Are Religions and Gods manmade?

[CG Didymus]

I do no longer tell what i think other religions should or should not do, or believe in, my concern is about my own practice and learning and understanding all i have to in Islam.

If you want to critique Islam or other religions go ahead i have nothing to reply about it.

That's a great way to be. But people want to know and compare religious beliefs. So those types of questions I think a religious person should give some kind of a response. Then there's the ones where people just what to show how wrong or dumb some religious beliefs are. You are wise to stay out of those. Nobody wins, but some of us keep thinking we will.

 

[CG Didymus]

I do not justify killing because it is not correct way to live a spiritual life, i see terror just as evil and bad as anybody else.

For me, those stories are probably manmade mythical stories, maybe based on some historical event, maybe not. I think the stories were meant to give the people "evidence" of what their God can do and will do if they obey him or if they disobey him. I think they were written as if they were true, because the writers wanted them to be believed as true. Same thing with the resurrection story in the NT. Sounds unlikely that something like rising from the dead could really happen, but for Christians, I think the story was meant to be believed as true. But, if not true, what is it? A manmade up story or a fictional, symbolic story that God "inspired" the gospel writers to write down?

 

[Tambourine]

I only need to look at history and the news to see what religion is doing and has done.

There are passages in the holy books that allow for the evil things Man does, you seem to ignore that and the fact that Men use these passages to inflict severe hate and punishment on others.

If you had looked at history you'd know that people hardly need holy books to be terrible to one another.

Sure, it helps sometimes, but... *shrugs*

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

But that's what most religions do, and even the sects within a religion. It makes them all look bad. Who's right Sunni's or Shi'as? Who's right Catholics or Protestants. Within Protestants... who's right the Pentecostals, Calvinists, Baptists or Catholics. Then we have the Baha'is. They have told me several times that all these religious groups are wrong on something. They continually say that the original message was true but the people added things in and misinterpreted other things to come up with their doctrinal beliefs.

One of the main ones that Islam and the Baha'i Faith say is wrong about one Christian doctrine is the one where Christians say God is a trinity. Baha'i then say the creation story is not literal true as some Christians believe. Baha'is say the Ishmael, not Isaac, was taken to be sacrificed. Something that goes against what Jews and Christians believe is true. Baha'is say that Jesus did not come back to life physically, that his body died and only his spirit rose. They also say that Satan and demons are not real. To Hindus they say reincarnation is not real.

That's what religions do. They each have there beliefs, and most, including Baha'is, say that there's are the better and truer ones. And they do tell believers that they are wrong and that those believers have misinterpreted their own Scriptures when they believe in something that contradicts Baha'i teachings. Now Baha'i could be right... or they might be wrong. But we got to take a good look at what each religion is saying and why they believe those things.

We are a tribal race. We like to be identified with our tribe. That can be the football team we support, political party, country or whatever.

TB identifies herself as Baha'is and probably Democrat, certainly no Trump follower, She will happily tell others they must follow the teaching of Bahaullah even though she denounces others teachings.

Religion proves we are tribal and gives us 1,000s of different versions to cling to one.

 

[CG Didymus]

We are a tribal race. We like to be identified with our tribe. That can be the football team we support, political party, country or whatever.

TB identifies herself as Baha'is and probably Democrat, certainly no Trump follower, She will happily tell others they must follow the teaching of Bahaullah even though she denounces others teachings.

Religion proves we are tribal and gives us 1,000s of different versions to cling to one.

Yeah, like we've said all people have had religions and myths about the Gods. And like I've said many times, even Baha'i believe most all the beliefs of all the other religions today have manmade things in them. We just take it a step further and say it was all manmade. Things like is Jesus God? No, a manmade concept. Is Satan real? No. Is Krishna the incarnation of Vishnu? No. And like we've said so many times, there isn't that much difference between the dying and rising Gods of mythology and what the NT says. Then that Lucifer was an archangel then fall and became Satan and is warring with God? Great story, but Baha'is don't believe it is literally true.

So which part of the Bible stories are from God, but symbolic? And which parts are manmade or manmade misinterpretation of Bible stories? God can't be seen, but for sure he isn't manmade? And why is that? Because of all the manifestations said so? No, in most religions is was people who said that the manifestation said so. And all the stories are a little to a lot different. TB likes to say she's logical, but lots of smart and logical thinking atheists say that the most logical explanation for the flaws in the different messages is that they are manmade. Or, that God, in his infinite wisdom, wanted to make religions with all sorts of contradictory stories and beliefs just to make it appear that religion was manmade.

