one_raven
No problem. It's sometimes hard to see where others don't understand something that you wrote... although I'm not sure how relevant all this is, really.
But anyway, let me rephrase: X stands on the highest mountain in the country, points to "all the cities of the earth" and says to Y: 'All this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.'
Even if the earth was imagined to be flat, a person would not be able to see all the known cities (even less kingdoms) at a glance. Maybe three or four cities were visible, or if they were on a border, two or three kingdoms with a few cities at most. But Jesus knew that Satan promised not only these, but in fact the "whole world". And that was what was written down and what we also understand. Another possibility is that it could have been a vision. But nowhere is the intention or possibility to suggest the earth was supposed to be flat (although I'm sure people who already thought the earth was flat would read it that way, and would read Is.40:22 as a
flat circle).
croper
No, what I am saying is that the
Bible says the whole earth was covered. Whether 5000 years ago is "recent" is also arguable. You can interpret the text as local or global depending in accordance tot the research you find
believable. Personally, I have no trouble believing either - there has definitely been catastrophic floods all over the earth, and the evidence
against a global flood (or even a series of floods) is dependent on whose side you're on - but ultimately it is not the point of the story. The "truth" or moral of it remains the same either way, and is echoed in many other flood stories. Whoever wrote
this certainly understood a similar message.
On that note, however, I would like to point out that many scientists believe that there were times when there were only one supercontinent (Pangaea and Rodinia), while the rest of the earth was covered with either ice or water. On what evidence did they come to that conclusion? Please note, I'm not suggesting this has anything to do with the Biblical flood - but the evidence observed would be similar.
As for the website, did you read the rebuttals on
Problems with a global flood?. To be honest, it's a pillow fight I'd rather try to avoid. That the Bible is not unique in reporting a cataclysmic flood is enough evidence that at least
people's lives world-wide were influenced by whatever happened, whether globally, or in multiple local floods - and realization and attentiveness is what God wanted to achieve.
