Why did God punish mankind? I thought it was just a few guys who built the tower. And why did he create different races? He must have known that racism would ensue. Doesn't make more sense that humans adapt to their environments?
2007-10-16 10:53:38 · 16 answers · asked by Idaho 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Man had gathered to built an altar on top of the tower to worship an unknown God.
2007-10-16 11:06:43 · answer #1 · answered by Fish <>< 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Races didn't happen at the tower of babel...
Nimrod had two purposes for building the tower. The first was to have a place to go if there was another flood. This was ignoring the fact that God had promised not to flood the earth again, signified by the existence of the rainbow. The second more commonly quoted reason for the tower was to try and reach heaven. He was warned not to build, but led everyone to do so anyway. That's why the languages were confounded and the people scattered.
2007-10-16 17:59:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. Get real. The tower of Babel was supposed to reach all the way up to heaven. Literally. You climbed to the top of the tower and you were in heaven.
Forgetting, for the moment, that heaven is itself not real, if you can climb up to heaven in a prehistoric tower then one would think that the Taipei 101 skyscraper (509.2 meters tall) should have reached it. If, somehow, the tower of Babel was even taller than the highest modern skyscraper, then the Space Shuttle or at least the Apollo moon missions should have reached it.
They didn't. Even if heaven exists it's not where the tower of Babel story says it is. The rest of the story is equally as wrong (no common language at the time, etc.) The tower is a myth, probably caused by nomadic tribes seeing their first real city and telling of the buildings as they sat around their tents. Gradually the buildings grew up and together to become Babel.
2007-10-16 17:56:20 · answer #3 · answered by Dave P 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The story of Babel is true. But it's more than just Nimrod's desire to build a tower into the heavens. God wanted mankind to subdue the entire earth. Nimrod refused to move on. So God's confusion of the language not only caused the tower work to cease, it also caused the people to scatter to other regions.
God didn't create different races, just different languages. Remember, He started with only two people. My guess is a fair-skinned Swede differs from a dark-skinned Ethiopian because of environmental differences.
2007-10-16 18:16:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Men/women have always been trying to reach God, and in the story of the Tower of Babel, that's exactly what they were doing, trying to reach Him through a manmade tower. They, like satan, were filled with pride and God confused their languages, thus the reason why there are so many languages spoken in the world today.
Man will never reach God through any means of their own making. It is only by a repentant heart, being truly sorry for living to sin, that touches the heart of God.
2007-10-16 18:16:50 · answer #5 · answered by Virginia B (John 16:33) 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The ruins of the tower of Babel were discovered several years ago. If the ruins are there, then the tower was there before.
God created different races for the same reason that each of us is unique, even within one skin color. And yes, he knew that racism would happen, just as any other sin happens.
If races were to occur because of adaptation to the environment, then shouldn't the eskimos be pale?
2007-10-16 18:01:48 · answer #6 · answered by sdb deacon 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think something did happen, but that the story might have gotten changed a bit over the time and telling of it.
Here's a version I think is more believable:
3. THE TOWER OF BABEL
After the submergence of Dalamatia the Nodites moved north and east, presently founding the new city of Dilmun as their racial and cultural headquarters. And about fifty thousand years after the death of Nod, when the offspring of the Prince's staff had become too numerous to find subsistence in the lands immediately surrounding their new city of Dilmun, and after they had reached out to intermarry with the Andonite and Sangik tribes adjoining their borders, it occurred to their leaders that something should be done to preserve their racial unity. Accordingly a council of the tribes was called, and after much deliberation the plan of Bablot, a descendant of Nod, was indorsed.
Bablot proposed to erect a pretentious temple of racial glorification at the center of their then occupied territory. This temple was to have a tower the like of which the world had never seen. It was to be a monumental memorial to their passing greatness. There were many who wished to have this monument erected in Dilmun, but others contended that such a great structure should be placed a safe distance from the dangers of the sea, remembering the traditions of the engulfment of their first capital, Dalamatia.
Bablot planned that the new buildings should become the nucleus of the future center of the Nodite culture and civilization. His counsel finally prevailed, and construction was started in accordance with his plans. The new city was to be named Bablot after the architect and builder of the tower. This location later became known as Bablod and eventually as Babel.
But the Nodites were still somewhat divided in sentiment as to the plans and purposes of this undertaking. Neither were their leaders altogether agreed concerning either construction plans or usage of the buildings after they should be completed. After four and one-half years of work a great dispute arose about the object and motive for the erection of the tower. The contentions became so bitter that all work stopped. The food carriers spread the news of the dissension, and large numbers of the tribes began to forgather at the building site. Three differing views were propounded as to the purpose of building the tower.
1. The largest group, almost one half, desired to see the tower built as a memorial of Nodite history and racial superiority. They thought it ought to be a great and imposing structure which would challenge the admiration of all future generations.
2. The next largest faction wanted the tower designed to commemorate the Dilmun culture. They foresaw that Bablot would become a great center of commerce, art, and manufacture.
3. The smallest and minority contingent held that the erection of the tower presented an opportunity for making atonement for the folly of their progenitors in participating in the Caligastia rebellion. They maintained that the tower should be devoted to the worship of the Father of all, that the whole purpose of the new city should be to take the place of Dalamatia--to function as the cultural and religious center for the surrounding barbarians.
The religious group were promptly voted down. The majority rejected the teaching that their ancestors had been guilty of rebellion; they resented such a racial stigma. Having disposed of one of the three angles to the dispute and failing to settle the other two by debate, they fell to fighting. The religionists, the noncombatants, fled to their homes in the south, while their fellows fought until well-nigh obliterated.
About twelve thousand years ago a second attempt to erect the tower of Babel was made. The mixed races of the Andites (Nodites and Adamites) undertook to raise a new temple on the ruins of the first structure, but there was not sufficient support for the enterprise; it fell of its own pretentious weight. This region was long known as the land of Babel.
2007-10-16 18:02:28 · answer #7 · answered by Holly Carmichael 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tower of Babel: Linguistics:: Adam and Eve: Biology.
A guess, decent enough given the information available, but subsequently debunked.
2007-10-16 18:12:07 · answer #8 · answered by Doc Occam 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i do think the tower of babel is real.
and yea, clearly their tower wasn't going to "reach God," but it is the act itself, that they could work together and try to be "as God" and trying to with themselves and their own strength reach God. There concept of God was muddled.
So God, muddled their language, making it so people could never agree and work together like this again, because they were not using the power for God's glory.
2007-10-17 23:28:52 · answer #9 · answered by RC 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
imagine the world in about 25 years when everyone's connected to the internet and everyone speaks the one language of the internet... and then suddenly an elecromagnetic pulse kills the internet and kills bank accounts and kills every electronic device we have.
humanity will collapse, fall into chaos and each area will start talkin a different language.
you can say the internet is the modern version of the tower of babel.
2007-10-16 18:00:45 · answer #10 · answered by joe the man 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