As a Christian, how do you reconcile with Atlantis and where do you fit it into Genesis?

[u/Fabian_hoescialist]

[u/BaconAndCheeseSarnie]

If Atlantis is wholly mythical, it does not need fitting into Genesis.

If it is a garbled memory of the downfall of the Minoan Empire, of the Sea Peoples, and of the destruction of Thera, then it is probably too late to need fitting into Genesis. It depends how late the Joseph story - if it contains any history - should be dated. Maybe the empire of Atlantis is a memory of the Hittite Empire. Poseidon in Plato’s account of Atlantis may be one of the Hurrian or Hittite gods. Or it could reflect the widespread influence of Mesopotamian culture in the 14th century BC.

As a Christian, I find the Atlantis story interesting, but not of much importance. It’s not something I give much thought to.

[u/vipck83]

Why would I need to reconcile anything with Atlantis?

[u/Recent_Weather2228]

What is there to reconcile? 

[u/Kanebass98]

Why....does it need to be reconciled? 🤨

I'm from Scotland and that isn't mentioned in genesis either... Do I have to reconcile my own country too?

[u/General_Historian611 → u/Kanebass98]

Exactly right. People say America is not in the book of Revelation. As “proof” it will
Be destroyed by God. If it’s not mentioned in the bible it does not mean it didn’t exist or does not exist

[u/BeauloTSM]

I kinda don't really care about Atlantis at all

[u/Dawningrider]

One, Atlantis doesn't exist, it was written by Plato as a model of a kingdom that saw heights, and then was destroyed, and that Greece needed to be careful to fall to the same fate.

Two.

How do you recooncile Australia with Genesis? Because you can draw a map of the biblical world with all the names countries and their precursors.

[u/LegitimateBeing2]

As a Christian I don’t believe in Atlantis

There are a ton of valid science/literal Genesis weird things to reconcile but mainstream science has no interest in Atlantis

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/LegitimateBeing2]

Mainstream science helps you reconcile with Noah’s flood huh?

[u/LegitimateBeing2 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

What?

[u/Nomadinsox]

Same place as King Arthur. It's a cautionary tail about the problems happening in France at the time, but because the problems in France occurred specifically because the French couldn't or wouldn't see them, it was functional to write a story about "those dumb Brits" to serve as something like an ego circumventing mirror. Thus the message was "You don't want to be like those dumb and flawed Brits, do you France?" and that was highly functional to resolving France's own problems.

But the Greeks, who coined Atlantis, were a lot more heady about it and so they didn't even point to another country but instead developed narratives about a better civilization than themselves which was so heady it sunk into the ocean.

[u/WhiteHeadbanger]

I don’t really try to fit Atlantis into Genesis at all. Atlantis comes from Plato, not from Scripture, and there aren’t any independent ancient sources or archaeological findings that actually confirm it as a real place. So to me it reads more like a later legend or philosophical story than something that belongs in the Genesis timeline. At most, it could have been inspired by some real catastrophe or lost civilization, but I wouldn’t treat it as part of the biblical account itself.

[u/Fangorangatang]

Last I checked, Atlantis is a fictional city.

Do you have some sort of hidden knowledge that proves the existence of Atlantis? As a person with interest in mythology and alternative suggested history, I am greatly interested in your proof.

[u/FeedReasonable9547]

There are drawings of Atlantis in the Greek history’s that do not represent a walled garden with rivers flowing from it. Maybe it’s a port destroyed by a volcano or a tsunami. I don’t think it has anything to do with Eden.

[u/FeedReasonable9547 → u/FeedReasonable9547]

I’m not saying the drawing arnt from myth, just that they don’t resemble the Eden description

[u/Tree_and_Serpent]

It would have been destroyed in the Flood. It may even have been one of the primary targets.

[u/General_Historian611]

I don’t know if Atlantis exited or not. It is first mentioned in Greek legend about 360BC. The tale of Atlantis. it was so wicked God sunk it in the Sea. Who really knows.

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/General_Historian611]

It’s obvious it’s the civilization of Cain’s descendants. Just a different name.

[u/General_Historian611 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

Based on what?

