Noahs ark, true or false? Several scientists gave reasons as to the improbability of the story of noahs ark. I

Question

1. The amount of rain to cover all the land would be enough to sink an aircraft carrier let alone an ark.
2. There are 1830 species of fleas. 300,000 species of beetle, 70,000 which live off of animal dung.
3. the ecological environment that is needed to house all the insects and animals would be too difficult to maintain on an ark.
4. No animal would be alive after 1000 years because approximately 50 individuals of a single species are needed to sustain genetic health. Any small population is subject to extinction from disease, environmental changes and genetic risks. Today, species are considered endangered well before their numbers reach below 50.
5. Such an inundation would probably kill most of the plant life on earth, even if the water receded quickly the remaining salt deposits would not allow plants to grow for many years.
6. The numerous dead carcasses caused by the flood would cause an ecological disaster.

Please do not use "with god all is possible argument" if that were so then why would an ark be needed at all?

Answer 1

Well clearly a lot of the story is untrue, you couldn't be close to having all the species on Earth, and surely it's impossible for the whole world to be flooded? Maybe there was a big flood somewhere and a guy took a few animals on his boat, but even if the story is based on truth it's hugely exaggerated.

Answer 2

Sorry, but i have to rebutt also.

1. Noah was instructed to tar the ark for waterproofing Genesis 6; 14. Makes sense for anyone who's ever caulked a shower.

2. Insects reproduce in the thousands very rapidly and look at all the varieties of people we have from one family. AS far as enough room goes, this thing was 450 ft long, by 75 ft wide, by 45 high which is way bigger and much more volumious than a football field. The other person did their homework with the boxcar and cubic feet measurements.

3. Noah was to make a window and to store plenty of food for all creatures, Genesis 6;16, 21. I also liked the comment about the dung beetles.

4. Your talking by today's standards. Back in those days, there was less pollution, hunting , and more suitable for animal life than now.

5. Plants can survive in water and who said it had to be salty. Genesis 1; 7 said there was a division of water and part of it was below and part above the expanse which is the heavens. There was no mention of rain until after the flood, but we all know that rainwater is always fresh.

6. The earth was not as heavily populated at that time and i'm sure that hungry sea creatures would be able to devour and clean all the debris.

Answer 3

Scientifically it would be impossible for "man" to accomplish what was done in the event of Noah's Ark. So now we have a situation. Either this is a fairy tale, or it was true. If true, then God would have had a miraculous hand in making this possible, in ways we can't imagine. If false, then this makes the Bible a great lie, and Christianity is thus the greatest lie ever told on the planet, being that Jesus would have been a lie too.
In the end though, it comes down to "faith." The Bible gives numerous examples of "miracles" that happened that are not scientifically explanable. Science on the other hand, has logic, but also guess work, and limited proof on some items. In some ways, believing in science requires some faith as well.
So take your pick, but I suggest reading the entire Bible first and asking questions before making your decision.

Answer 4

If you adamantly believe the Bible is the infallable world of God, that ends the discussion. You might as well believe the story of Noah's Ark is literally true to every last detail. As translated into English? Why not.

Otherwiise you have to say that the story of Noah's Ark is not literally true because it conflicts with science, logic, and common sense. At best it is partly true. Just like much of the rest of the Bible, esepecially the old testament.

But the Bible has a lot to say about the world, and many of its stories are true in at least two senses.

First, some of the events really happened, even if not exactly as described. There probably was a man named Noah who built a ship and had something to do with wildlife. There was a large flood, even if it did not cover the entire earth.

Second, the event is part of our "creation myth," meaning it is a story we tell so that we can understand how the world works. Myths serve many purposes -- they help people remember, they are used to teach children, they guide moral choices and behavior. They create a shared understanding of things. Here, the lesson is how one righteous person, living amongst sinners, may turn out to be the only one who is saved from a disaster.

My guess is that the story of Noah is true in both senses. Geologists from Columbia University propose that there was a great regional flood in biblical times, 7,000 years ago, when ocean levels rose from glacial meltwater. At some point the Mediterranean spilled over into the Black Sea, quickly innundating about 60,000 square miles of land. This displaced a lot of people and animals. Other scientists sometimes claim to have found remnants of old boats that could be Noah's Ark.

Many cultures beyond Jews and Christians have legends about floods and arks. That could confirm that it really happened. At the very least, the story's popularity means it says something important. Heaven knows, we need people like Noah who live righteously and plan for the future even when everyone around them is a hedonist.

Whether you believe this has anything to do with God depends on your faith.

Answer 5

You make some valid points. Let me answer your speculation with some of my own. :-)

In Noah's time, the known world was probably limited to a fairly small geographical region in the middle east. Scientists are fairly certain that at some point in the distant past, the mediterranean sea did break through and flood into the black sea (or is it the dead sea?), which would have been a catastrophic event for the people in that area. From their perspective, the "whole world" would have been flooded by such an event.

