If the ark story is to be believed, how is the native American explained?

Question

These people would have had to got here somehow. Since the last ice age would have been the only means for them to cross the Bering strait, how does the bible explain them getting from Mt. Ararat to the Americas.
BTW: The last ice age occurred thousands of years before Noah's boating excursion. Hmmm...

jesusfreak: Yes, I can.

cam: Are you really going to be there? Isn't pride one of your deadly sins. See ya in hell buddy!

Answer 1

Well, I have studied mythology from a lot of various religions and the story of a great flood seems to be the one mythological story that is universal (the characters are always different and sometimes they don't build a boat, they climb a certain mountain or hill as instructed by the divine with all the creatures, but it is always basically the same story).

Scholars say that the oldest version of the story, atleast that is recorded, would be the one told in Hinduism about a man named Manu who finds a fish in a stream while bathing there. It is little and the fish asks Manu to take it home for safety to help it. So Manu does and the fish continues to outgrow its home and is transfered from one container to the next before finally being so large that Manu finally takes the fish to the ocean to set it free (not sure why the fish went from being a fresh water fish to a salt water fish, but it's a mythological story so let's just accept the story for what it is). Anyways, the fish thanks Manu and then tells Manu that there is going to be a great flood because waters from the North are coming and the ocean is going to rise because the waters of the North along with the rains will cause there levels to rise higher than normal. He advises Manu to gather up two of each animal and two of every seed (plants are included in the Hindu version) and to put them on a boat. Manu builds the boat and does as he is asked and just as the fish predicted, the waters start to rise. Well after a month of the ocean rising, the waters start to recede. The fish returns, but this time with a horn on its head. He calls out to Manu to tie a rope to the horn on the fish and so Manu does. The fish then toes the boat to the top of a nearby mountain and tells Manu to let everything go (the mountain in the story is not specified). Manu, having realized that the fish is God (the aspect of Vishnu) offers praise to God and is grateful for the help. (It is important to remember that in this story God is not punishing mankind or nature, but instead that the flooding is caused by natural things. the waters of the north are thought to refer to the ice melting and this along with the rains, implying that it is the normal cycle of rains, is what made the waters rise. Thus in this story God is preserving all life not punishing it. It's important to remember that Hindus believe that life reincarnates so more than two of the animals and seeds; male and female; would have been sufficient just to repopulate that type of creature and the others that may have perished would have been reincarnated. A bit different than the later versions, the Biblical version, where the flood is a punishment from God and only two of every animal are also spared; apparently even the animals were being bad??). This story is in one of the oldest Puranas of Hinduism (the only books older are the Vedas and the Upanishads).

Now, many scholars believe there may be older versions of the story. However, being a practicing Hindu there is one aspect I can't help but overlook and that is that when Hinduism tells a mythological story then it isn't to be believed that the things actually happened just as the story is telling you. In fact, most Hindu mythological stories have a deeper meaning to them. The symbolism of the story represents aspects of our inner self and all the various symbolism is describing things about ourself and the processes we go through on our spiritual journey. That said, the flood may have in fact never happened and that the flood may be a symbolic tool used in the story (along with Manu, the fish and all the containers...because the story makes a point to describe all the containers which seems excedingly boring to read actually and sort of over makes the case that the fish is getting bigger).

From Hindu India, the story then changed when it entered Zoroastrian Persia (Zoroaster is actually mentioned in the Hindu Vedas as a teacher that later it says left his Hindu teachings behind). Then from Zoroastrian Persia it traveled to Babylon. It is there, scholars say, that the Jews picked up the story, changed it to fit into their belief system...and voila: the story of Noah's Ark.

My beloved is Shawnee (racially, ethnically, culturally, and spiritually) and has told me a mythical story from his oral traditions that sound somewhat similar to the Hindu version. Again, though, it's oral so scholars then can't really date it's age like they can the story in the Purana. In their tradition the story is also symbolic and not believed to be an actual occurance.

So I tend to hold the same view as Hindus (being a practicing Hindu). That the story isn't about something that really happened. That the story is symbolism for a much greater set of lessons about understanding the inner self and the changes that come along the way on the spiritual journey.

But to each their own. :)

Peace.

Answer 2

its a myth from the mid east .

However if youre interested in the origins of man, May i suggest" the journey of man".

The author, through DNA research , tracks eveyone alive today to a single tribe that still exists in africa

Getting back to the ark nonsense, im willing to bet that there was a flood in a village somewhere near a river. One man with a boat loaded 2 of each animal that he owned along with his family.

As the rest of the town got wiped out, he and his survived and had enough chickens , goats and camels to start over again.

Answer 3

Actually some believe they may be the "Lost Tribes of Israel" Notice how they are familiar in looks to the Jews/Hebrews?
Also, study History, you may find it interesting that Chris and Amerigo were NOT the first travelers to the Americas. Which Native Americans prove.

Answer 4

I've read that land was all connected at some point. All they had to do was walk/migrate across the land.

As time went by, the oceans came into being. Even now, the shape of the land and the ocean are changing as erosion and various geological effects are taking place.

Answer 5

First of all, almost every culture has a similar story depicting a horrible flood that almost wiped out humanity. More than likely these stories have some truth behind them.

And since almost every culture (most of them non-Hebrew or Western related) it is likely that there were more survivors than Noah on other parts of the world.

Answer 6

"Can you prove when the last ice age happened?" There is a lot more proof of the last ice age then there is god, yeah? Personally i think that native americans came over when all the continents were connected.

Answer 7

Virtually all cultures (including Mesopotamian, Greek, AND American Indian) have Flood legends. This suggests that either there was a common experience (possible) or the the story was diffused through DOZENS of cultures with each putting its own spin on it.

Answer 8

After the Ark docked on dry land again, the two bears on board gave birth to a hypothyroid baby bear that grew to a zillion pounds. When the night came down to swallow the earth, it scared the hypothyroid baby bear and he pooped out a Native American. NEVER QUESTION MY FAITH!!

Answer 9

If you built a boat the size of the Ark, it would sink under it's own weight (not even counting the weight of the passengers)

Answer 10

have god explaine it to ya when u get to heaven , remember we see though a dark glass right now on earth and wont know the whole picture until we are in heaven , can ya dig it