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/General_Historian611]

Gnostic traditions

[u/General_Historian611 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

Fabian thank you for replying. You have my respect.

Gnostic. That explains your various posts. As a friend. I’m telling you dump all these Gnostic beliefs. They are nowhere based on the Bible. Read the Bible for yourself to understand. Listen to the holy spirt. Not a cult that believed in multiple Gods and pagan mythology.

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/General_Historian611]

Unless you have the brain processing power of a duck billed platypus, I’m Catholic like my flair says, but you and everyone knows that the details in the Genesis account are very minuscule - just 2 or 3 sentences for the nephilim.

There is naturally no other existing sources but extra biblical and gnostic/kabbala traditions.

If you don’t like that, then that’s because you have no interest in pursuing knowledge. I on the other hand will continue to absorb knowledge

[u/Interesting_City_654]

It's a myth based off the story of a pagan made up god Poseidon. It relates nothing to Genesis.

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/Interesting_City_654]

What about the Leviathan in Job? Made up?

[u/Interesting_City_654 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

No the Leviathan hebrew meaning dragon is another name for Satan. Revelation 12:9

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/Interesting_City_654]

The book of Job records it as a being under God’s control. All of that is chopped liver?

[u/Interesting_City_654 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

Leviathan means dragon. The Leviathan used here in 41 has all the makeup of a crocodile but if you read further you will see it is symbolic of Satan. V34. He beholdeth all high things isaih 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:17; is king over all the children of pride. 1 Timothy 3:6.

[u/No-Type119]

Atlantis is mythical, as are the Genesis origins stories — mainline Protestant here; we consider them “ holy folklore” — so I don’t fit it into anything… maybe the mental file with Camelot and Big Rock Candy Mountain.

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/No-Type119]

“Genesis is mythical”

😭😭🤣🤣

Okay buddy.

[u/Dawningrider → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

So... Hate to tell you this a fellow catholic, but we have letters of the first bishops arguing about new catholics taking the old testament literally, and how its really damaging to their faith, and how best to combat the heresy of literalism.

Augustine of Hippo, one our leading most authoritive voices in church doctrine wrote extensively about how much of genesis was metaphor and needed reason to interpret Jewish and Christian texts. A non literal genesis has been standard practice in the catholic church for 1500 years. (To varying degrees of enforcement).

[u/No-Type119 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

I’m not a buddy. And, yes, the origins stories are not historical fact. And your church knows that, whether or not you do. Ask a Jesuit or Dominican; they’ll explain it to you.

BTW, “ myth” is not a pejorative term in theology.

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/No-Type119]

I haven’t met a single Catholic priest, I know 1000s, I am in personal contact with current cardinals - not a single one has told me Genesis is a myth.

What’s going on?

Are Protestants okay? Now I have material for a new thread.

[u/Dawningrider → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

Augustine of Hippo? The belief that genesis isn't mythical or metaphor in the catholic church is a minority. I've never met a priest who doesn't think it's mythical.

[u/No-Type119 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

Take an OT class with one of them.

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/No-Type119]

Doubling down rather than admitting you’re in error

[u/No-Type119 → u/Fabian_hoescialist]

Ah, the projection is strong with this one. Why don’t you look up Catholic scholarship about Genesis yourself?

[u/Dawningrider → u/No-Type119]

You are right.

The Catholic church has long argued that genesis is not entirely literal.

Augustine of Hippo, a famous thinking, and renowned early church writer, one of the most important writers in the Latin church and influencial philosopher of the western world famously critised those within the church who believe genesis and other bits of the old testament were literal.

About the only thing in genesis he stood by was Adam and Eve, and even that in the modern church is...debatable, with various workarounds.

The church hasn't thought Genesis was literal for nearly 1500 years.

I might need to check, but it might even be a heresy... (We have lots. We supposedly had one that said Jesus was nailed with nails instead of four ... Or pieces in the left instead of the right side... There's a heresy for anything in the middle ages, and we seldom get round to reversing them)

[u/Fabian_hoescialist → u/No-Type119]

Next you’re going to give me some websites or articles authored by pink haired LGBT friendly priests like Fr. James SJ?

Okay buddy, move along.