Missing the point

I don’t know a lot about my ancestors. My maternal grandmother was from Montreal and was French/Italian.  My paternal grandmother was from Arkansas and traced her roots back to 18th century North Carolina. That’s basically all the information I have on my historical relatives. Genealogy has never really interested me much, probably because I have never been close to anyone beyond my own nuclear family.

There are people for whom genealogy is a major interest. Mormons are very interested in their ancestors because they practice baptism for the dead by proxy, in other words, they believe they can be baptized in the place of a long dead ancestor, who will then be allowed into Paradise. Because of this belief, the best institution for genealogical research in the world is in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is headquarters for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Genesis 10
10:1 "This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.  The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim.   5(From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.) 6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca.The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar.   11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Mizraim was the father of  the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. 21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.  22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech.   24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber. 25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country. 31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. 32 These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood."

This genealogical survey of Noah’s descendants record the growth and migration of people all around the Mediterranean Sea, from Spain to Egypt. In this primordial chronicle, most of the names are obscure – their deeds and memories lost in the mists of time.

There is some debate as to when this all happened. There is a record of a flood in the Mediterranean region, as well as elsewhere, some 2,000 to 3,000 years before Christ, but this is only one of many floods that have occurred over time in the area.

The main problem with the prehistorical section of Genesis (chapters 1-11) is, as the term implies, the events are beyond normal historical reckoning. They exist in the long memories of an orally-oriented ancient society. Written records of biblical accounts did not appear much before 1100 BC, around the time Israel became a monarchy under Saul. Up until that point, the stories and teachings of God and His Chosen People were handed down in oral form. They were recounted around the fire at night, through the Levite priests, or taught from father to son and mother to daughter.

In an orally-oriented society, exact dates and details of when, where, and why are not usually considered a priority. The teaching and the deeds of the ancestors are the most important things. So when it comes to the Bible, anything before the calling of Abraham in Genesis 12 is prehistorical, that is, there are no historical indicators of when all these events happened. It could have been hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years before 2000 BC, when Abraham lived.

This doesn’t mean that these events are mythological, on the contrary, they are important to the biblical record and the physical and spiritual legacy of Israel and the Church. But debates about exacts times for the creation of the world or Noah’s flood or the tower of Babel will never end, and in my opinion, miss the point of the stories entirely.