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im just confused on why human endurance has decreased greatly over the years. Men like Isiah and Adam lived for more than 900 years. while today, nobody reaches 200, despite technological advances.

I'm not sure of the reason, but I have heard of a view that it is because our DNA is deteriorating; God made Adam perfect (and his DNA perfect) but over time that DNA was eroded, making us age quicker and be more susceptible to diseases and defects.

However, our average lifespan has increased over the past few decades because we have a greater understanding of nutrition and have a wider understanding of medical stuff

Before the Deluge God said that because of man's sins (this is in the first parts of Genesis) He's not going to allow men to grow old past 120. That's a possible answer.

One possible answer is that Noah's Flood destroyed the atmosphere. The Bible tells us that before the Flood, it didn't rain but that there was some sort of weird mist covering the earth to water the plants and such. Many people think that this mist would have made humans much stronger and healthier than they are today. After the Flood, however, a lot of things change. It is strange to think of it... We live in a beautiful world, but it is a world that has been destroyed by a general catastrophe... who knows how much more beautiful it was before the Flood?

bigsleepj wrote:Before the Deluge God said that because of man's sins (this is in the first parts of Genesis) He's not going to allow men to grow old past 120. That's a possible answer.

This has been discussed before, and this is my take.

God says in Genesis 6:3, "Then the LORD said, 'My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.'"

I don't think this refers to how long a man will live. Remember, Noah lived 500 years, and if you read Genesis 11, you'll see that Shem did too.

So what did God's statement mean? I think He was saying that in 120 years, he would send the Flood. It was a measure of time until God's judgement, not an age restriction, because if it was an age restriction, how did so many people live longer than that after the statement?

^i agree

I've always thought it was that Adam was genetically perfect, and that at the Fall that perfection began degenerating. This also explains how Adam and Eve's children were able to interbreed (where else would they find mates?) without the affects we now know of. Lifespan dropped significantly during many periods of time due to no understanding of germs and viruses and hygene, and now that those issues are being cleared up with better medicines and such, we are starting to live longer. Just to through a big monkey wrench into the machine, there are many people who are kept alive with all this medicine and tech, but they can't do anything with the additional life being bedridden or to frail to do anything. No, this is not an endorsment of euthanasia, it is just intended to start the old brain thinking, are we really helping people out all the time?

apparently this person died at 128
http://www.swagga.com/pampo.htm

If you look at the early genealogies in the Old Testament you will see people starting to die at younger and younger ages.

The ages of the pre-diluvean patriarchs have to be taken with a grain of salt.
The early Sumerian kings had similiar exaggerated life spans.

i'm thinking of a lousy idea but i'll just say it. :p
God said that men shouldn't kill. But when we eat meat, we first kill animals right? so maybe, our body, absorbing anything rather than plants will deteriorate us.
when man was first made, God told Adam that he could have any plant in the Garden of Eden. But he never allowed Adam to kill animals but to take care of them.

Yeah, but God allowed us to eat meat after the flood. The reason why we die so much younger then in the past is sin. Because we sin, we die. Sickness and disease too.

People in Asia tend to have much lower mortality rate (live longer/fewer deaths) because of their diets too. They eat much more vegetables and fish.

Despite how much technology advances we make, deaths will always occur.

Think about it this way. Before the flood, it had never rained on the earth before. The atmosphere was much thicker and cleaner, as was the air. There is a theory known as the canopy theory that states this: there was a layer of water around the earth, and when the first rain came (the flood), that layer of water was spent. This layer of water gave extra protection from the sun, as well as cleaner and purer oxygen. Scientists have done studies on the effects of purer oxygen and protection with plants, as have some farmers. They discovered that the plants grew faster and larger when exposed to purer oxygen. Also, humans heal faster when using pure oxygen. This would probably explain why we die so much earlier than we once did--The lack of proper atmospheric protection and purer oxygen.

I probably left out a few key points there, buuut...I kinda "half-listened" in biology class last year, so don't take my word for it. XD It is only a theory, after all. I did pick up a lot on that subject, but I should see if I can find some of my old notes and things from last year...Maybe I can clear it up a little! n.n

As far as it goes I personally believe that the accounts of the patriachs' ages only get believable once you get to the story of Abraham.

mitsuki lover wrote:As far as it goes I personally believe that the accounts of the patriachs' ages only get believable once you get to the story of Abraham.

I don't believe so; why couldn't they live to be 900 something?

Another idea that popped into my head was maybe God let them live so long so that they could have lots of kids. As the population began to grow and grow, God might have shortened their lifespans so they didn't have as many children. Just a thought

One of the reasons why I doubt it is because of the fact that Abraham came from
Mesopotamia(actually from Chaldea if you read his story carefully as it says his
birthplace was Ur of the Chaldees but since that is not what we are talking about
here I will desist)and as I noted in Mesopotamia,especially Sumeria they had
stories of kings who lived and reigned for thousands of years.So perhaps the
length of the age of the Patriarchs is a memory of Mesopotamia.Perhaps in the telling of the stories of the early Patriarchs before Moses wrote it down some of
the exaggerated life spans of the Sumerian and other Mesopotamian kings got
mixed up with the telling.