only recorded in a permanent form around 150 B.C.

all in all, interesting and insightful stories with a lot od fantasy and supernatural elements, sprinkled here and there with historical facts and actual people.

Very little can be taken as literal history.


Mike















[edit on 2-5-2009 by mmiichael]

First off while I am a Christian I do not believe that the bible is meant to be taken literally. As far as this topic is concerned, I do not believe that humans lived hundreds of years. I came here to se how other people felt about it and the range of answers shows that there is no single accepted reason for this. I think it probably has to do with how they kept track of years. Since there did use to be thirteen months, it would make sense that people counted the month instead of years like we do.

As far as creation goes I believe in evolution, but that god made all elements and started the big bang and helped to guide everything in the direction he wanted it to be in.

I do not believe God was is a human being as some have stated previously... although it would be possible to put himself or part of himself into a human body if he wished. I believe that is what happened with jesus and that is also why there are saints and healers.

I also would like to address this statement. "This is just an idea, (might be a bad one, but it wouldn't be the first or last) but maybe since the dna was the first and new maybe it just degraded over time and life span was shortened. "

This is frustrating to me because the idea of life starting with Adam and Eve only doesn't make sense. It doesn't take into account Lilith for and it doesn't take into account inbreeding or how there son went off to marry someone that was not his sibling. It says in the bible he left the garden to find his wife. And if you know about genetics, the closer you are genetically the worse side effects you would have. If you can have serious complications from having a child with a brother or father... the consequences of having a child with yourself would have to be catostrophic... which is in essence what would happen if Adam and Eve procreated if you believe that eve was created from adams rib. They would share the same exact dna.

I understand that there are purists that believe only what is written, and I mean them no harm or disrespect. I just feel to take one source without incorporating science devaluates religious belief. I think if you are open to the bible you will know the intention and to just believe blindly is a disservice to god.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. - Albert Einstein

That's a good question. Unfortunately, we will never know the answer.

It would be logical to assume, that after a supposed 40day world flood, that a large portion of human DNA would be erased. Such bottlenecking of genetic material could cause defects (practically inbreeding) such as shorter life spands, genetic disease, ect ect.

There a few problems with the "Water Canopy" idea, namely that we have no artifacts relating, in any way, to people being generally 12 feet tall. In fact we have much evidence to show that we are taller now than we were in prior history.

Also, if this "Water Canopy" fell to Earth and enveloped all the land we would see a total shuffling of all artifacts relating to the ante-deluvian world. See, when a ship sinks in the ocean it doesn't just sit there, the currents of the sea roll it around, break it up and scatter the debris all over the place. If the entire world were covered by water we would have a total jumbling of all archeological artifacts and have a real hard time discerning what culture made what and where they were located.

Of course, I haven't even mentioned the physical impossibility of water being suspended, defying gravity, in an upper atmospheric layer, only to be "pierced by a meteor".

The real reason people are perceived to have lived so long in the Bible is that it's not meant to be taken literally and to do so is a fool's errand. Take Enoch, for example, Noah's grandfather, lived for 364 years, almost exactly how many days are in our Solar calendar, it's obviously an allegory.

Also, measurements in the Bible are taken with a grain of salt. If we were to directly translate the height of the Nephilim, off spring of the Grigori, we would find them to be a few miles tall, very much impossible.

Science and Religion may not always agree but they don't have to be mutually exclusive.

ur all wrong i heard the big numbers were about moon year, makes logical sense.

It may be a stretch but I think it's because we gradually started to think about "normal" lifespans. At first, the biblical persons weren't 'aware' that they were living a "long" time.

I believe it was a variation of a Pascal saying that spawned the phrase "if a tree falls in a forest..." Which, IMO, if we don't perceive it, it doesn't happen. The people of biblical days weren't even acknowledging death however with time it crept upon us. With the acknowledgement came shorter lifespans.

This is probably a stretch for many, but hey, you asked for my opinion and I gave it.

a2d


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

We also have no remains suggesting that any person had lived past a "normal" life span. The idea that everyone died by 50 is a fallacy, people lived into their 80s quite often.

because they are stupid to believe a story book i have read the bible all it is to me is a story book trying to scare us so we do no wrong

Well based on the ages in the old testament the calender used at that time for ages in life span was from a lunar calender.

Adam 930 years Lunar calender

Adam 77.5 years Solar calender

Methuselah 969 years Lunar calender

Methuselah 80.75 years Solar calender

When God spoke and said no man shall live past 120 years of age it was a change from counting a lunar year of full moon to full moon or 30 days. To the calender that we have today of 365 days in a year.

