Discussion of Website Comments
The group discussed briefly the content of a comment concerning the literal interpretation of the biblical account of Noah and the Flood. The group as a whole has found the adult study effort to be worthwhile and illuminating. They were anxious to move on. I will speak to the issues raised in the comments more fully in a later post.
Review of Session Twelve:
We recalled the challenge that every generation of Christians experiences to live faithfully their calling in the context of the actual personal, social, and historical setting in which they find themselves; a challenge that is unique to each individual, but common to our social and historical setting. Once again we turned to the question of marriage that was raised last week. I reiterated what I had said then. Marriage is understood differently in different cultures. At the same time, Christ’s vision of marriage as a sign and symbol of the Father’s faithfulness to the human community is now and has been since He first spoke it a true and enduring challenge. It reminds me of the fact that Christianity is more aspiration than achievement.
Genesis 6:14 – 7:5 – Preparation for the Flood
You can read this section; http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/6 and the notes supplied will prove to be very helpful. As is our custom, I asked the group and would not ask you to pay attention in listening to the reading, to identify any movement within oneself which might take the form of a question, an observation, or confusion. Immediately after the reading I asked them to share any of the above as I now ask you.
The very first question that emerged in Carol concerned the size of the ark. As the notes make clear, a cubit is understood to be approximately 1 ½ feet in length. In one account Noah is given specific measurements of what the ark is to be, 350 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. We wondered what that actually meant in more familiar terms. Since the account presents us with the ark as a boat, if would not be the shape of a cube. To help imagine the volume of space available for holding the human animal “cargo,” I thought that 60% of the volume of a cube might account for the shape of the boat, for the internal structures, and for room for the provisions. Obviously, this is just imagination but it might help to get at Carol’s question. The math then is pretty straight forward, 60% of 350 cubits x 50 cubits x 30 cubits x 1.5 ft per cubit. The answer is 472, 500 cubic feet.
We didn’t arrive at this figure in our discussion but I’ve recorded it here on our website in order to compare that figure with something we might be more familiar with. Using 80% of the cubic ft of the ark [its boat like structure] and comparing that to the size of the Costa Concordia, the luxury liner that went aground in Italy this past week, the Costa Concordia would hold approximately 7 arks. By modern standards the ark wasn’t all that big. And that’s the point; a standard of comparison would change over time. The size of the Costa Concordia could not even be imagined in the 16th century, let alone 2000 BC.
It’s important to pay attention to what we are doing as I say over and over again. Carol’s question is a very natural one for someone living in the 21st c. Yet in some fundamental way, the question moves us away from the meaning of the story itself to question rather, how could all the birds of the air, animals, and things that crawl on the earth fit on this size boat. But the real meaning of this part of the story is to set the stage for the outcome that will be told by the end of the story, a new beginning, a fresh start, a promise of commitment to us and at the same time the real consequences in the real world of our actual acts. It is this meaning that moves me, for both of these aspects of the story govern my life as I live it today.
More later, but for now do you have any questions, comments, observations, etc.