 

[CG Didymus]

They were Prophets but I cannot say that they were Manifestations of God, by the criteria Abdu'l-Baha laid out:

(T)he Manifestations of God are seen as Divine Educators, who are raised up by God with the purpose of uplifting mankind and expressing His will. In expressing God's intent, these Manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world and each one brings a book, and reveals teachings and laws according to the time and place which they appear.

Bahá’u’lláh referred to several historical figures as Manifestations. They include Adam, Noah, Zoroaster, Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad. The Báb, as well as Himself, were included in this definition. Thus religious history is interpreted as a series of dispensations, where each Manifestation brings a somewhat broader and more advanced revelation, suited for the time and place in which it was expressed.​

So they establish a religion and brings a book and teachings and laws? So again, what religion did Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses bring? And which books? And Jesus did away with a bunch of laws but didn't bring anything new did he? And, had a story written about him, but he didn't write nothing. And broader and more advanced? Hinduism and Buddhism don't fit into the "Abrahamic" religions at all. Oh, did you read about Hanuman, the monkey in Rama's army, how he save Rama's wife Sita? It's in the Ramayana. Part of the Hindu Scriptures. And Rama is like Krishna... an Avatar of Vishnu. Great stuff. Inspiring stuff, but is it manmade myth or something revealed to Rama and then written down by others?

Rama is the seventh avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. His adventures, notably the slaying of the demon king Ravana, are recounted in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata and in the Ramayana, the oldest Sanskrit epic, written sometime in the 5th century BCE​

 

[Trailblazer]

So they establish a religion and brings a book and teachings and laws? So again, what religion did Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses bring? And which books?

I do not know, but why does it matter now, thousands of years later? Do you see what is going on in the world, in America? Humanity is moving forward towards unity, in keeping with everything Baha'u'llah revealed. Why does it matter what happened thousands of years ago? The past is gone.

And Jesus did away with a bunch of laws but didn't bring anything new did he? And, had a story written about him, but he didn't write nothing. And broader and more advanced? Hinduism and Buddhism don't fit into the "Abrahamic" religions at all. Oh, did you read about Hanuman, the monkey in Rama's army, how he save Rama's wife Sita? It's in the Ramayana. Part of the Hindu Scriptures. And Rama is like Krishna... an Avatar of Vishnu. Great stuff. Inspiring stuff, but is it manmade myth or something revealed to Rama and then written down by others?

Some of it is man-made myth because that is exactly what happens to divine revelation over time. Men corrupt the scriptures and change their meanings over time.

Even if you could find the answers to these questions, what would that achieve? The existence of older religions that have been corrupted by man does not disprove the Baha'i Faith.

 

[joelr]

You still didn’t explain the evidence I gave! You didn’t address any of it!

This is my last reply to you, in which I will answer your issues....

I first posted evidences supporting the Flood. You chose to ignore them.

Actually I did. You were too busy freaking out about mundane issues like a simple misunderstanding ("oh my god you can't even understand me, I can't speak to you..") that works well for 10 year olds but c'mon?

A Mammals in a permafrost mystery is not solved by a flood for 2 reasons. One, ALL of the geological evidence shows there was no flood so you do not take unrelated evidence and shoehorn it in to mean your flood is real. Dead mammals do not erase incredibly good scientific evidence from many angles that there was no worldwide flood.
They don't even need to get into the "where is all the water?". But there are animals in the frost from 10,000 years ago and from 50,000 years ago which demonstrates animals get into permafrost from natural causes and have been for huge blocks of time. The "flood" was not 40,000 years long?

The remainder of the evidence is that an arc could float? SO? The Greeks had incredible naval warships? Ship building was a huge part of humanity in ~1000BCE. There isn't explanations of how they could feed, aquire and keep all animal pairs? You need magic for that one. They had boats. No sky-gods performing magic.

Uh, yes I did. You attacked YEC. I’m OEC. Big difference!

There you go, see that was easy.

I will now. Myths from widely disparate, unrelated regions that share identical features/ events in their stories, indicate those features have some truth to them. Otherwise, how would they get their similarities?

Widely disparare? What? The Epic of Gilamesh was a Mesopotamian myth which is the most exact to Noah. Genesis also copies several of their creation narratives. Mesopotamian myths were spread among Egypt and other regions. Israelites came from Egypt and became Canaanites using Egyptian and Greek religious concepts.
Moses is an Egyptian name, and God and Godess pairs were popular (Israel first worshipped Yahweh and Ashera.

if you mean the Flood stories....which would seem more genuine to you? The story presenting an Ark whose dimension ratios were seaworthy, or the story which had a giant box as their Ark?
Surely you can reason on that, I think you’re able.

