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Was Noah's flood global or local?



    
    

Clarify Share Report Asked July 01 2013 Mini Anonymous (via GotQuestions)

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26
Shea S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries
The biblical passages regarding the flood make it clear that it was global. Genesis 7:11 states that "all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened." ...

July 01 2013 0 responses Vote Up Share Report


6
Mini ainsley chalmers Supporter Medical Research Scientist, devoted family man.
The evidence is overwhelming that there was a worldwide flood and this is confirmed by:
1. a huge evidence of fossils throughout the earth. Fossils are mainly formed through rapid burial in sediment. Many of these fossils were found in the middle of their meal or giving birth indicating a rapid burial event.
2. the depth of the sediments of many tens of meters/yards indicates a huge flood event. Also many of these sediments are hundreds of square miles in extent confirming a worldwide flood. I know of a professor of sediment geology who came to the Lord from atheism from his research on sediments which convinced him of a worldwide flood. 
3. there are many flood legends by various aboriginal groups throughout the world.
4. polystrate tree fossils through many layers of sediment indicate that these layers formed about the same time during the flood, not millions of years apart. 
5. the earth is 70 % water and it has been calculated that there is enough water to cover the earth to a depth in excess of 1 km should the mountains be flattened.
6. Jesus and the apostles spoke of a worldwide flood so it was a real and huge event. 

To conclude the bible means what it says and says what it means. It is literal and absolute truth. Science changes over time but the word of God never changes because it is inspired by the author of truth, the Holy Spirit.

October 25 2017 2 responses Vote Up Share Report


3
Mini Kenneth Heck Supporter
There is much convincing evidence that Noah's Flood was global, but I would like to discuss the alternative viewpoint.

First, it is erroneous to presume that the word "earth" in the Bible means the same as the third planet from the sun. Earth in the Bible only meant the place or places where humanity (the sons of Adam) could live readily because of fertile soil, abundant animal life, easy access to fresh water, and moderate temperatures. This excludes the polar regions permanently covered in ice, the deserts and swamps, the mountains, especially at the higher altitudes, and any place like an island subject to random tsunamis.
When Adam was taken out of the Garden of Eden, we have no reason to believe his offspring migrated to all points on the planet, neither did the offspring of Noah - they tended to stay together within one region - the Middle East and the Fertile Crescent.

Second, the Flood was meant to cleanse the earth of the offspring of Adam, and the corrupted animals, nothing more. During the Flood, there must have been a great geological cataclysm since the fountains of the deep were opened. Perhaps a large asteroid struck the planet. It is likely that the geology and geography were altered so that some mountains fell and other rose during and immediately after the Flood. All these mountains would have been within the earth, that is, the Middle East region. The ark supposedly found in the Ararat region at 12,000 feet above sea level simply indicates that the whole area has suffered a
significant uplifting due to gigantic geological forces. 

Third,no doubt there have been serious catastrophes on our planet. The old uniformitarian idea of evolution has been replaced by a recognition that great discontinuities have occurred in the distant past which have nearly wiped out all life on the planet. The world-wide evidence doesn't support the notion that only one catastrophe is reponsible for everrything scientists have found. We don't find stories of a flood in many important cultures far from the Middle East, such as the Nordic, the Celtic, the Slavic, or the Chinese, among others. 

Fourth, the animals on the ark would only have been the ones originally named by Adam, in other words, those that inhabited the earth at the time of Adam. An ark was needed to preserve these animals, which it appears would lead to types easier to tame than otherwise. (The same idea would apply to the offspring of Noah being more readily led by God than those who perished in the Flood.)

So many people are blinded by the facts of science and astronomy that they cannot think except in scientific terms. Judaism and Christianity don't depend upon scientific discoveries for their validity. In fact, whether this planet is round or some other shape doesn't affect the moral and spiritual decisions made by the overwhelming majority of people on the planet. The final judgment of our behavior won't be a function of our scientific achievements. The bible is literally true, but it can't be viewed only through scientific theories or ideas - these are always changing as new evidence comes to light. The truth is the standard for Christianity and the truth will be revealed by the Father, the Son and the Holty Spirit when it is appropriate.

February 04 2015 2 responses Vote Up Share Report


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