Comparing The Epic Of Gilgamesh And The Hebrew Bible

The Epic of Gilgamesh has been of interest to Christians ever since its discovery in the mid-nineteenth century. It has an account of a universal flood with significant parallels to the Great Flood mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Frank). In both stories people were being punished for man’s wickedness and sins. Today, as in the ancient writings, some people relate the global issue of natural disasters as a punishment from God because of man’s evilness and sins. In The Epic of Gilgamesh the flood started when one of the gods, Enlil, became angry when Utnapishtim and the people in the community were making too much noise. In the story Utnaphishtim said to Gilgamesh, “I will reveal to you, O Gilgamesh, a secret matter, and a mystery of the gods

An example of a modern day natural disaster is Hurricane Katrina, which happened on August 29, 2005. Some people such as Pastor John Hagee said that the hurricane was started because of man’s sins in New Orleans. He stated “Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.” New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, he stated because “there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came”(Corley). This is one modern day example of how a pastor shared his belief behind why Hurricane Katrina, a natural disaster,

He soon became enraged with how much sin was happening, so He created the flood in hopes of cleansing the earth. Since God didn’t want all of the people to die he gave instructions to a very special person, Noah. God told Noah to build an ark and bring his family and various animals with him. Soon after everyone got on the ship, they closed the doors and sailed off. Noah and his family waited for almost eight months for the water to dry out. Since Noah was able to bring his family and the animals home safely, God promised that he would never make a flood that would destroy the earth again. Another modern day example that can be related to the global issue of natural disasters is Hurricane Sandy which happened on October 25, 2012. Some people such as Chaplain John McTernan, the founder of Defend and Proclaim the Faith Ministries, proclaimed that "God is systematically destroying America." McTernan wrote in a blog post on his website the week of Hurricane Sandy, "Just look at what has happened this year (Garcia)." McTernan believed that Hurricane Sandy happened because there were many gay, lesbian, and transsexuals living in America who committed unholy crimes, or sins. He also believed that the flood was a way for the people in the city to stop sinning which also connects to the story of Noah in The