Surely you can imagine that a more modern society after 1000BC took a myth from thousands of years older and added some modern tech to the myth? Can you reason on that? A seaworthy description of a ship in no way shape of form confirms the oldest myth ever as real. No God destroyed humanity, no worldwide flood, it's a fictional story.
The Israelites were making up myths after they became a society after they split from Canaan. When the myth actually started in Mesopotamia or before, there was no Noah, Yahweh, Israelites or anything related.
The wrote their myths sometime after 1000BCE and it was a fiction about Noah plugged into the same old myths.
Guess what, the NOrse myth about the World Serpent isn't real either.

You can’t confirm a negative. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Besides, I posted evidence...Jacob-baal is a confirmed Pharaoh! How did a king with a distinct Hebrew name become a ruler of Egypt?? That’s just one piece of evidence among many.

You can’t confirm a negative. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Sigh. We cannot confirm that the World Serpent is not real. Or Santa Clause, and many societies share this myth.
With Exodus it isn't negative evidence. There is evidence. It demonstrates people leaving Egypt and traveling for a few days (it's not that far) and forming the Canaanite society.
Evidence also shows Israel emerged from this society for political reasons and even took one of the Gods - Ashera as a consort to Yahweh. The kingdom of Juda was not vast but small scale, they appear to be small chiefdoms. It looks like myths of one culture, nothing different inconcept or laws from other societies at the time. Then they took on the Persian updates from 6-300BCE.

There is plenty of historical evidence. There is no evidence for Gods. Historians do not believe in Yahweh any more than the Maroni rib woman. Those are just the myths of each culture.

I posted evidence...Jacob-baal is a confirmed Pharaoh! How did a king with a distinct Hebrew name become a ruler of Egypt?? That’s just one piece of evidence among many.

Most myths in all religions contain historical references mixed with fictional happenings and gods. Krishna did things in India that were actual historical events but Krishna is still a fictional demigod. The Greek myths also contain Greek cities and humans who may have lived. This is common practice and if you think it's proof of gods destroying humanity then you have no argument at all.
You realize real people appear in comic books often?

Not literal. Did you ever read the Biblical account (2 Peter 3)? It says the Heavens will be burned up, too.

They are all myths. Apocalyptic concepts were added to the OT during 2nd temple Judaism while the Persian occupation was going on. The Persian religion had concepts not found in Judaism - world ends in fire, good people get resurrected at the end, Satan vs God, messianic saviors, when they left the Jewish "prophets" has said "hey look our God says we get these things also!" Myths are shared, it's religious syncretism.

Link:
"New Heavens and New Earth" - Why Destroy the Old?

So-long.

Right, the Bible is not literal. The flood myths symbolize the possibility of re-birth. All the apocalyptic nonsense you gathered here were Persian ideas added to the OT during the 2nd temple period.

"Some scholars believe that many elements of Christian mythology, particularly its linear portrayal of time, originated with the Persian religion of Zoroastrianism.[29] Mary Boyce, an authority on Zoroastrianism, writes:

Zoroaster was thus the first to teach the doctrines of an individual judgment, Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgment, and life everlasting for the reunited soul and body. These doctrines were to become familiar articles of faith to much of mankind, through borrowings by Judaism, Christianity and Islam.[30]"

"Historical features of Zoroastrianism, such as messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell, and free will may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including Second Temple Judaism, Gnosticism, Greek philosophy,[7] Christianity, Islam,[8] the Baháʼí Faith, and Buddhism.[9]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism


"
During the Second Temple Period, when Jews were living in the Achaemenid Empire, Judaism was heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism, the religion of the Achaemenids.[27][8][28] Jewish conceptions of Satan were impacted by Angra Mainyu,[8][29] the Zoroastrian god of evil, darkness, and ignorance.[8] In the Septuagint, the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos (slanderer), the same word in the Greek New Testament from which the English word "devil" is derived.[30] Where satan is used to refer to human enemies in the Hebrew Bible, such as Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the Syrian, the word is left untranslated but transliterated in the Greek as satan, a neologism in Greek.[30]

The idea of Satan as an opponent of God and a purely evil figure seems to have taken root in Jewish pseudepigrapha during the Second Temple Period,[31] particularly in the apocalypses."

Satan - Wikipedia

 

[Hockeycowboy]

@joelr , you still have not addressed the Flood evidences I provided!

