Noah’s Ark: Flooded with Facts
by The Monkey on 02/12/08 filed under religion
Folklore of a global flood among many religions worldwide, including Christianity. Not to say the Bible’s words do not carry important messages and morales, but not all of it’s accounts can be taken literally. The story of the Great Flood is one such story. The biblical account of Noah is impossible. One reason why is a problem with the Great Flood:
There is not enough water on the earth to cover the planet as described in the Christian Bible. Even if enough water were present to cover all land on earth, the conditions produced would have killed Noah and his family.
This article deals with the flood itself. It does not cover the ark, nor does it talk about the animals. This article bases its reasoning and conclusions on what we can observe.
Rain and the Vapor Canopy
According to Genesis chapter 7:11 and 12, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. The resulting water covered every bit of land on earth. But where did so much water come from?
One model proposed by believers is that much of the flood water was suspended in the atmosphere until the start of the rain period[1]. How was this much water suspended? It would have been heated to keep it in vapor form. In this case, it’s a lot of water, so it would be superheated. Unfortunately, this heat would have cooked Noah in the process. (This assumes the atmosphere is able to be superheated, a tough feat to attain when so much water vapor is blocking sunlight.)
But let’s assume a vapor canopy with enough moisture to flood did earth exist. The canopy’s presence would raise the humidity levels to nearly 100%. If this moisture (somehow) did not condense, it would raise oxygen and nitrogen levels to levels toxic for humans. If Noah and his shipmates somehow survived toxic and superheated air, they would have drowned by simply walking outside[2].
But for the sake of argument, let’s say it does rain and Noah is alive to see it. If this event happened literally, rain water would not even cover half of the earth’s land[2]. A few simple calculations can show why.
Mount Everest, the highest point of land on earth, recorded a height of 29,035 feet in 1999. It would have rained 725 feet (not inches!) a day for 40 days to cover Mt. Everest at its present height. Not to say weather patterns in Noah’s day were the same as in the 21st century, but the most rainfall in a single day in recorded history is a paltry 73.62 inches. According to Genesis 7:10 7:20, this condition had to be met, but the math indicates nature isn’t even close. At a height of 16,854 feet, rain would have had to fall at 421 feet per day to cover Mount Ararat, the supposed docking place of Noah’s ark. That’s 5,056 inches per day. Still not even close. If there were enough water on earth to cover the planet’s land masses, it was have to fall at an incredible rate to to do so in just 40 days.
Underground Reservoirs and Comets
But wait! Rain originating from the atmosphere is not the only source of water involved in the great flood. Genesis 7:11 claims water spewed from under the earth as well. But how exactly where underground did this water come from and how did it get up to the surface? If the water was about 10 miles underground [3], it would already have been heated by the earth’s core (but not heated enough to rise to the surface). It would have required even more heat to rise to the surface as vapor, producing rather hot clouds of steam coming from underground.
If Noah encountered any of these superheated steam vents, again he would have been cooked.
A similar situation would have resulted if a comet made of ice entered the earth’s atmosphere and been reduced to steam.
So far there isn’t a natural, feasible explanation that puts enough water on earth without killing Noah and his family. Is this Bible ‘myth’ debunked? Not yet.
The Earth’s Surfaced Changed
Some believers contest that the shape of the earth’s surface was much flatter at the time of the flood, allowing ocean water alone to cover all earth’s land. It was only after the flood, through a series of natural catastrophes (possibly avalanches), were the mountains raised and ocean basins lowered to their present levels [1, 3]. Another report published by the Institution for Creation Research details how the required tectonic movement necessary for the flood could have occurred within the required time period. The steam that rose from the oceans would also have killed off all air-breathing life (including airborne life).
However unlikely, what if this scenario occurred and the earth’s mantle moved? In today’s day and age, the slightest underground movement causes earthquakes and, if underwater, tsunamis. Techtonic shifts of biblical magnitude would have produced numerous tsunamis on a tremendously large scale. How did the ark survive?
When reading through the two research studies from the ICR cited, I noticed the authors using phrases like “appears to be” and “possibility” several times when drawing their conclusions. While they provide science and mathematical calculations supporting their claims, they certainly don’t prove them.
Fossils, Geological Footprints, and More
A global flood would leave geological evidence in mountains, ice caps, the sea floor, mineral deposits, fossils, and other areas. Aside from the amount of water required for a global flood, other arguments that support the Great Flood exist. TalkOrigins does a good job of covering the implications of a global flood here and here. These pages examine evidenceheat and more.
Again, I chose not to focus on these topics for this article, but encourage those with outstanding questions to visit the site for further explanations.
It’s A Miracle!
If you take the Bible’s word on faith, then I can’t touch you. But the biblical account of Noah’s ark doesn’t work without miracles. But if you believe in miracles, Talk Origins eloquently notes…
the whole [flood] story can be dismissed as a series of supernatural miracles. There is no way to contradict such an argument. However, one must wonder about a God who reportedly does one thing and then arranges every bit of evidence to make it look like something else happened. It’s entirely possible that a global flood occurred 4000 years ago or even last Thursday, and that God subsequently erased all the evidence, including our memories of it. But even if such stories are true, what’s the point?
