science and creationism 21. the flood © colin frayn, 2008-2011

Science and Creationism

21. The Flood

© 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


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


Lack of Evidence

• There is no evidence for a flood– Historical– Geological– Ice cores– Genetics– Etc.

• All evidence Hovind provides is weak and circumstantial


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?


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


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


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


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.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i4/report.asp

http://www.csun.edu/~vcgeo005/bogus.html

science and creationism 21. the flood © colin frayn, 2008-2011

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