THE NOACHIAN FLOOD
THE NOACHIAN FLOOD
Virgil Warren PhD
I. Views of the Flood
A. Local flood theory: anthropologically universal, but not global
B. Tranquil flood theory: perhaps universal, but not catastrophic with geological
upheavals, volcanic activity, or cosmic disturbances
C. Catastrophic universal flood theory designed to account for the fossil-bearing
geological column
II. The Universality of the Flood
A. The purpose of the flood for destroying “every living thing that I have made”
(Genesis 7:4)
1. The number of people by even 1,656 years would mean a wider dispersal than
one river valley system.
2. Animal dispersal by this time would be universal.
3. Were water animals included?
B. Geological disturbances continued for five months (Genesis 8:2).
C. The depth of the flood was 22½ ft above the tallest mountains (Genesis 7:19-
20).
D. The duration of the flood was 371 days.
E. The need and size for the ark as a haven from universal destruction (1,400,000
cu. ft.)
F. The universal applicability of the covenant of the rainbow (Genesis 9:12-17)
G. The effect of the flood was comparable in scope with the created world (2 Peter
3:4-6).
H. The effect is compared in scope to the ministry of Jesus in Hades (1 Peter 3:19-
20).
I. The effect of the flood is comparable in scope to the final destruction by fire
(2 Peter 3:7-13).
III. Difficulties Posed for a Universal Flood
A. The source of all the water
1. Rain
2. Precipitation of an antediluvian vapor canopy
3. A disintegrated ice planetoid (D. W. Patten)
4. Less extreme topographies for the water to cover
5. Subterranean fountains
B. Getting all the animals in the ark together with all the food necessary for their
sustenance and disposing of all the waste and dealing with the health issues that would arise from such an enclosed unit
1. Some young forms could have been taken in.
2. The number of basic species is not large; speciation has occurred since the flood. (No pre-flood animals are mentioned in Genesis.)
3. Their great size is perhaps the reason some larger reptiles were not preserved (35,000 at outside—#5 below).
4. Marine life would not have to be included.
5. Types have developed since the flood.
6. We wonder about the circulation in the ark for such a large number of occupants and the methane content of the air
C. Keeping the ark afloat amid the turbulence of the flood waters
1. The ark’s dimensions guarantee a strong ability to float and to right itself.
2. Construction could have occurred on high ground so as to avoid fast-moving currents during the early stages of the flooding. Large tidal waves such as those envisioned by Filby would seem to be destructive even here.
D. Getting rid of all the water
1. Evaporation
2. Raising land masses and drain off
E. Assembling the animals
1. Pre-flood animals were less distinctively located.
2. 120 years was involved in the assemblage (Genesis 6:3).
3. Does “there went in to Noah” (Genesis 7:9) mean divine assistance?
F. Dispersion of the animals after the flood
1. The water level was lower than now because of the melting of the ice caps
(land bridges existed).
2. Continental drift has taken place since then (?): “in the days of Peleg the earth
was divided” (Genesis 10:24?).
3. Floating debris could have transported even land animals.
G. Caring for all the animals during the flood (feeding, cleaning cages, etc.)
1. Eight adults to care for them
2. Hibernation during the period (?)
3. Dependent on the structure of the feeding systems and cage arrangements
H. Migratory patterns
1. Imparted after the flood (imbedded in the very nature of the animals)
2. Learned behavior as to specific pattern, but based on inborn capacities
I. Mixing of salt and fresh water
1. Lower salinity level originally than at present
2. Natural selection along lines of salinity tolerance
3. Extinction of many marine forms perhaps due to inadaptability
4. The olive leaf
J. Mention of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers before the flood (Genesis 2:10-14)
1. Renaming of subsequent rivers with names from antediluvian times (cp. New
York, London, Milan, Paris, etc., in America from European origins)
2. The four rivers of Genesis 1 do not correspond to anything known today.
3. “Rivers” might refer to canals before the flood if no rain cycles were
present then.
K. Gold, pitch, and the like, before the flood
L. Universal repopulation of the earth
1. Land bridges from Armenia to all continents except Australia to which,
however, stepping stones of islands form an approach from the north
2. Transportation on vegetation clumps for egg-laying animals or even larger
animals
3. Re-creation of animals in ecological niches after the flood (Why then an ark?)
4. Division of the continents after the flood (Genesis 10:25?)
M. Stratigraphy under the mastodons and under the polar ice caps (?)
If the death of these animals was caused by Patton’s ice dump theory and if the polar caps were caused by the disintegration of an ice meteor, then the flood could not be responsible for the whole fossil-bearing geological column.
N. Survival of plant life submerged under water for over a year; seed survival (?)
O. Geological features
IV. Evidences About the Existence of “Noah’s Ark”
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