Citations
- Brown, Walt, 1997. In the beginning: compelling evidence for creation and the Flood. ( www.creationscience.com/onlinebook)
- (2007). History’s Mysteries: The Search For Noah’s Ark [Television and DVD Series]. New York: A&E Television Networks.
- Whitcomb, J.C. Jr. & H.M. Morris, 1961. The Genesis Flood. Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Philadelphia PA.
Josh
Sep 4th, 2008
The flood could just correspond with post ice age flooding. The result of massive releases of freshwater held atop the glaciation by fragile ice dams. When said dams break, colossal amounts of fresh water would have inundated the world’s oceans causing a rise in sea level of many meters of the course of just a few weeks. Sure its a far cry from covering the entire world in water, but it would globally take out coastal cities and account for the various flood mythos.
The Monkey
Sep 4th, 2008
Josh, this article seeks to disprove the flood as it is described in the Bible. If all the water on this planet were released on the surface at once, sure it would flood a good portion of the land (including nearly every coastal city).
Would it cover every square inch of land on the planet? No. I am stating that Noah’s flood, as described in the Christian Bible, is impossible on earth.
I don’t disagree with that you say in your comment, nor do I doubt a flood happened (since so many cultures have similar accounts of a flood around the same time).
Larisa
Nov 6th, 2008
okay you “genious” atheists
you didn’t even read the whole story!!!!!!!
also what do you mean “The resulting water covered every bit of land on earth.”
the rain covered most of the Earth! if it rained 40 days & 40 nights
without stopping…
the earth would flood.
I actually don’t even know why I am wasting my time arguing with you about this.
seems to me that you are having doubts about your own point of view.
God exists ,
I know 100% with all my heart
I have seen and been through things that are beyond your imagination.
The only proof you have is the “scientific evidence”.
But it’s your choice.
I am not saying you made the right one
but you only have 1 lifetime to make that choice.
Just think about it for a second…life without a God is completely pointless.
PS(Darwin died as a Christian)
The Monkey
Nov 6th, 2008
Who said we were atheists? We’re skeptics.
If you want to believe in God and stories like the flood that’s ok. But please don’t “just claim the flood story is true because you believe in God with all your heart.” If you look at the story mathematically it’s not possible.
We’ve done out best to lay it out and explain why we’re claiming what we’re claiming. What’s your reasoning? Besides “just knowing…”?
Sara
Jan 10th, 2009
I have been away from this page for awhile, but now I see a few things I need to comment on.
Larissa, I just read your comments. I have to tell you, it’s comments like that that ulitimately hurt your cause, rather than helping it. I have long suspected that people believe in religions not because of evidence, but because of emotional connections to said religion. You are proving that very clearly with your arguments.
You say we didn’t read the whole story. If you’re referring to the Noah story, I can promise you that we have, indeed, read the whole story many times. It’s just that we look at it with a different point of view than others would. The purpose of this article was to show that, from a scientific standpoint, a global flood would be impossible. Sure, for a god who can do miracles nothing is impossible, but unless you can prove that god exists AND that he has the power to override natural laws, than you don’t have much of a case.
You say you have seen and been through things we couldn’t imagine. Well, like what? Do you have any evidence to back it up? You are quite welcome to e-mail us if you have more info, and if you have any evidence of god’s existence, we’d love to see it. However, we are looking for more than “I know it in my heart.”
You say the only thing we have is scientific evidence, as though that’s a bad thing. That’s like saying, scornfully, that the only way to know that 2 + 2 equals 4 is to put two apples with another two apples and count them up. If you think of scientific evidence as totally invalid, than it’s clear your values greatly differ from ours.
And finally, please do a little research on your claim that Darwin died a Christian. That is widely known to be a legend, and even many creationist would agree that it’s highly unlikely that Darwin had a death-bed conversion. Once again, if you can come here and claim that Darwin died a Christian, it shows me that you either do very little research, or that all your research is biased. If you want to help your cause, you can do so by checking your facts before jumping into an argument.
Dean
Jan 12th, 2009
I’ve been doing alot of thinking about this recently and some research. I’ve read many articles that talk about the lack physical evidence and the mathematical impossibility of the flood happening. Quite frankly, I can’t argue with it. Mostly because I believe the arguments to be valid but also because I lack the knowlege to prove or disprove them.
You stated that the flood doesn’t work without it being a miracle. That is true and that’s the point I wanted to make. You said if it was a miracle and God removed all signs of it, then what’s the point? I argue that that is the nature of miracles.
When Peter cut off the ear of the soldier when Jesus was arrested, Jesus healed the ear. That’s a miracle. Do you think there was any sign left over, like a scar, to show that it had been cut off? The bible doesn’t say so and I think it would be unlike Jesus and his message to leave a visible scar.
