275.2: Flood and Tower of Babel (OT Gospel Doctrine Lesson 6, Sunday School)

“Noah … Prepared an Ark to the Saving of His House”

 

The flood story is one of the best known in the Bible (my children played with their Fisher Price Noah’s Ark while I recorded this lesson), but also problematic on multiple levels. This episode introduces some of those concerns and then focuses on the positives in the story–the flood and its aftermath representing God’s covenantal mercy and the renewal of creation.

 

Class Member Reading: Moses 8:19–30; Genesis 6–9; 11:1–9; Hebrews 11:7

Additional Reading: Moses 7:32–36

Other Reading: Genesis 10

Anna, Brian, Jake and Sheldon join the discussion.

 

Recurring Donation:

$5 $10 $20 $50

One Time Donation:

$20 $50 $100

 

You can access the Annotated Reading here (or PDF)

You can access the Lesson Notes here (or PDF)

 

Timeline

Lesson Part 1

0:00 Introduction

4:04 Problematic Nature of Noah’s Flood

6:51 Moses 8:19-30

10:55 Genesis 6-9 (JPS Study Bible)

22:45 The flood and Environmentalism

Discussion Part 1

27:10 Discussion Intros

29:52 What to do with the flood in Sunday School

34:54 God of the flood

42:54 Personal application of the flood

45:45 Tower of Babel

 

Resources

• Church Statement on Environmental Sustainability
• Flood episode at Mormon Matters, with the following four excellent linked resources:
• David Bokovoy, Authoring the Old Testament: Genesis–Deuteronomy (Forthcoming very soon from Greg Kofford Books)
• Duane E. Jeffery, “Noah’s Flood: Modern Scholarship and Mormon Tradition,” Sunstone, October 2004, 27-45
• Clayton M. White and Mark D. Thomas, “On Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood Story,” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 40, no 3 (Fall 2007): 85-110
• David Montgomery, “Reading the Rocks: Flood Stories and Deep Time,” On Being podcast, with Krista Tippett, 1 August 2013
• “Of Babies, Boats, and Arks,” the essay Sheldon mentioned linking the flood to gestation.
• Henry Eyring (Sr), Reflections of a Scientist, Deseret Book eBook
• Friedman, Bible with the Sources Revealed
• Atrahasis Epic, British Museum
• Gilgamesh Epic, British Museum
• Text of the Gilgamesh Epic
• Article reviewing a study about a potential original language

Thanks to Jim Henderson for content editing, James Estrada for his audio editing, and to Steven Nelson for the beautiful bumper music.