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TOM - In Genesis we read that Noah got drunk and passed out yet the scriptures say, in both the Pearl of Great Price and the OT, that Noah was just and perfect in his generation. Is this a contradiction...getting drunk doesn't seem just and perfect to me?
JOEL - Perhaps not, but notice the scripture says he was just and perfect "in his generation". If you compare him to what the rest of the world was doing during that generation before and after the flood, he probably was the most perfect man on earth. And of course God had not yet instituted the Word of Wisdom. Of course we shouldn't judge people but if we do, we should only judge them based on the laws of God they were expected to live within their own generation.
TOM - Also, what's the deal with the whole Ham seeing Noah naked thing? I read somewhere that what that story is really about was that Ham stole Noah's garments and Japheth and Shem gave them back. Any truth to that? Why didn't Joseph Smith give any restoration to the accuracy of that translation/story?
JOEL - This is a strange story that seems to have no meaning or purpose except to inform us of the cursing put upon Ham and blessings upon Shem and Japheth. I believe there was more to this story than what was recorded in the scriptures. Noah said he "knew what his younger son had done unto him"(Genesis 9:21-26), but doesn't tell us what it was he did, except to see him naked. One Jewish tradition suggests that Ham, jealous of his position as the younger son, castrated his father in order to prevent Noah from having other children. President Heber C. Kimball simply said Ham was cursed because he "pulled the clothing off from his father Noah, who had drank a little too much wine." (JD, 4:172)
So according to President Kimball, Ham took advantage of Noah's drunken state and for some reson pulled his clothes off him, which may have included his holy priesthood garments, and because of this offense, Noah cursed his child Caanan. But I guess we will never know for sure the details, nor do I believe there is anything there important for us to know, and that's probably why Joseph Smith was not inspired to fill in the details.
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