Posted by mehrdad on February 27, 19101 at 07:34:13:
In Reply to: Consanguinity posted by mehrdad on February 25, 19101 at 22:18:38:
The first time that modern man heard about Abraham was of course from the Holy books which some might consider unreliable, but during the last hundred and so years the archeological discoveries in the Middle East Area, have unearthed the remains of all the cities and places that these holy books have talked about. Nations and countries such as Hittites, Canaanites and the name of kings and rulers that were only known from Bible and Koran; they all have been found here and there on the tablets, papyruses, buildings, statues and all other remains and documents from ancient times. We all also know about the “Dead Sea Scroll”, a two thousands years documents that shows the Old Testament very much as it is today.
In the Bible (Genesis 10), there is a unique document, which is a recital of the “Table of Nations”. This document at first was doubted by scholars because it listed then unknown nations-states, then was taken apart critically, and finally after a century and half of archaeological discoveries, its amazing accuracy was verified. Koran and Bible hold a wealth of reliable historical, geographical, and political information concerning the rise of mankind from the mud and desolation following the Deluge (at the end of the last “ice age” about thirteen to eleven thousands years ago), to the heights of civilizations and empires.
There exists a Babylonian tablet (4000 years old) in the British Museum (No 74329), which actually is telling the story of Cain and Abel and how Cain killed Abel, his brother, to marry their sister as it is told in the religious texts. There are numerous documents left from Babylonian and their predecessors the Sumerian and Mesopotamians that have historical stories that parallels what is in the holy books. Of course these findings by themselves do not prove that these books are from God and for the sake of our particular discussion we do not need to prove anything like that.
What we need in here in order to continue our discussion is that the stories of Abraham or Moses are not just some children bedtime tales, but they are accounts of actual events that have happened many thousands of years ago. For the sake of our discussion it really does not matter if Koran or Bible got their ideas about how the universe or man was created from Mesopotamians, but what is important for us, is if they are accurate in their accounts.
In the light of these new discoveries most critics have come to accept that the holy books are relaying the history of the mankind in a chronological manner and through a story. The story of a particular group of people that once had existed and had their share of struggle and strive for survival. For these reasons, many know believe that eventually all the places and names that bible have talked about would be found. I even heard that some are looking for the Noah’s Ark somewhere in Turkey and I would not be a bit surprise if that vessel were found somewhere someday.
As it is quite known, Koran and Bible are very correct in describing how our solar system was created and how water is necessary for life. We are also aware that they are accurate in their account of the ancient history and many other natural and human events (we discussed it at the top), so if they are accurate in these accounts shouldn’t we taking them seriously on other accounts, like the story of Abraham and Moses, too. I think we should but of course in our discussion we would also present ample historical facts to prove our points. Enshaalah!