Christopher Matthew
#15

One would hope there is no special dispensation of godly favour to the cradle.


 


I would agree with Fr. Athanasius.


The literary tradition of the sacred scriptures maintained by the Church cause us, successive generations, to grow in love for the divine embrace of God with His creation in the Incarnation of His Son.

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Giannis M
#16

 


Sometimes God provides answers and examples in front of us, but they don't become obvious, and we end up in tangential discussions.


  We have a scientific / medical phenomenon of "Progeria" as a living example that God can accelerate the aging process such that our lives are reduced by 1/10 of that of a "previous" or "normal" generation.   Most children with Progeria don't make it to 20 years old, and by 10, they resemble someone who is in old age....


If we believe that Noah's ark was real, and that Noah's decendents were the only ones left on the planet after the flood, why can't we also believe / accept that those same decendents carried a Progeria-like "mutation" that accelerated the aging process in everyone AFTER Noah?  Just like we have examples today of people who are genetically "destined" to live 1/10 of the lives that others live, why couldn't Noah's decendants also live ~1/10 of 950 years?  This was done to fulfill the psalms ("and their years shall be 70, etc"), as well as the Biblical suggestion that due to our sinful state, God had to "cut our years" in hope that this may help us choose to repent.  


Of course, there are some other examples later on of people exceeding the new theoretical maximum of 120 years  (Symeon the Presbyter who received Christ as an infant, for example, or the 7 youths of Ephesus who helped prove the Resurrection was a real event), but these rare examples are God's exceptions for specific purposes.


Giannis

Yes, I believe Noah lived for 950 years as did Methuslah live for 969 years. The way I reason this .... God created Adam and Eve as the perfect physiological male and female. They were not genetically predisposed to any diseases or any other physical imperfections when God created them. After the fall this changed .... The sins of their ancestors gradually began to cumulate from generation to generation and, consequently, the physical disposition of their ancestors began to deteriorate. To paraphase Leviticus .... One's sins visit down to one's third and fourth generation. Its only by the grace of God that this \"age deterioration\" was at last set at 70 years.


Not including the issue of guilt and sin across generations, this idea of greater sin causing shorter life span seems to be disproved by the current generation living longer yet, many would argue,  sinning more.

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