Noted.

Oh...except one (the Ark’s dimension ratios, which you really didn’t refute.) Out of 8!

(There is more evidence, but I only posted 8).

And the word is “disparate.”

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

I do not know, but why does it matter now, thousands of years later? Do you see what is going on in the world, in America? Humanity is moving forward towards unity, in keeping with everything Baha'u'llah revealed. Why does it matter what happened thousands of years ago? The past is gone.

Some of it is man-made myth because that is exactly what happens to divine revelation over time. Men corrupt the scriptures and change their meanings over time.

Even if you could find the answers to these questions, what would that achieve? The existence of older religions that have been corrupted by man does not disprove the Baha'i Faith.

Trump loses the election and you claim Humanity is moving towards unity. Where is the evidence?

 

[CG Didymus]

I do not know, but why does it matter now, thousands of years later?

Because it pokes holes in the Baha'i progressive revelation idea.

Some of it is man-made myth because that is exactly what happens to divine revelation over time. Men corrupt the scriptures and change their meanings over time.

Some of it is manmade and we're saying there is a good chance that all of it is manmade.

The existence of older religions that have been corrupted by man does not disprove the Baha'i Faith.

Well if God is so dumb as to keep giving people messages that he knows they will corrupt, then that's a screwed up way to do things. If I was in that other thread, I'd say it is a flaw.

But, because we know what all these different religions believe. Does it look like they are more likely to be manmade or God-made? My usual examples, The Aztec or Hawaiian religions. The Greek or Roman or Egyptian religions? Gods that vengeful and wrathful and punish those that disobey... that expect human or animal sacrifices. So were these religions manmade? Or, that, originally the one God sent them a messenger that told them the truth, but the people corrupted and distorted that message? The people decided to add more Gods and decided to make sacrifices to those Gods?

And again, The one true God really wanted the Israelites to kill animals and sacrifice them to him? You don't believe the story... creation, the flood, etc., but you believe the God of those stories? But then, with Hinduism, you believe in Krishna but don't believe in Rama? Or the other incarnations of the Hindu Gods? And, you don't believe in the multiple Gods of those stories. But you believe that Hinduism is a true "revealed" religion by the same God that revealed Judaism?

Things are way too jumbled up. You're right, let's forget the past and just listen to Baha'u'llah. Why personally investigate if he's telling us the truth. Let's just accept that what Baha'is say about the other religions is true. They were perfect when first revealed by God, but got corrupted. All religions are one... one messed up bunch of contradictory beliefs. So let's believe in the Baha'i religion that abrogates all of them and effectively eliminates the need for them. Imagine there's no religion, except the Baha'i Faith, it's easy if you try...

But then, are the Baha'i laws workable? No. People won't be able to live by them. So then what? Baha'i police trying to enforce them? Then the ones passing judgement on them will also be breaking some of the laws. How is the Baha'i world going to be any different? And don't tell me that some secular government is going to be able to keep the world at peace. There will always be liberal and conservatives... those on the right and those on the left. Neither will be perfect. People will still be lying, cheating, stealing, killing, and some will be greedy power hungry SOB's. So if Baha'is don't rule everything and if they aren't a perfect new race of men, then there's going to be problems. Again, if I was on that other thread, I'd say God's plan has some flaws.

 

[CG Didymus]

During the Second Temple Period, when Jews were living in the Achaemenid Empire, Judaism was heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism, the religion of the Achaemenids.[27][8][28] Jewish conceptions of Satan were impacted by Angra Mainyu,[8][29] the Zoroastrian god of evil, darkness, and ignorance.[8] In the Septuagint, the Hebrew ha-Satan in Job and Zechariah is translated by the Greek word diabolos (slanderer), the same word in the Greek New Testament from which the English word "devil" is derived.[30] Where satan is used to refer to human enemies in the Hebrew Bible, such as Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the Syrian, the word is left untranslated but transliterated in the Greek as satan, a neologism in Greek.[30]

The idea of Satan as an opponent of God and a purely evil figure seems to have taken root in Jewish pseudepigrapha during the Second Temple Period,[31] particularly in the apocalypses."

Satan - Wikipedia

Typically, Baha'i and Christians don't talk about these things. Man's concepts of religion have been evolving. But it very much seems to be man coming up with these ideas, not God revealing them.