Biblical references to the pre-Jewish calendar include ten months identified by number rather than by name. In parts of the Torah portion Noach (Noah) (specifically, Gen 7:11, Gen 8:4-5, Gen 8:13-14) it is implied that the months are thirty days long.[11] There is no indication as to the total number of months in the annual cycle.
In the parts of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) prior to the Babylonian exile, only four months are named: Aviv (Exodus 13:4, 23:15, 34:18, Deut. 16:1) (first; literally "spring", which originally probably meant "the ripening of barley"); Ziv (1 Kings 6:1, 6:37) (second; literally "light"); Ethanim (1 Kings 8:2) (seventh; literally "strong" in plural, perhaps referring to strong rains); and Bul (1 Kings 6:38) (eighth). All of these are Canaanite names, and at least two are Phoenician (Northern Canaanite).[citation needed]

According to the Book of Exodus, the first commandment the Jewish people received as a nation was to determine the new moon: Exodus 12:2 states, "This month [Nisan] is for you the first of months." Deut 16:1 refers to a specific month: "Observe the month of Aviv (HE: spring), and keep the passover unto the LORD thy God; for in the month of Aviv the LORD thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night."

During the Babylonian exile, which started in 586 BCE, Jews adopted Babylonian names for the months, which are still in use. The Babylonian calendar also used a lunisolar calendar, derived from the Sumerian calendar, which was not dissimilar in structure from the Hebrew one.

Hebrew names and romanized transliteration may somewhat differ, as they do for חשוון / Marheshvan or כסלו / Kislev: the Hebrew words shown here are those commonly indicated e.g. in newspapers. The Syrian calendar used in the Levant countries shares many of the same names for months as the Hebrew calendar, such as Nisan, Iyyar, Tammuz, Ab, Elul, Tishri, and Adar.
.

en.wikipedia.org...

So here we see the Jews adopted Babylonian names for the months so thats proff in its self that they changed there calender over time. In the begining as hunter gatherers there was no need for seasons and years just the basics of the clock they all could see full moon quarter moon half moon. But as farming came to be the seasons caused change s in the calender or a new calender for harvesting and planting. Later they began tradeing im sure and started adapting calenders used by others. Islam for example uses a lunar calender to this day and does follow the old testament just not the new testament. So there calender could be more in line with old testament calender then the jewish calender of today as they have adapted and changed there calender over time.

Leviticus 19 23 And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of. 24 But in the fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy [2] to praise the Lord withal. 25 And in the fifth year shall ye eat of the fruit thereof, that it may yield unto you the increase thereof: I am the Lord your God. 26 Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.

Seems if you replace the world year with month it makes since. Plant your fruit trees when the fruits begin to show dont eat them until the fourth month for then it will be ripe or holy.

The Hebrew calender was original based on a 19 year calender. The Mayans also had a 19 year calender. The Haab year is divided in day numbers zero through 19 and month glyphs corresponding to numbers one through 19, where the last month represents the five uncounted days (Wayeb) of the Haab. I think you have the case with the Mayans they copied many of the calenders from many cultures and basicly used them all and matched them to each other. Where you had a different path for the other hemisphere where the conqueror force there ideaology on to the loser grouping and gathering of records was only done in the fabeled libraries of alexandria that Caeser burned to the ground. The Vatican does have a library of secrets even the Mayan book of creation was taken there and translated at the Vatican.
Mayan calender
Popol Vuh


[edit on 6-9-2009 by JBA2848]

Originally posted by JBA2848
Well based on the ages in the old testament the calender used at that time for ages in life span was from a lunar calender.

Adam 930 years Lunar calender

Adam 77.5 years Solar calender

Methuselah 969 years Lunar calender

Methuselah 80.75 years Solar calender

When God spoke and said no man shall live past 120 years of age it was a change from counting a lunar year of full moon to full moon or 30 days. To the calender that we have today of 365 days in a year.




[edit on 6-9-2009 by JBA2848]

but people did live past 120 years for a long time after god flooded the earth. god isn't even talking about life span in gen 6:3, he's talk about how many years mankind has left till he floods the earth.

i do hope you realize that the jewish people still use a lunar calender so it really can't be about that.

reply to post by demongoat


en.wikipedia.org...

The Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar, or "fixed lunar year," based on twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days, with an intercalary lunar month added seven times every nineteen years (once every two to three years) to synchronize the twelve lunar cycles with the slightly longer solar year. Each Jewish lunar month starts with the new moon. Although originally the new lunar crescent had to be observed and certified by witnesses, the timing of the new moon is now determined mathematically.

The Hebrew calender is a lunisolar calender.