Is it possible to take the Bible's version of Noah and the Flood as absolute truth?

Question

If so . . . How?

Answer 1

How about oceanic fossils in the desert? Give me a better explanation.

Answer 2

Yes, it is possible.

The idea of the whole earth’s being flooded is not farfetched. To some extent the earth is still flooded. Seventy percent of it is covered by water and only 30 percent is dry land. Moreover, 75 percent of the earth’s fresh water is locked up in glaciers and polar ice caps. If all this ice were to melt, the sea level would rise much higher. Cities like New York and Tokyo would disappear.

Also, The New Encyclopædia Britannica says: “The average depth of all the seas has been estimated at 3,790 metres (12,430 feet), a figure considerably larger than that of the average elevation of the land above the sea level, which is 840 metres (2,760 feet). If the average depth is multiplied by its respective surface area, the volume of the World Ocean is 11 times the volume of the land above sea level.” So, if everything were leveled out—if the mountains were flattened and the deep sea basins filled in—the sea would cover the whole earth to a depth of thousands of meters.

For the Flood to have happened, the pre-Flood sea basins would have to have been shallower, and the mountains lower than they are now. Is this possible? Well, one textbook says: “Where the mountains of the world now tower to dizzy heights, oceans and plains once, millions of years ago, stretched out in flat monotony. . . . The movements of the continental plates cause the land both to rear up to heights where only the hardiest of animals and plants can survive and, at the other extreme, to plunge and lie in hidden splendor deep beneath the surface of the sea.” Since the mountains and sea basins rise and fall, it is apparent that at one time the mountains were not as high as they are now and the great sea basins were not as deep.

What happened to the floodwaters after the Flood? They must have drained into the sea basins. How? Scientists believe that the continents rest on huge plates. Movement of these plates can cause changes in the level of the earth’s surface. In some places today, there are great underwater abysses more than six miles deep at the plate boundaries. It is quite likely that—perhaps triggered by the Flood itself—the plates moved, the sea bottom sank, and the great trenches opened, allowing the water to drain off the land.

Traces of the Flood? If we grant that a great flood could have happened, why have scientists found no trace of it? Perhaps they have, but they interpret the evidence some other way. For example, orthodox science teaches that the surface of the earth has been shaped in many places by powerful glaciers during a series of ice ages. But apparent evidence of glacial activity can sometimes be the result of water action. Very likely, then, some of the evidence for the Flood is being misread as evidence of an ice age.

Answer 3

No way. There might have been a localized flood, but that claptrap about putting 2 of every animal in the boat is too far fetched to believe by anyone with half a brain.

Answer 4

It certainly is possible. But those who do are usually religious fanatics who also believe that people who support things like birth control and gay marriage are actually hellspawn taken on human form. The floo story, while an old story that has variations on it in nearly every Earth culture, probably did not happen in anything like in any of the ways it is presented, much less the Biblical version.

Answer 5

It was passed down via word of mouth for almost 70,000 years before the advent of writing. Needless to say, some things got lost in the telling. The event occured about 74,000 years ago with the Toba explosion in Indonesia when genetic research tells us that humanity almost went extinct. By these studies, there is one male's genes that made it through (Noah, and down through his sons) and four women (Noah's wife or daughter, and his three son's wives). Beyond that, we cannot verify the specifics of the story.

Answer 6

The article below gives a very good explaination of the history of the flood

Answer 7

It is either absolutely true or it is not. Ain't no in between. If you look at the creation model and apply what evidence we have accumulated over the last 150 years-it fits very well. If you look at the evolution model and apply that same evidence we have accumulated over the last 150 years it does not fit well at all. The prognosis is in-evolution is terminal. Its just a matter of time.

Answer 8

No.

The biggest flaw is "40 days and 40 nights".

For some reason, 40 is a big number (Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, 40 winks, lent is about 40 days), so we do not know if it is an actual 40 days, or just a huge chunk of time.

Answer 9

Very few christians do. It's a morality story, probably based on a flood

Answer 10

Very few christians do. It's a morality story, probably based on a flood

Answer 11

I take it as the absolute truth because God allowed it to be included in His word....the Bible. It is not a myth or a fairy tale.....it is just hard for our finite minds to understand something so major!