When he healed lepers do you think afterward, someone looking at the person might say, “Hey, you used to be a leper, I can tell by looking at you”. Again, we don’t know for sure but probably not. The same with Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
My point is that it’s possible that the nature of a miracle is to not leave any visibile signs that it ever happened. The flood could have happened and no scar was left over. Therefor you either believe it on faith or dismiss it as never happening.
The Monkey
Jan 12th, 2009
Dean, you’re right. If a miracle like this can be covered up like you’ve described, then it’s 100% possible that it DID happen and there’s no way we’d ever be able to prove it. I guess when you put it that way, it comes down to faith.
James
Feb 15th, 2009
Larisa, you have been lied to. Darwin DID NOT die as a Christian. He died as an agnostic. You are repeating a popular MYTH told among churches to make evolution seem less believable. Do not be deceived by liars, Larisa. Check the facts out from several independent reputable sources. It is not historically accurate. However, Darwin was NEVER an atheist, this is apparent by his own words. By his own words (verified, in his own handwriting), he says that his spiritual beliefs would best be described as agnostic.
He attended church regularly in his youth, but as he became older he took to taking walks on Sunday while his family went to church. He didn’t die a Christian. He didn’t die an atheist either, but he definitely did NOT die a Christian.
As far as the validity of evolution, it makes ZERO DIFFERENCE what Darwin believed. Either the theory is right or it is wrong by its own validity. Recently scientists have decoded the DNA of the common cold. Guess what they found? They found that it is possible for you to get infected by two different strands of it, and for those two strands to mix DNA and produce a BRAND NEW third strand of cold inside your body. THAT is speciation, and it is PROOF that at least some forms of evolution are undeniably true.
Lucky for you believers, there is no unquestionable reason that Christianity and evolution cannot compliment each other. See Kennith Miller’s “Finding Darwin’s God” for details.
michael
May 13th, 2009
If you nimrods had read the bible you would notice that it sais that the floodgates of heaven had beeen opend and that a wind went over the earth to make the waters recede. Although i myself am skeptical on the bible and the events that happen in it i really hate these people that go against it without actually reading it.
Carol
Aug 11th, 2009
You yourselves need to prove-to yourselves- whether God exists. Stop arguing with people, get down, on your knees, and ask him to reveal himself. But do it honestly, with an open heart. If you are not, willing to do this, then you have only yourselves to blame.
Sara
Aug 12th, 2009
Michael, your initial comment came in two days before my wedding, or I would have commented on it sooner. I would like to say though, that I don’t see how your pointing out that” the floodgates of heaven had beeen opend [your spelling] and that a wind went over the earth to make the waters recede,” has any major impact on the arguments made in this article. Our whole argument was that the Noah’s Ark story was scientifically impossible, and if one chose to believe it, the reasoning would have to be faith. Claiming that the “flood gates of heaven opened” is not a scientific argument. If the floodgates of heaven opened, it would have to be believed on faith.
And yes, we HAVE read the Noah’s Ark story. I personally, read it as a child in catechism class, and then again, more recently. I have seen documentaries on the story AND visited the Creation Museum in Kentucky, where they have a detailed exhibit on the flood. So while I certainly am not biblical scholar, I think it’s fair to say I’ve done my homework on this.
Based on your comment, though, I would argue that you probably didn’t read (or at least, didn’t understand) our article.
Sara
Aug 12th, 2009
Carol, just so you are aware, I believed in god as child, pretty much up until my sophomore year of college. At that time, I said regular prayers, and made sure to say a prayer every night before I went to bed. In college I began to doubt God (for obvious reasons) but still believed overall, and still WANTED to believe. I added to my night time prayer something along the lines of, “God, please quiet my doubting mind.” In otherwords, I prayed sincerely that I would stop doubting, so that I could maintain my faith in god.
You can see, from my work on Skeptical Monkey, how well that worked out.
Shaun
Oct 22nd, 2009
You say the following in your article: “This article bases its reasoning and conclusions on what we can observe.”
Were you there? The scientific method can prove NOTHING about past events. It can help make inferences based on historical accounts; but THAT something happened and HOW it happened needs to be revealed by SOMEONE who was there…and it has been!!
God bless.
The Monkey
Oct 23rd, 2009
Right Shaun… I was not there. Otherwise I would have given a play-by-play account of what happened.
Since this is not possible, using scientific method, which is responsible for many things (including how you left your comment on this site).
pete
Nov 18th, 2009
Hi, Ido believe a flood happened and the ice age too. can this be explained well let’s try The bible is said to be the word of god the people at the creation institute have given plausible evidence that a flood was possible and others that it was not can we explore both possibilities and see where it takes us ?
pete
Nov 18th, 2009
looking at the fossil record there is evidence of a world wide event that killed off a enormous part of life on the earth followed by an ice age. Is that correct?
JJ
Dec 6th, 2009
Thanks for the information. I am going to use it as a discussion topic in my high school sunday school class today. Something to consider, some believe the flood was a regional event. However, science does not have to explain God’s power because He does not need your approval.
Debi
Dec 15th, 2009
I’ll never understand why people like Carol assume that people who do not believe as herself have never asked god to reveal himself honestly and with an open heart.