Noah’s Flood
As per the biblical flood story beginning in Genesis Ch. 6, Noah, a faithful man, was warned by God of an upcoming worldwide flood and was given instruction as to how to survive the flood. The flood was to be caused by God and would destroy all land dwelling animal life leaving only the “purest“(i.e., Noah and his family and select animals) to repopulate the world. It is interesting to note- this entire event is similar to the intelligent design of creation and its use of extinctions as seen in the biblical creation story. For the good of the many to come in the future, God culled the few in Noah‘s time. Noah’s bloodline and beliefs were to be the foundation for all that followed. This is similar to themes seen in other biblical stories (e.g., Sodom and Gomorrah). It appears that one’s biggest fear should be the wrath of a displeased God.
As the story goes, Noah was instructed to build a ship (ark) of certain specifications suitable in size to accommodate his family, animals, and food stores. He accepted the instruction, built the ship as specified, and survived the flood. At the event’s end, the ship was aground in the mountains of Ararat. All existing land dwelling air breathing animal life, including humans, stems from the life that disembarked Noah’s ship after the flood ended. All other land dwelling air-breathing life had died.
As reason predicts, virtually every ancient civilization maintained a flood story similar to the biblical story- they all stemmed from the same event. While all people inherently want to believe in the supernatural, people do not inherently want to believe in a flood story. One should reasonably conclude that a catastrophic flood actually occurred.
Some believe that a flood occurred but by chance, a boat owner survived with his family and livestock. They believe the tale of the flood later grew to incorporate an advance warning by a god and subsequently, the construction of a large ship. Nevertheless, based on the existence of flood stories from virtually every civilization, they believe that a devastating flood did occur- although perhaps only in a localized area. They do not believe it possible that an ancient person could have been forewarned about an upcoming flood. They do not believe it possible that Noah built the ship described. Believing such a story requires beliefs in the existence of God, and in an ancient person’s ability to build a large ship.
About Noah’s abilities, one common misconception people have about the ancients is that they could not have been intelligent. They were, in fact, as intelligent as anyone alive is today, but with a limited store of knowledge. Although his store of knowledge was limited, Noah had likely mastered every craft and trade known in his time. Among those ancient crafts were woodworking, stone cutting, metal casting, and small boatbuilding. His metal working skills included copper, bronze, and iron. Biblical accounts and archaeological finds show that these crafts coexisted with Noah. Noah had mastered these crafts while burdened by providing his own and his family’s sustenance. After the flood, the crafts used in the ship’s construction were unnecessary for several generations, as was boatbuilding in general. There would have been a technological gap after the flood.
For those readers who consider the construction of Noah’s ship impossible, in reality, they themselves could not have built it. They should consider that Noah was more intelligent and craftier than they are- not that the ancients were boastful liars and the flood story is mythology. Without the aid of modern cranes and equipment, how many readers could cut and move stones weighing many tons across soft ground? Noah and the people of his ancient time did it; there is evidence of quarried stones weighing tons that mark many ancient sites. Then there are those willing to believe anything except the reasonable; things such as “UFO’s with their out of this world alien devices must have quarried, moved, and set the heavy stones”.
It will be shown that the construction of a ship as biblically specified need not be considered mythology but is completely reasonable. Now, if one is to assume the ship was actually built, then clearly the story can be expanded to include details of its construction. God did not build the ship for Noah. Noah built the ship and had to plan every aspect of its construction and launch. He could not have skipped any of the details. Each board that was prepared, fitted, and installed on the ship had Noah‘s attention. A probable ship’s design will be presented and methods of construction are shown to be reasonable or even trivial for Noah. The ability to build the ship was clearly within Noah‘s capabilities.
Noah was likely the most intelligent man alive in his day; given his biblically specified longevity, he was likely much more capable than any modern person. It is also clear that he knew God.
So most agree there was a flood but disagree as to its extent. What aspect of the flood killed all life? Drowning might have killed some life yet, in modern times, hearing of a seriously flooded region is not associated with news of mass death due to drowning. The biblical story does not claim or imply all life drowned.
What kills land dwelling animal life, but not vegetation or sea life, during a 40-day deluge of rain followed by several months of heavy fog? One answer is exposure. Life not accustomed to living in water was wet and cold without a means of getting dry for most of a year. As another cause of death, it will be shown that atmospheric pressure dropped significantly at the event’s beginning. The pressure drop subsequently caused poisonous gases to boil out of the seas and land. The poisonous gases likely killed much of the air breathing life long before exposure did.
Now, assuming Noah built the ship, clearly he built it somewhere. Evidence of Noah’s shipyard must exist
somewhere! To find the site one must first understand what they should expect to find.
It will be shown that the biblical version of the flood story accurately depicts an actual global flood event. Archaeological evidence of Noah’s shipyard, the likely final resting place for the ship, and a monument of stones originally used at his shipyard complete with bones of Noah’s descendants have been identified.