Do you think that it was possible for the world to have been flooded as in the story of Noah?

Question

I am talking scientifically. I have heard many theories. One example was that there used to be a layer of water in sky that came down all of a sudden and flooded the earth. Another theory said it might have not been the whole world, just a large localized flood. Is there any scientific proof that this could have occurred?

Answer 1

No. The real question isn't where the water came from, it is where did all that water go. The possibilities include: It went back into the sky, It went into cracks in the Earth, It magically disappeared.
Isaac Asimov came up with an idea of a huge meteorite striking the Persian Gulf and inundating the Tigris-Euphrates river valley, destroying the known "world". There is up to 10 meters of shallow subsurface marine clays there and so this could be true. There is no proof that the entire Earth has been submerged at anytime in its history.

Answer 2

it is certain that catastrophic floods are just a normal part of earth's ecology, as has been reported in the mythology of many peoples. as to the specifics of the Noah flood, it is hard to know as it is told mostly as a morality tale rather than scientifically useful observations. it is most likely that it was a regional event considering it was sufficient to float a boat for many days, and would cover that part of the world known to the writer.

the idea that the boat landed on top of a mountain aka "waterworld" is not a fact. with todays calculations of meltdown of the polar ice, putting all the world's water in the sea, levels would not rise more than 2 or 3 feet. ice ages moved sea level lower, and the sudden release of water from behind an ice dam could flood areas that are now under sea. a large land mass can subside, akin to Atlantis as the Mideast is a drop block zone. there are lots of scenarios where an adequate flood can be postulated so there is no reason to think that the Noah's flood story was not based on some actual events.

Answer 3

There is absolutely no evidence in the rock record of a global flooding event. In fact, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. Archangel is right about the Mesopotamian flooding and there have been many large flooding events that probably seemed global to the people experiencing it. There have been periods in Earth's history where shallow seas covered most of the interior of western North America in fact but this was many millions of years before people came on the scene.

PS: Something else that occurs to me that makes for interesting speculation is that the Earth has experienced many cycles of glaciation and subsequent melting (on 40,000 and 100,000 year cycles over the last few million years). The last period of glaciation ended about 10,000 years ago. The glaciers melted and sea-level rose dramatically at first. We're actually still in that warming trend in fact. But, there is evidence that there were people living in the areas affected by flooding associated with the glacial melting then. It was pre-written history (by several thousand years, the earliest writing found is no more than 5500 years old) but you have to assume verbal accounts would have been passed down through the generations. How accurately is hard to tell but some of these stories of flooding affecting the entire world may come from that time period. It would certainly have seemed pretty catastrophic I imagine but it still wasn't a global flooding. Most coastal ares, where people tend to live, would have flooded though. Just something interesting to think about.

Answer 4

Here's one theory... at some point in the past the area that is now the Mediterranean Sea wasn't covered with water. But at some point the Atlantic broke through the strait of Gibraltar, flooding about a million square miles of land. That would be a pretty cataclysmic flooding event that might stick around in peoples memory.

Answer 5

They did some research on this a while back, it turns out that around the time the story was supposed to have taken place there WAS a massive flood in the mesopotamian region, and all over the world there is evidence of similar floods taking place, although I am unsure as to whether the timline corresponds on those or not, but it gives a reason as to why in almost every culture there's a great flood story. As to the layer of water in the sky, that's a wierd one, a sudden temperature drop causing a massive globalized downpour, that might make sense but the rate at which it would have to drop globally makes it seem highly unlikely.

Answer 6

The story of Utnapishtim in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was the origin of the Biblical flood story, recounted a huge localized flood, which is entirely possible. Of course, this would be the 'whole world' to the writers, since people didn't travel far in those days, and it wasn't universally accepted that the world was 1) round and 2) that big until a few hundred years ago. Considering what happened in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita just a few years ago, it's entirely possible that *something* happened, and that the tale got embroidered through oral tradition until it was finally written down.

Answer 7

NO. The earth will remain... (Psalm 37:9) For evildoers themselves will be cut off, But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. (Psalm 37:29) The righteous themselves will possess the earth, And they will reside forever upon it. It is wickedness that will be eliminated...along with wicked people... (Luke 17:34, 35) I tell YOU, In that night two [men] will be in one bed; the one will be taken along, but the other will be abandoned. 35 There will be two [women] grinding at the same mill; the one will be taken along, but the other will be abandoned.” NOT ' taken' anywhere, but saved from being eliminated... The ' saved' ones remain living on the earth...

Answer 8

scientifically i too have heard that the "world" to them at the time..did flood.. religiously i have heard that before this water had never came from the sky before. they say it is possible to believe both..scientific proof..like the other post said..they have studied it, but who really knows they still cant find the ark

Answer 9

I believe that it had been geologically proven that MANY areas of the world show evidence of flooding in the same time layer of soil. Also, so many cultures have legends of a world wide flood that it would seem so. The WHOLE world? I dunno about that. but maybe the whole KNOWN world at that ancient time. Since just about ALL myths have a basis in fact, I would assume that a catastrophic flood did occur.

Answer 10

There are some things that God cannot do. He does not change and He cannot lie. Noah's ark has been found, but it is high up on Mt. Ararat and not easily accessible. This has been known for awhile. There have been a few hikers who have brought back gopher wood. It rained on the EARTH for 40 days and 40 nights and we can be sure of all that God has said.