BobRyan said:
Am I sure the text says this?
[quote:4f8af]Gen 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
Gen 7:3 Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.
But you are ignoring those other verses of Genesis which are susceptible of a different interpretation, even to the extent of contradicting the conclusion you are supporting by selectively quoting only these two verses. Are you of cherry-picking only those parts of the Bible that support what you think the Bible 'ought' to say?
[quote:4f8af]Seems to me you could make an equally case for 2 of everything
Only by ignoring Gen 7:2-3. As it turns out -- I don't do that.[/quote:4f8af]
So just by ignoring those other verses which do not directly support your argument. See above.
so in answer to the question "what would the carnivores eat" -- we have an obvious solution "FROM the text".
Which is?
[quote:4f8af]They were a year on the ark. In theory a few animals might have been born on the ark.
Why only in theory? Were males and females penned separately? Did God miraculously prevent them breeding?[/quote:4f8af]
Again the answer is obvious.
The text says the animals went in by twos and by sevens depending on their kinds the text also says that Noah took food for the animals and the people. What we don't know is whether animals on the ark went into a state of hybernation or semi-hybernation for that year as many of them do in normal life when food is scarce. If they did -- it is likely that many of them did not breed during that period.
But what we do know is that only certain animals hibernate or estivate. I am unaware of any birds that follow this practice and, of the larger mammals, it is pretty much restricted to bears.
When you are guessing about details "not evident in the text" -- it remains " a guess in theory".
But it is helpful if that guess can be supported.
[quote:4f8af]Is meat-eating specifically excluded by Genesis 1?
Again - it is helpful to "Read the text".
.....
The point remains "from the text".[/quote:4f8af]
In parentheses, I find your use of multi-sized font and different colours confusing to follow. However, as far as the point you are making goes, you seem only to be confirming that Genesis 1 indeed does not specifically exclude meat-eating.
[quote:4f8af]Unless you are suggesting T Rex survived the Flood, we know that it must have been an obligate carnivore before that event.
I don't even know that T-Rex made the ark. Again - difficult to speculate on what is not in the text.[/quote:4f8af]
But you are happy to speculate about things that might support your argument. If T Rex didn't make the Ark, it was an obligate carnivore before the Flood, which suggests other animals were also obligate carnivores before the Flood, which impacts on any speculations about what they may have eaten on board the Ark, and how that food was gathered, stored, preserved and distributed.
[quote:4f8af]What process do you suppose caused that change in behaviour and dietary requirements? If the change occurred in T Rex, it is reasonable to suppose it affected other animals that we now know to be carnivores.
True - certainly lions would have started out as God specifies in Gen 1 -- eating plant food and would have then "changed" to eat flesh food "at some point".[/quote:4f8af]
So is that "changing" anything but evolution under another name?
In Gen 3 we see a "curse" added and plant life is changed to include thorns and thistles "according to the text".
The verses do not support a change to meat-eating.
[quote:4f8af]Do you imagine felids and T Rex, for example, were originally created with the dentistry that fits them for a meat-eating diet and the digestive system that compels them to be obligate carnivores or do you think that it evolved in some way in response to environmental changes?
Imagining is not the point - the text says the animals that God created were eating plants.[/quote:4f8af]
My choice of wording has confused you about the the intent of my question; my apologies. Change 'Do you imagine' to 'Do you think it likely'.
I am simply answering the OP question ABOUt the text FROM the text.
Lot's of "imagining"and "story telling' may also be added - but is not as useful even though a "lucky guess" could turn out to be correct.
It seems that you are happy with "imagining" and "story-telling"that might tend to support the conclusions you wish to draw from your interpretation of the Old Testament, but more inclined to dismiss them as pointless when they tend in a different direction.
It is one thing to claim that you do not agree with the text -- it is another not to even know what it says and the difference between a wild guess outside of the text - vs a direct honest rendering of the text itself within the parameters of valid exegesis.
[/quote:4f8af]
That I do not agree with your interpretation of the text is not evidence that I do 'not even know what it says'. Do you ignore parts of the text that do not support your argument and draw conclusions from others that are only there in your own imagination? I rather think you do, as I have shown above.