Noah

BALTIMORE, Maryland March 28, 2014 - Here in Maryland the long-awaited release of the movie "Noah" is today, Friday, March 28, 2014. The movie stars Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson, among others. There has been a bit of bruhaha leading up to the release because of alleged irregularities in the telling of the story, at least in the minds of some people. Some feel any movie about a portion of the Bible must be 100% accurate even if the people making the movie say at the outset that while the movie keeps the spirit of the story, there are certain artistic licenses taken. I do not agree if the maker of the movie says as much. If the maker of the movie is candid, God bless him. This is America. We have the First Amendment. You get to stay home if you don't like the premise.

Noah is one of the ancient Patriarchs. who are told of in the Bible, the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. The principle account of Noah is found in the Book of Genesis (also known as the First Book of Moses), but Noah also receives mention in 1st Chronicles, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the book of Hebrews and the 1st and 2nd Epistles of Peter.

The Great Roman Christian Writer Boethius - best remembered by his consummate Christian essay entitled the "Consolation of Philosophy," which he wrote in prison while awaiting execution - has also written about Noah, at some length, in his lesser-known tractate, "De Fide Catholica" or "On the Catholic Faith." Boethius (480 AD - 524 AD), or Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, was a Roman government official who was quite powerful until the dictator Theodoric the Ostrogoth suspected him of plotting against him and had him imprisoned and, eventually, executed in a manner befitting a barbarian. Below, I have printed all that Boethius wrote about Noah in De Fide Catholica. Following that, I have printed all that is said about Noah in Genesis. Not having seen the movie, my current impressions of the controversies, if there actually are any, are defined by media accounts. Supposedly Noah, in the movie, is never described as in communication with God. This is added to the fact that the director of the movie, Darren Aronofsky, describes himself as an atheist. I don't believe Aronofsky is an atheist. The film I have seen cuts from and heard interviews of the actors in the film wasn't made by an atheist. Aronofsky is said to have been fascinated by the Noah story since childhood. The film is inspired. The Washington Post review of the movie concurs with my preliminary reaction. The movie is faithful to the Bible Account's central story. The film admits at the outset that artistic license is taken from time to time. Hollywood has always done this. What I hope is that the directors and writers demonstrate a profound respect and reverence. I have seen as much. The account of Noah's life in Genesis is wrapped around the Bible's brief and, for some, troubling telling of the story of the Nephilim. The account is confined to the first four verses of Chapter 6 of Genesis. Moses does not tell us with any precision at all who the Nephilim are. Scholars and lay people alike say they are fallen angels. Boethius does not accept this or even attempt to explain it. The Nephilim are mentioned again in, I believe, the book of Daniel.

De Fide Catholica (On the Catholic Faith)
by Boethius (Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, Roman, 480 AD - 524 AD)
Lines 122 to 153 (Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, Copyright 1918; Translation by H. F. Stewart, E. K. Rand and S. J. Tester)

"So the human race that sprang from the first man and mightily increased and multiplied, broke into strife, stirred up wars, and became the heirs of earthly misery, because it had lost the blessedness of Paradise in its first parent. Yet among them there were not lacking those whom the Author of Grace set apart for himself and who were obedient to his precepts; and though the fault of their nature condemned them, yet God by making them partakers in the mystery to come, long afterwards to be revealed, vouchsafed to restore their fallen nature. So the world was filled by the human race and man who in the wickedness of his own arrogant disobedience had despised his Creator began to walk in his own ways. Hence God willing rather to restore mankind through one just man than that it should remain contumacious, suffered all the guilty multitude to perish by the wide waters of a flood, save only Noah, the just man, with his children and all that he had brought with him into the ark. The reason why he wished to save the just by the wood of the ark is known by all minds learned in the Holy Scriptures. Thus what we may call the first age of the world was ended by the avenging flood.
Thus the human race is restored, and yet it does not cease to embrace the vice of its own nature with which the first author of transgression had affected it. And the arrogance increased which had once been punished by the waters of the flood, and man who had been suffered to live for a long series of years was reduced to the brief span of ordinary human life. Yet would not God again punish mankind by a flood, but rather, letting it continue, he chose from it men of whose line a generation should arise out of which he might in the last age of the world grant us his own Son, clothed in a human body. Of these men Abraham is the first, and although he was stricken in years and his wife very old, they had in their old age the reward of a son the fulfillment of a promise."

