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Aren't you assuming that the main purpose of having the animals on the ark was for re-introduction? To avoid their extinction? The animals may have only existed in the local area at that time and their extinction may have been in question? But What if their extinction was never in question? What if the ark was a real event that happened to symbolize another event? What if the Ark of Noah was a type for the Ark of the Convenent? In this case the animals would have been a type for the Law. The covenent between Noah and God was something that needed to be kept alive and keeping the animals alive symbolized that God kept the covenent alive. The passage even says:"But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21"It seems to link the life of the animals with the covenent.Or it could be that the whole passage did not really happen (as you say) but was written purely as a symbol? The bible is a religious book much more than a history book after all. But so far I do not think that the evidence from the passage is strong enough that we need to take it symbolically rather than literally. Not that taking it symbolically would change the Christian message in any way. At last not until people started taking every bit of the book symbolically (which some do) and this of course is why there is such a strong resistance to just jumping on the non-literal bandwagon.
Aren't you assuming that the main purpose of having the animals on the ark was for re-introduction? To avoid their extinction? The animals may have only existed in the local area at that time and their extinction may have been in question? But What if their extinction was never in question? What if the ark was a real event that happened to symbolize another event? What if the Ark of Noah was a type for the Ark of the Convenent? In this case the animals would have been a type for the Law. The covenent between Noah and God was something that needed to be kept alive and keeping the animals alive symbolized that God kept the covenent alive. The passage even says:
"But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21"
It seems to link the life of the animals with the covenent.
Or it could be that the whole passage did not really happen (as you say) but was written purely as a symbol? The bible is a religious book much more than a history book after all. But so far I do not think that the evidence from the passage is strong enough that we need to take it symbolically rather than literally. Not that taking it symbolically would change the Christian message in any way. At last not until people started taking every bit of the book symbolically (which some do) and this of course is why there is such a strong resistance to just jumping on the non-literal bandwagon.