Was Noah's flood real? Yes, I have no doubt of it. Was it exactly the way some modern-day Christians interpret it, that is, a global extinction level event? Probably not. Does that have any impact on the truthfulness or relevance of the doctrine and core principles of Christianity? Not at all.

Answer 6

So you're questioning a miracle by pointing out that it can't happen within the realms or normal science?

A flood that large is not possible simply because we don't enough water on the planet for it to happen. Does that mean that it didn't happen?

No, God is all powerful. As the Creator of the universe I'm pretty sure He can make it all happen. He is not bound by the laws of the universe that He himself wrote.

An apple rolls off the table, you catch it before it hits the ground. Does that mean the laws of gravity no longer apply? No, you intervened. God intervened to cause a flood then fixed the mess. Is that hard to understand?

Answer 7

Of COURSE they cannot explain it... it was controlled by God. Why do scientists spend so much time with creationism and the flood, when the bible is filled with dozens of other examples of 'impossible' feats. Consider the following things:

-Moses parting the red sea
-The 10 plagues upon the Egyptians in Exodus
-Jonah being swallowed by a large fish
-Daniel surviving the lion's den (hungry lions, at that)
-Shadrack, Meshack and Adebnego surviving the fiery furnace
-Jesus being born to a virgin
-Jesus turning water into wine
-Jesus raising Lazarus (and others) from the dead
-Jesus walking on water
-Jesus dying, and then raising again three days later
-The angel of the Lord breaking Paul out of prison
-Paul being bit by a venemous snake, and not being hurt
-And many, many more

These are events that were witnessed by many, and written down to remember from generation to generation. Scientists, for some reason, choose not to address all of them at once because it becomes suddenly clear that they are just trying to argue 'proof versus faith', which is futile.

However, Scientists know that if they just take on the bigger, more discussed 'miracles' that they can easily disprove it through science, and feel like they are just being impartial and trying to serve the people by dispelling myths. But all they are doing is making it more clear that in order to believe any of it, you have to believe all of it, and that requires faith.

I am a believer in the scriptures, although I am a college eduacated individual. I always excelled in the sciences (especially physics and chemistry), and can understand completely why many people don't think the events in the bible could have happened. However, my belief in Christ is firmly rooted in having faith that the bible is one book... and that to only believe parts of it is like only believing in part of what Christ did.

Oh, and why did Noah need an ark? Uh, read the scriptures... it was more a test of Noah that anything else. How hard would Noah had to work, and how much faith would he have needed if God just had him float over the earth during the flood? The bible is always about people's decisions and actions, not about God just being a puppet master. If Noah had rejected God as well, I believe God might have destroyed all people and started over... remember, he was very angry at the world for its sin.

So your comment about not saying 'everything is possible with God' is futile... that's like saying, "tell me why U2 is a great band, but don't mention anything about music".

Answer 8

1 God sent the flood so God kept the ark afloat
2 you just solved what to do wit all the wast while on the ark, ty
3 and if God only sent of one pair of each species that would be enough and plenty of room.
4 God can create He can sustain
5 God can bring back the dead, plants too
6 He can clean you too!

Answer 9

The total available floor space on the ark would have been over 100,000 square feet, which would be more floor space than in 20 standard-sized basketball courts.
Assuming an 18-inch cubit, Noah's Ark would have had a cubic volume equal to 569 modern railroad stock cars. The total cubic volume would have been 1,518,000 cubic feet-that would be equal to the capacity of 569 modern railroad stock cars.

Noah's ark was said to be the largest sea-going vessell until the late 19th century when giant metal ships were first constructed. Its length to width ratio of six to one provided excellent stability on the high seas. In fact, modern shipbuilders say it would have been almost impossible to turn over. In every way, it was admirably suited for riding out the tremendous storms in the year of the flood.

The Ark had plenty of room for all the animals, including the dinosaurs. Young dinosaurs would be small and easier to care for and would use less food. It would have been foolish to fill up space on the Ark with the oldest, biggest adults.

Assuming the average animal to be about the size of a sheep and using a railroad car for comparison, we note that the average double-deck stock car can accommodate 240 sheep. Thus, three trains hauling 69 cars each would have ample space to carry the 50,000 animals, filling only 37% of the ark. This would leave an additional 361 cars or enough to make 5 trains of 72 cars each to carry all of the food and baggage plus Noah's family of eight people. The Ark had plenty of space.

Answer 10

Actually scientist reported a huge flood in the middle eastern region during that time, which actually was the modern world at the time. So no, there was no flood that covered the whole world, but the wicked and bad who lived in the modern world near the middle east and regions close to that suffered the flood. So in that day, according to those people, that was the world as they knew it.