The Story of Noah

     In the Tanakh, the story of Noah is told two different ways. This raises the question, what really happened and did it in fact happen at all? The answer could either be simple or complex depending on ones religious beliefs. Someone could simply say that they are two different stories that were fiction, written in a book along with a combination of other fiction and nonfiction stories. However, a more complex answer would state that the story of Noah was lost in translation when being recorded in the Tanakh. I personally, do consider myself to be a religious person in the sense that I believe in God and that the Tanakh, which is said to be written of Gods word, is exactly that. For the less religious, it may seem like a book of short stories pasted together with tales that have morals and nothing more. Thinking more on the topic, it seems ridiculous to assume that a very large group of people would just drop their lives and agree to study and devote their life to something that they have no idea is true. It would require a large enough group of people that say one thing to convince another group to trust in such a commuting religion.

     If you believe that the Tanakh is just a book of tales that can be tossed out the window and replaced with a history book, because it doesn't have the evidence and has gaps, then isn't that the same thing? In my eyes, if the Tanakh is just a book for the Jewish religion, then doesn't that rule also apply to a history book considering it's based on the birth and death of Jesus? If the Tanaka should not be read because of the evidential gaps, then why should history books be read if they're not 100% correct? According to history books, about 1/3 of the information is not substantially correct! Just as science continues to be proved as wrong and mostly guesses, why should we believe what's in those books? Because it's considered a fact, or because it's been believed for many many years? Isn't that enough reason to practice something? Tradition! Even then, without the substantial evidence, the Tanaka represents the world that Jews live in and the word of God. If that's what we have faith in and if you have faith in the same type of thing for a different religion, then why should the word of your /my God be questioned.