Longevity, Tooth Wear, and Genesis

[Kenny'sID]

Hardly. The only response to the question I posed was 'God can do anything.' Sounds to me like your 'ammunition' is really nothing more than fairy dust.

There is a point there where it's probably best I leave it at that. What I was going to answer would only upset you more.

 

[Steve Petersen]

There is a point there where it's probably best I leave it at that. What I was going to answer would only upset you more.

Not upset.

 

[Kenny'sID]

No matter how much you might try to squirm your way out of it, those words were spoken prior to the fall.

I never doubted that, and the squirm is so obvious, I need add no more to this post than that..

 

[lesliedellow]

There is a point there where it's probably best I leave it at that. What I was going to answer would only upset you more.

You didn't doubt that? Then why did you write:

"Anyway, Les made an error in calculation when he assumed God would have told Adam to be fruitful and multiply *before* his body had changed and would die."

Genesis 1.27-28 makes it clear that God did exactly that.

 

[Kenny'sID]

"Anyway, Les made an error in calculation when he assumed God would have told Adam to be fruitful and multiply *before* his body had changed and would die."

Let's let that be a little mystery to figure out on your own. We tend to learn much better when we have to work for it.

 

[lesliedellow]

Let's let that be a little mystery to figure out on your own. We tend to learn much better when we have to work for it.

Old flannel.

 

[Kenny'sID]

I understand.

 

[ewq1938]

OK, Biblical literalists insist that the lifespans of people shortly after the flood were significantly longer than today. From after the flood until the time of David, longevity in the Bible shows a decrease of age at death from 438 years (Arphaxad's time) to 70 years (David's time.) http://creation.com/temporal-changes-in-the-ageing-of-biblical-patriarchs

Now, anthropologists can use tooth wear as a method of determining someone's age at death to with about a 95% confidence level. http://var-and-evo.biol.uni.torun.pl/03_8.pdf

SO, if people lived a lot longer for 500 to 1000 years after the Flood, shouldn't that be apparent by their teeth? Why has this not been observed?

Let us know when they find the teeth of people who lived over 200 years and we can talk.

 

[ewq1938]

Correct.

Deuteronomy 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

God didn't create junk.

Deu_34:7 And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Let us know when they find the teeth of people who lived over 200 years and we can talk.

Might be waiting a while.

Besides teeth, there is wear and tear on joints.

 

[ewq1938]

Might be waiting a while.

Besides teeth, there is wear and tear on joints.

Side effect of being mortal. Some people die young, some die old. According to the bible many lived much longer than we can today. Why? It doesn't say but it only lasted in the early generations. It seems the closer one was to Adam the longer you lived but eventually whatever kept them healthy no longer was being inherited by newer generations.

Adam was not immortal either but it could be assumed he was genetically perfect as far as his DNA was concerned. Today we have so many DNA flaws with markers for all kinds of diseases, mental retardation, physical birth defects, et al.

 

[Catherineanne]

OK, Biblical literalists insist that the lifespans of people shortly after the flood were significantly longer than today. From after the flood until the time of David, longevity in the Bible shows a decrease of age at death from 438 years (Arphaxad's time) to 70 years (David's time.) http://creation.com/temporal-changes-in-the-ageing-of-biblical-patriarchs

Now, anthropologists can use tooth wear as a method of determining someone's age at death to with about a 95% confidence level. http://var-and-evo.biol.uni.torun.pl/03_8.pdf

SO, if people lived a lot longer for 500 to 1000 years after the Flood, shouldn't that be apparent by their teeth? Why has this not been observed?

It has not been observed because it did not happen. Who knows how people measured time in ancient times? It could have been in months rather than years, if they were focussed on the moon rather than the sun, which would make 438 moons 46 years; that is possible.

We all look back on the past as a golden age when everything was better than it is now, even if it was actually far worse; our ancestors were no different.

 

[Catherineanne]

-_- their teeth would have rotted from overuse, since humans typically only have two sets (if you count 12 year molars and wisdom teeth as part of the adult set). Even with modern dental care, toothpaste, etc, and if the teeth of those past humans were twice as durable as our modern ones, they wouldn't last a 400+ year lifespan. Furthermore, people in the past tended to have more rough plant matter and even bones in their diets, which wears down teeth even faster. If one asserts that their teeth were durable enough to withstand those lifespans, then the wear on their teeth would not be reflective of their age.

Not really. It is sugar that rots teeth, and the ancients did not have sugar. Their teeth may well have worn down, but they would not have decayed as modern teeth do.

 

[Catherineanne]

So, specifically what conditions were different post-Flood to David that allowed their teeth and internal organs to last longer than today?

Mythology.

 

[lesliedellow]

It has not been observed because it did not happen. Who knows how people measured time in ancient times? It could have been in months rather than years, if they were focussed on the moon rather than the sun, which would make 438 moons 46 years; that is possible.

"And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died." (Genesis 9.29)

 

[Catherineanne]

"And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died." (Genesis 9.29)

Yep. That is English and you and I both know what is meant by it.

How do we know what the ancients meant by it? Assuming that it is the same as our meaning is rather foolish, to say the least. Numbers had symbolic meaning to the ancients, and Noah had neither birth nor death certificate.

 

[lesliedellow]

Yep. That is English and you and I both know what is meant by it.

How do we know what the ancients meant by it? Assuming that it is the same as our meaning is rather foolish, to say the least. Numbers had symbolic meaning to the ancients, and Noah had neither birth nor death certificate.

The ancient Hebrews had a word for month (Chodesh), and it wasn't the same word they used for year (Shanah).

 

[Steve Petersen]

Longevity claims are not uncommon among ancient legends. So far, forensic anthropology has not confirmed that humans once lived very long lives. To the contrary, ancient lives were quite short.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_myths#Ancient_extreme_longevity_claims

 

[Catherineanne]

Longevity claims are not uncommon among ancient legends. So far, forensic anthropology has not confirmed that humans once lived very long lives. To the contrary, ancient lives were quite short.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longevity_myths#Ancient_extreme_longevity_claims

Quite right.

 

[Catherineanne]

The ancient Hebrews had a word for month (Chodesh), and it wasn't the same word they used for year (Shanah).

Jolly good. Did they have a word for 'literally true'?