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

But then, are the Baha'i laws workable? No. People won't be able to live by them. So then what? Baha'i police trying to enforce them? Then the ones passing judgement on them will also be breaking some of the laws. How is the Baha'i world going to be any different? And don't tell me that some secular government is going to be able to keep the world at peace. There will always be liberal and conservatives... those on the right and those on the left. Neither will be perfect. People will still be lying, cheating, stealing, killing, and some will be greedy power hungry SOB's. So if Baha'is don't rule everything and if they aren't a perfect new race of men, then there's going to be problems. Again, if I was on that other thread, I'd say God's plan has some flaws.

The answer will be a "New Race of Men" that will want to carry out Bahaullah's command. Without converting, without any force, and with no dissension. It won't even be a new race, we will all be convinced by the flowery words of Bahaullah.

 

[CG Didymus]

The answer will be a "New Race of Men" that will want to carry out Bahaullah's command. Without converting, without any force, and with no dissension. It won't even be a new race, we will all be convinced by the flowery words of Bahaullah.

When has any religion that imposes "God's" laws on its people ever worked? If the followers can't and don't follow the laws, then why would anybody else? Then, if God waves his magic dust on people and gives them a mind and heart to obey his rules and become a "new" race of men, then why is he wasting his time by letting his flawed creation struggle to obey and to keep falling short? Why didn't he give them the capacity to obey his rules in the first place?

 

[Trailblazer]

Trump loses the election and you claim Humanity is moving towards unity. Where is the evidence?

Funny you ask..... Yesterday after Biden was named the president elect I wrote a new thread I plan to post regarding unity, but I never seem to be able to get caught up responding to posts... 32 Alerts just overnight, almost all quoting my posts, and I am only one person.

 

[Trailblazer]

Why didn't he give them the capacity to obey his rules in the first place?

He did.

 

[Trailblazer]

Because it pokes holes in the Baha'i progressive revelation idea.

Only in your mind, according to your understanding, but you do not understand what progressive revelation is..

Some of it is manmade and we're saying there is a good chance that all of it is manmade.

That is not at all logical. That is like saying that because some cars are junky all cars are junky.

Well if God is so dumb as to keep giving people messages that he knows they will corrupt, then that's a screwed up way to do things. If I was in that other thread, I'd say it is a flaw.

First, an All-Knowing God cannot be dumb, that is logically impossible....

Second, this is not a flaw in God's method of communication, it is a flaw in humans because they corrupt the messages. There is NOTHING that God can do to prevent that because God gave humans free will and some humans screw up. You blame God for human screw-ups and that is unjust. It is also illogical because God is infallible so God cannot make any mistakes. That means if God used Messengers to communicate that cannot have been a mistake, so that means that Messengers is not a flawed method of communication.

Things are way too jumbled up. You're right, let's forget the past and just listen to Baha'u'llah. Why personally investigate if he's telling us the truth. Let's just accept that what Baha'is say about the other religions is true. They were perfect when first revealed by God, but got corrupted.

But then, are the Baha'i laws workable? No. People won't be able to live by them. So then what? Baha'i police trying to enforce them? ...................People will still be lying, cheating, stealing, killing, and some will be greedy power hungry SOB's. So if Baha'is don't rule everything and if they aren't a perfect new race of men, then there's going to be problems. Again, if I was on that other thread, I'd say God's plan has some flaws.

First, most Bahai laws are between a believer and God, so they require no enforcement, but things like stealing and killing will be enforced by secular governments.

Second, why not live in the present? Why do you have to project into the future? You don't know what humans will be like in the future. Any new race of men will be far in the future. This is just the very beginning of a new religious cycle that will last no less than 500,000 years.

 

[PAUL MARKHAM]

That is not at all logical. That is like saying that because some cars are junky all cars are junky.

If 10,000 invisible manmade gods are invisible manmade gods.

Is it logical one is real or they're all invisible manmade gods?

 

[Trailblazer]

If 10,000 invisible manmade gods are invisible manmade gods.

Is it logical one is real or they're all invisible manmade gods?

It is logical that there is one true God and all the other gods are man-made.

 

[joelr]

@joelr , you still have not addressed the Flood evidences I provided!

Noted.

Oh...except one (the Ark’s dimension ratios, which you really didn’t refute.) Out of 8!

(There is more evidence, but I only posted 8).

And the word is “disparate.”

