Books and Writings of JGL Available Online
Books
Foreword for Noah/TNR
To say that controversy exists regarding the nature of the Noah flood narrative in the book of Genesis is an understatement. Answers to questions one might pose on the issue defy consensus, even amongst conservative evangelicals. The fact that answers have been attempted—by Bible scholars both conservative and liberal, geologists and geophysicists, archaeologists and historians, as well as researchers of both the scientific and pseudo-scientific kind—is not to say that adequate answers exist. But as an archaeologist who takes the Bible seriously as an historical document, I do my best to go where the evidence leads. With both textual and physical evidences in mind, I must conclude that there was, in fact, a Genesis flood that eliminated all but eight individuals—Noah, his sons and their wives—from the face of the earth, and that all subsequent humans are their descendants. For me, these conclusions are inescapable.
Hundreds of works dealing with Noah’s flood have appeared over the last century. In my opinion, this present volume by Dr John Leslie rises to the top. While the physical evidences presented in The Noah Flood Account as a True Narrative Representation appear in other resources, the outstanding and unique feature of Dr Leslie’s book is the examination of the subject using the TNR (true narrative representation) theory of Dr John Oller, revealing that the biblical flood story possesses all the characteristics of a TNR: determinancy, connectedness, and generalizability. Ollerian TNR linguistic theory is based on incontrovertible logic, and has the analytic capacity to assess the differences between TNRs, fictions, and lies. In his application of TNR theory, Dr Leslie has powerfully argued that the Noah narrative arose from the physical reality of the event itself in remote antiquity. Linguistically, the Noah flood account is not fiction. This is a quantum leap for those continuing to explore the subject!
Controversy over the “how and when” of the Genesis flood will continue, to be sure. The myriad approaches to it are diverse, and can even be contradictory. But Dr Leslie has injected into the discussion a methodology that perhaps transcends treatments of Noah flood physical dynamics by assessing its linguistic/literary features in a TNR context. Everyone interested in the Genesis flood story from a scholarly perspective owes Dr John Leslie a debt of gratitude for his willingness to tackle this difficult subject meticulously, with both rigor and thoughtfulness. The Noah Flood Account as a True Narrative Representation is a welcome and important addition to this field of inquiry.
Steven Collins, PhD Dean, College of Archaeology, Trinity Southwest University Director, Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project, Jordan
To say that controversy exists regarding the nature of the Noah flood narrative in the book of Genesis is an understatement. Answers to questions one might pose on the issue defy consensus, even amongst conservative evangelicals. The fact that answers have been attempted—by Bible scholars both conservative and liberal, geologists and geophysicists, archaeologists and historians, as well as researchers of both the scientific and pseudo-scientific kind—is not to say that adequate answers exist. But as an archaeologist who takes the Bible seriously as an historical document, I do my best to go where the evidence leads. With both textual and physical evidences in mind, I must conclude that there was, in fact, a Genesis flood that eliminated all but eight individuals—Noah, his sons and their wives—from the face of the earth, and that all subsequent humans are their descendants. For me, these conclusions are inescapable.
Hundreds of works dealing with Noah’s flood have appeared over the last century. In my opinion, this present volume by Dr John Leslie rises to the top. While the physical evidences presented in The Noah Flood Account as a True Narrative Representation appear in other resources, the outstanding and unique feature of Dr Leslie’s book is the examination of the subject using the TNR (true narrative representation) theory of Dr John Oller, revealing that the biblical flood story possesses all the characteristics of a TNR: determinancy, connectedness, and generalizability. Ollerian TNR linguistic theory is based on incontrovertible logic, and has the analytic capacity to assess the differences between TNRs, fictions, and lies. In his application of TNR theory, Dr Leslie has powerfully argued that the Noah narrative arose from the physical reality of the event itself in remote antiquity. Linguistically, the Noah flood account is not fiction. This is a quantum leap for those continuing to explore the subject!
Controversy over the “how and when” of the Genesis flood will continue, to be sure. The myriad approaches to it are diverse, and can even be contradictory. But Dr Leslie has injected into the discussion a methodology that perhaps transcends treatments of Noah flood physical dynamics by assessing its linguistic/literary features in a TNR context. Everyone interested in the Genesis flood story from a scholarly perspective owes Dr John Leslie a debt of gratitude for his willingness to tackle this difficult subject meticulously, with both rigor and thoughtfulness. The Noah Flood Account as a True Narrative Representation is a welcome and important addition to this field of inquiry.
Steven Collins, PhD Dean, College of Archaeology, Trinity Southwest University Director, Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project, Jordan
The Noah Flood Account can be obtained at the bookstore listed below.
The Painted Desert and Petrified Forest Evidence for a Catastrophe-soon to come. (Please do not download these images)
Papers
Religion, Philosophy, and Science Interface
Religious Nature of Evolution
Hindrance of Evolutionary Terminology to the Teaching of Science
Cards of the Southwest
Cost: $5 plus S/H. Please let me know if interested. Contact me through the contact page at the bottom of this website.