Noah As Intercessor?

The new movie Noah has come out with mixed reviews.  I've yet to see it, but looking over a plot summary, I can see how a lot of Christians might be offended and disappointed with the movie.  I suppose I would have to watch the movie, myself, to see what all the hubub's about.

The plot sounds a lot like the TV movie I watched back in 1999 on NBC.  That was Noah's Ark with Jon Voight and Mary Steenburgen.  I remember waiting with anticipation when the NBC promos came out, and then when the two-night miniseries aired, I was hit with: "What the heck is this junk?"  It was the Bible meets Waterworld.  (Heh ... wasn't Steenburgen in that movie, too?)

Towards the end of the TV movie, God says to Noah, "I'm still going to kill off all the humans."  But Noah said, "Don't kill us off.  We're good people.  Look at this."  And then he danced a little Jewish jig on the deck.  God laughed and said, "I can't stay mad at you guys.  Okay, I'll give you another chance."

And by some coincidence, the new movie has a similar incident.  I don't know the details, but near the end of the movie, Noah talks with God and says, "Give us humans a second chance," and God says, "Okay.  Here's a rainbow.  Don't screw it up."

So, in two different movies, Noah acts as intercessor for the human race.  That seemed to be too much of a coincidence, so I wondered if there was something in the Bible about this.  Do other Christian religions believe that Noah saved us?

As I was raised, Noah's Ark was always a story about how God destroyed all humans and animals except for whoever was on the Ark.  God's intention was always that they would multiply and replenish the earth when the disaster was over.  That is: reboot, not destroy the human race.  The story of Noah acting as intercessor just sounds like strange to me.

Let's check what it says in the scriptures...

Genesis 6:5-8  (copied from the LDS scriptures, which evidently includes all the footnote references ... coolness)

 5 ¶And God saw that the ^awickedness of man was great in the earth, and that ^bevery imagination of the ^cthoughts of his ^dheartwas only ^eevil continually.

 6 ^aAnd it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it ^bgrieved him at his heart.

 7 And the Lord said, I will ^adestroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; ^bfor it repenteth me that I have made them.

 8 But Noah found ^agrace in the eyes of the Lord.

After a Google search, this seems to be where the "intercession" comes from.  God wants to kill everyone off, but he sees Noah and then decides to save him and his family (plus a few animals).  Note that ...

#1) This happens before Noah even begins to build the ark.

#2) There's nothing to indicate that Noah did anything to earn God's grace (that is, no intercessory speech to change God's mind).

#3) Assuming Noah had not pleased God, there's nothing to indicate that God wouldn't have found someone else to be pleased in.  That is, this account does not contradict the idea that God had always planned to save a remnant of humans and animals.

The rest of Genesis 6 consists of God explaining to Noah what was about to happen, and how God would save his family, including his sons and their wives.  Thus, strongly implying that the decision had already been made that humans were meant to procreate after the flood.

In other words, I can find nothing in the Old Testament account that Noah did anything to "save" us other than following God's instructions to build an ark and survive the disaster.

Plus, the idea of Noah interceding seems somewhat contradictory with the modus oprandi of God in other parts of the Bible.  When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, he alerted the "righteous" and helped them to avoid the disaster.  In other words, God always seems to find and preserve the righteous.

Also, if God were to destroy all humans, then wouldn't that contradict the reasons why he created us in the first place?  And wouldn't that make him an imperfect God?

My verdict: the intercession of Noah is just some good Hollywood tactic for dramatic effect, but as actual doctrine, I find its support to be lacking and its consistency with other doctrine to be entirely absent.

For those of you who have seen the movie, I'd be interested to hear what you think.  Is it a good movie (despite having incorrect doctrine)?  Does it really stray too far from the scriptures?

P.S.  I'm still working on finishing the Joseph Smith story in my book.  I've learned that studying for actuarial exams adds more stress than I anticipated, and I've ended up taking naps after church on Sunday these last couple of weeks.  I'll find the time ...

Pictures and an Update

I'm currently in the middle of writing the Joseph Smith story in my "Mormon primer."  I think I should be done next week for you to view.  I've also planned out what the primer will cover.  Here are the subheadings:

The Story of Joseph Smith 

The Book of Mormon

The Nature of the Godhead

Our Existence: Before, Now, and Tomorrow

I'm sure I'll change this around, and add another section or two.  It's just what I came up with today.

Also, I've decided to include pictures in the presentation.  I will be borrowing these from different websites, mainly from the LDS official websites when possible.  I will make it so that if you click on the picture, it will go to the website where I obtained the picture, which will also serve to give more information behind the picture.

Whether or not these pictures make it into the final printed product will be something to deal with at some future time.  I'm sure there would be copyright issues, and I would have to seek permission and all that.

The pictures are mainly to prettify (that's really a word?) my blog, as people really like pictures.  Every now and then I'll bring in a picture for demonstration purposes.  But on the most part, the text will be able to stand alone such that I can remove a picture if I had to.

Till next week ... adieu!

To Reference or Not To Reference

Before I go too far with my book, I must answer these question.  Do I want to include references?  And to what extent?

As a work of non-fiction, it's sometimes useful to show references to identify where certain ideas/facts come from.  But too many references, and it begins to read like a scholarly paper.  Plus it takes a long time to collect all the details and format each reference, and is by far my least favorite part of doing any kind of research.

I see my book as an informal narrative, seeking to casually discuss different religious ideas.  By no means is it meant to be a rigorous analysis or a ironclad, irrefutable proof of my church's veracity (something, by the way, that I'll later prove to be impossible).  Thus, I will not bog down my book with all kinds of footnotes and distracting pinpoint references. On the other hand, I can't just give you all nothing.  I have to at least give credit where it's due, and leave bread crumbs for some parts you may wish to verify on your own.

I think the best compromise would be for me to provide informal references.  I'll always give scripture verses when applicable.  But every now and then, I may parenthetically reference someone else's work where you can go to get more information.  And hopefully they will not get in the way of the discussion.