The First Book of Moses, commonly called Genesis
Chapter 5: Verses 21 through 32., Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8 and Chapter 9, all in their entirety.
Chapter 5: Verse 21. When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Verse 22. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Verse 23. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Verse 24. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Verse 25. When Methuselah had lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, he became the father of Lamech. Verse 26. Methuselah lived after the birth of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had other sons and daughters. Verse 27. Thus all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.
Verse 28. When Lamech had lived a hundred and eighty-two years, he became the father of a son, Verse 29. and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground which the Lord has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the toil of our hands.” Verse 30. Lamech lived after the birth of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and had other sons and daughters. Verse 31. Thus all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.
Verse 32. After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Chapter 6: Verse 1. When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, Verse 2. the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took to wife such of them as they as chose. Verse 3. Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” Verse 4. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.
Verse 5. The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Verse 6. And the Lord was sorry that he made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. Verse 7. So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I made them." Verse 8. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Verse 9. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God. Verse 10. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Verse 11. Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. Verse 12. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. Verse 13. And God said to Noah, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh; for the earth is filled with violence through them; behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Verse 14. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. Verse 15. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Verse 16. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and set the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks. Verse 17. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under heaven, everything that is on the earth shall die. Verse 18. But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. Verse 19. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Verse 20. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground according to their kind, two of every sort shall come in to you, to keep them alive. Verse 21. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for them. Verse 22. Noah did this, he did all that God commanded him.
Chapter 7: Verse 1. Then the Lord said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. Verse 2. Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate; and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate; and seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their kind alive upon the face of all the earth. Verse 4. For in seven days I will send rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made I will blot out upon the face of the ground. Verse 5. And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.
Verse 6. Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. Verse 7. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Verse 8. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, Verse 9. two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. Verse 10. And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
Verse 11. In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth and the windows of the heavens were opened. Verse 12. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. Verse 13. On the very same day Noah and his sons Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, Verse 14. they and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, every bird of every sort. Verse 15. They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. Verse 16. And they that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.
Verse 17. The flood continued forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. Verse 18. The waters prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. Verse 19. And the waters prevailed so mightily upon the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered; Verse 20. the waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. Verse 21. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, birds, cattle, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm upon the earth, and every man; Verse 22. everything on the dry land in whose nostrils were the breath of life died. Verse 23. He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark. Verse 24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.
Chapter 8: Verse 1. But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided; Verse 2. the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain, from the heavens was restrained, Verse 3. and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters had abated; Verse 4. and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat. Verse 5. And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
Verse 6. At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made, Verse 7. and sent forth a raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Verse 8. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground; Verse 9. but the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put forth his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. Verse 10. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; Verse 11. and the dove came back to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Verse 12. Then he waited another seven days, and he sent forth the dove; and she did not return to him any more.
Verse 13. In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry. Verse 14. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Verse 15. Then God said to Noah, Verse 16. "Go forth from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Verse 17. Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh - birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth - that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth." Verse 18. So Noah went forth, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Verse 19. And every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves upon the earth, went forth by families out of the ark.
Verse 20. Then Noah built and altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Verse 21. And when the Lord smelled the pleasing odor, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; never again will I destroy every living creature as I have done. Verse 22. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."
Chapter 9: Verse 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Verse 2. The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. Verse 3. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Verse 4. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Verse 5. For your lifeblood I shall surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it and of man; of every man's brother I will require the life of man. Verse 6. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image. Verse 7. And you, be fruitful and multiply, bring forth abundantly on the earth and multiply in it.
Verse 8. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, Verse 9. "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, Verse 10. and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. Verse 11. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." Verse 12. And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations; Verse 13. I set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Verse 14. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the clouds, Verse 15. I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. Verse 16. When the bow is in the clouds, I will look upon it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” Verse 17. God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that is between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”
Verse 18. The sons of Noah who went from the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. Verse 19. These were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was peopled.
Verse 20. Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; Verse 21. and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. Verse 22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Verse 23. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. Verse 24. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, Verse 25. he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a slave of slaves shall he be to his brothers.” Verse 26. He also said, “Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem,” and let Canaan be his slave. Verse 27. God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem and let Canaan be his slave.” Verse 28. After the flood Noah lived three hundred and fifty years. Verse 29. All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.