science and creationism 21. the flood © colin frayn, 2008-2011
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Science and Creationism
21. The Flood
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
The Biblical Flood• When was it?
– Dates are usually given around 2500 BCE– Archbishop Usher’s chronology gives a date of 2348 BCE
• How long did it last?– Approximately one year
• See Genesis 7:11-13 and Genesis 8:13
• How much water was released?– Enough to cover the highest mountains
• Over 8 km / 5 miles
• How many animals were on the Ark– Either 2 or 7 of every living thing– Plus Noah and his family
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
Flood Timeline• The flood was at roughly 2500 BC.
– When the Egyptians were building pyramids
– …that required thousands of men
• Isn’t it odd that they didn’t record it?• And neither did any other culture
– Flood myths are a common feature of primitive cultures
– However, they rarely agree on anything– …and they never offer plausible chronologies
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
Lack of Evidence
• There is no evidence for a flood– Historical– Geological– Ice cores– Genetics– Etc.
• All evidence Hovind provides is weak and circumstantial
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
How many animals?• The number of individuals required is enormous (millions!)
• What is a ‘kind’? Is it a species? Group?– The definition of this is obscure
• If ‘species’ then there must have been millions of individuals on the ark
• If ‘kind’ then the rate of evolutionary speciation since the Ark has been astronomical!
• Only bring nostrilled animals?– Hovind claims that Noah only brought animals with
nostrils on the ark• Though this isn’t what the bible says
– This avoids trying to fit in several million pairs of insects– So how exactly did the insects survive?
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
Building the Ark• How hard is it to build an ark?• Remember – Noah did this in the early bronze age
– Before the invention of nails, for example
• One man in Maryland is trying to rebuild the Ark• It has taken him 32 years (so far)
• 5 bulldozers• 3,000 tons of cement• 76 cement pillars• 34 sway-brace pillars• An extensive steel girder superstructure• …and his doesn’t even have to float
Source : http://www.godsark.org
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
Building the Ark (2)• How big was the Ark?• 137 x 23m (450 x 75 ft)
• The Wyoming (1909)– Largest wooden ship ever built– 450ft long, but only 50 ft wide
• Tip to tip length, not hull length • Only 350ft (110m) of hull length
– Held together with 90 iron bracings!– Planks would twist and buckle in rough seas
• Even without elephants inside– It required a pump to remove water constantly
• The twisting hull let water in through cracks– It eventually collapsed and sank in 1924
• All 14 crew died
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
A Moon Pool• This is essentially a hole in the boat hull
– It absorbs some of the wave energy– Though it does weaken the entire hull
• Can this add stability to the ark?– To some extent– They are difficult to make and dangerous– A flawed design could easily have sunk the ark– It’s probably not enough to make the ark stable– It adds lots of complicated joints and fittings
• Why wasn’t it in the description?– This seems like an important omission
© Colin Frayn, 2008-2011www.frayn.net
Noah’s Ark found?• Ron Wyatt’s discovery
– This has been totally disproved– What he’s found is… a hill
• Even Answers in Genesis agrees:– http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i4/report.asp
• More here:– http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/bogus.html
• There is no plausible archaeological evidence that this site contains any manmade artefacts.
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