Question: The Book of Genesis tells of people living for hundreds of years. Today's human life expectancy is What happened?

        Answer: In the first place, says Jim Lloyd, director of the library and Old Testament instructor at Cincinnati Bible College and Seminary, human life span is always in a state of flux. In the Middle Ages, 40 was considered old because of disease and poor living conditions. Today, it seems to be increasing because of better health care, healthier lifestyles and other factors.

        “From a biblical standpoint,” Mr. Lloyd says, “human beings were created to live forever. Because of the sin factor, certain things came into the world and caused life expectancy to drop.”

        That's the biblical perspective. There are also a whole batch of scientific theories: One is that an increase of cosmic radiation bombarding earth has cut life spans dramatically.

        Another is that the environment on earth was quite a bit different early on. Some believe a protective layer of water blocked much of the radiation, making the planet a whole lot more hospitable.

        “In the Bible, life spans start dropping right about the time of Noah's flood. That layer of water, the flood and dropping life spans may be related or they may be coincidence.”

        There are also theories that people calculated differently or that sources of Genesis may have had different counting methods that we might not fully understand.

        “But there are problems with both those theories,” Mr. Lloyd says. “That's why I favor a longer life span and some sort of cosmic radiation theory.”

        If you have a stupid question, send it to Ask a Stupid Question, Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati OH 45202; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: knipenquirer@yahoo.com.

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