At synagogue recently there was a reading from the Torah about the age of Noah when he died. It said that he lived to be 950 years old. Afterwards I read some other passages from Genesis and lots of other people had super long lives, too.

So:

Did people just live longer then? or,
Did they use a different calendar for years? or,
Was it not meant to be taken literally? or,
Was it maybe even gematriya (code)?

I realize there are probably a lot of differing opinions but I'm very interested to hear about this, thanks.

Err the Board has censored the Hebrew name for Genesis, Bere****, LOL!! It's spelled B-e-r-e-s-h-i-t, and roughly pronounced as "bear-ray-sheet", in case anyone is interested.

ttzippe85

I didn't say they were doomed to death, however its been proven that dogs that eat vegetarian diets live longer. Our original diet consisted of fruits, nuts, and grains but God allowed the eating of meat for several reasons.

DrJizzle

So if God allowed it and Jesus pardoned it, why is it killing us off faster??

ttzippe85

Please make your question more specific. Do you mean why is he allowing it to kill us off faster or why (scientifically) is it killing us off faster?

orange

The problem with using dogs as an example is that dogs are omnivores (they eat both meat and vegetables). So they can survive without meat. But what about true carnivores? Cats for example only eat meat, they would get very sick if they had to live on a vegetarian diet. But interestingly enough, even though they eat meat, cats live longer on average than dogs.

DrJizzle

LOL no, I dont want a scientific shpeal about why it is killing us off faster.. Im saying that if God decided that it was okay for us to eat meat and Jesus even came along and pardoned meats that were "forbidden," why would it be such a "poison" to us???

orange

You're assuming the Bible makes sense, DrJizzle! Seriously though I share your questions about this. I was also going to say that the Bible sure changes its mind a lot about what people can and can't eat... first people didn't eat meat (before the flood), then people could eat any animal (after the flood but before Moses), then they could only eat certain animals and never with milk (Moses' time), then people were allowed to eat any animal again (Jesus' time).

If G-d really is behind all of this eating business (which I doubt!), He either has a hard time making up His mind, or He has a pretty awful sense of humour!

ScottGem

That's one of the things about the Bible. Usually someone can find a passage to support almost anything. Or find 2 passages that directly contradict each other.

Of course G-d has one hell of a sense of humor. Look at his creations!

orange

Yup even the rabbi at the synagogue we've been attending admits to this, because I asked him. He says that's why we have the Talmud, to interpret everything, but that the Talmud also seems to contradict itself in parts! It doesn't seem to bother him though.... he made a joke about it the other day actually! It's nice to see a sense of humour in a religious person!

ttzippe85

Yes, but is has also been proven that vegetarian humans live longer lives than their omnivorous fellow humans. For example vegetarian adventists live an average of 4-5 more years, take less medicine, have fewer hospital stays, and have lower rates of several chronic diseases.

orange

Yes I agree with that, vegetarian diets are better for humans, but do you really think G-d would tell people to eat meat on purpose so that they would die sooner?? I have a hard time believing that. Does it actually say in Genesis that Noah before the flood (or any of the people before him, Adam, Eve, Seth, etc.) never ate meat? I looked after you first posted this, but couldn't find anything. It does say in Genesis 9 that Noah was allowed to eat meat, but it's not clear about before hand.