The Ark ratios mean nothing. Ship building factors in dozens of factors depending on material, style and many many other factors. 3 ratios do not give much information at all. The apologetics site was able to conclude the ship was reasonably safe. In this time ship building with what materials people had was already mastered to the highest degree for their limitations. 3 ratios do not demonstrate anything except the author could build a "reasonable safe" vessel. It does not provide evidence for animal magic, gods flooding the Earth.
We do however have evidence that all biblical myths were borrowed from older cultures. Including Noah, creations stories, Yahweh vs sea monsters and so on.
There may be accurate details of ship building in a Greek Epic. This does not mean Zeus or whatever gods are in the story are real.
This is the 3rd time I have explained this.

Size and shape of the ark -
Your source is an apologetics site. Not a historical site on the history of ship building? Ship building was a highly important craft in these days. The Greek navy had ships that could outperform any others from the time and the Persians had massive battle ships. If you look into ship building 3 ratios do not come even close to telling the picture of how well crafted a ship actually is. They clearly knew how to build reasonable safe ships and those 3 ratios were involved at that time. Who cares? Does not prove a world flood, a god flooding Earth, the reality of one nations God?

The flood evidence you provided was animals in permafrost which I debunked as being from a flood.
Mammals are found in permafrost dating 10,000 years old as well as 50,000 years old and older.
The flood was not 40,000 years long. So clearly even if there was a flood not all the animals in the permafrost were put there because of a flood. So since we know it does not require a flood to get animals into a permafrost then it is no longer evidence for a flood.
I already explained this. Two times.
Also ALL geologists demonstrate many lines of evidence that there never was a worldwide flood. They have investigated this for decades. Zero evidence. So, no flood.

But if the entire scientific community is on consensus - no world flood - and you evidence is a myth from ancient cultures then you have lost.
There are thousands of shared myths. One popular myth is about a boy with plant-like plumes on his head who plays with a child and then asks the child to kill him and bury him and take care of the site. Of course then trees grow giving the boy and his family food from the tree. This myth pops up in an unusually large number of cultures. But do you think there may have been boys walking around with plumes growing out of their heads who grew into fruit trees? No. Myths do not suggest a literal event. The flood story is about change and starting new phases of life. So shared myths mean shared symbolism not shared magical stories.
A common source - YES. Is it a allegorical fiction - YES.

in Psalms 104 - your evidence is a passage in a myth? Sorry, as biblical archeologist William Denvers says the OT is not historical. These are stories.
But we already know these mountains were not caused by flood. If you think because a myth says something which means the consensus of all modern geologists and related scientists are wrong then you are living in a fantasy world.

Mountains are not caused by water. Stories about how the earth changed in a wildly fictitious and clearly made-up religious mythology is not evidence. Demonstrate this God exists first.

Clams - As scientists know, when the continantia shifts and ice ages caused mountain formation some items from the sea were deposited on mountains. Or sea floors were pushed up to be mountains. Again, no evidence for this flood, not an option.

Chinese myth -
Yes they had a flood myth also, written around 2200 BCE. The "8" in Chinese characters referring to Noah sounds like some Christian propaganda, it looks like it just might be that:
Noah's Ark

Another indirect

line of evidence, as to why God would cause such a catastrophe, are the Greek, Roman, Hindu, Norse, etc., myths describing “gods” interacting w/ humans, having relations w/ women, and producing offspring. (Since most all myths have some kernel of truth, this common narrative between them, of gods having sex w/ human females & bearing children, must be it.) It parallels Genesis 6:1-4, and explains to some extent why Jehovah had to step in, to thwart the eventual subjugation of the human race into sex slavery. But these “myths” created after the event, have kept it living in the collective mind of the human race.

All of those other Gods are also myth. Some of the impregnations in the stories are no different than what happened to Mary, a divine pregnancy. Yahweh interacted with Mary in some magic way and gave her an offspring.
In the Persian religion where much of the OT came from Zoroaster appeared as a leaf which a cow ate and then the mother Dughda drank the milk from the cow and was pregnant. She gave birth to (guess who?) a messiah son who would save the world in 3 incarnations or 3 comings.

In Enoch angels are having sex with humans also.
Of course the fictional story is going to paint a grim picture of the world right before the sky-god destroys humanity? What would you expect? This is typical myth writing.

But when anthropologists and archeologists look at other cultures around this time we see the same practices, burying of the dead, a strong religious system of deities, prayer, sin forgiveness through magic blood atonement (animal sacrifice), strong family values, farming/trading, legal systems mixed with myths. The world wasn't all crazy like the one Israelite myths says it was. That is for dramatic effect. None of the stories in the OT have shown to be accurate.

And science confirms there was simply no world flood. Fiction is not a source. The world serpent story was also popular. No serpent flying around the Earth. None of this is even remotely evidence for a myth being actually true.