There, he provided a list 114 items, courtesy of a Laurence Smart, cited as evidence for a global flood.
I have cut this down to the 56 listed as scriptural in and the remainder are going into a thread in the Science and Religion forum.
Questions for debate.
How many of these items stand up to scrutiny as evidence for a global flood?
Are the theological assumptions implicit in these statements valid?
Is it appropriate, from a theological and biblical perspective, to give these items more weight than the scientific evidence refuting a global flood?
East of Eden wrote:Not really.chris_brown207 wrote: The bible also speaks of a worldwide flood, and Noah repopulating the earth. The only problem is, there is no evidence of this ever occurring.
Evidence for a Global Flood
by Laurence D Smart B.Sc.Agr., Dip.Ed., Grad.Dip.Ed
Email: laurence@unmaskingevolution.com
Webpage: www.unmaskingevolution.com
[Free to print and distribute. Copy must be in full.]
In the past, scientists largely dismissed Noah's flood as a myth, or a local flood, as it was believed that there could not have been enough rainwater to cover the world as high as Mount Everest. Recent discoveries in plate tectonics and crustal physics have shown that a much flatter Earth could have easily been flooded, with the resultant volcanic and geologic activity altering the land surface. These details have demolished the main argument against a global flood, but the tag of "local flood" has remained because atheists do not want any evidence that supports the existence of an Almighty, Creator/God.
FROM THE GENESIS NARRATIVE........ [47 reasons]
(59) The account in Genesis speaks of the flood being a universal event at least thirty times.
(60) God promised three times not to "smite [destroy - NKJ] every living thing" by a flood (Gen 8:21; 9:11; 9:15). Three occurrences in Scripture indicates absolute truth.
(61) Following the flood, Eden was no longer discussed geographically. If it was a local flood, its general whereabouts would still be known. The total obliteration of the whole earth's geography is therefore inferred - such as by a global flood.
(62) The "waters above the firmament [earth - NKJ]" would not have been localised into a small area. (Gen 1:7)
(63) No rain on the earth before the flood speaks of a worldwide condition. (Gen 2:5)
(64) The whole earth was watered by a mist, prior to the flood. (Gen 2:6)
(65) The dawn of civilization had a high civilization (Genesis chapter 4). This was wiped out and did not recover for a long time.
(66) The long life spans of the pre-diluvial people indicates an entirely different biosphere. (Gen 5:5; 5:8; 5:11; etc)
(67) The subsequent decline in life span following the flood indicates a radically different biosphere. (Gen 23:1; 25:7)
(68) God described the pre-flood people as universally evil (Gen 6:5). He never described the post-flood people as universally evil, so something universal (ie. worldwide) must have happened to weed it out.
(69) Mankind had multiplied all over the earth (Gen 6:1), so the flood had to be global to destroy them all.
(70) God was sorry that he created all living creatures, not just a localised population of animal creatures. (Gen 6:6-7)
(71) The whole earth was seen by God as corrupt. (Gen 6:11-12)
(72) God decided to destroy the whole earth. (Gen 6:13)
(73) Everything that had breath was to die. (Gen 6:17)
(74) The purpose of the ark was to keep two of every breathing animal (ie. worldwide species) alive. (Gen 6:19)
(75) Two of every kind of animal and bird came to Noah, not just local fauna. (Gen 6:20)
(76) Noah had to collect samples of all food eaten, not just local foodstuffs. (Gen 6:21)
(77) God wanted the ark "to keep seed [species - NKJ] alive upon the face of the earth". (Gen 7:3)
(78) God promised to destroy every living thing on the earth. (Gen 7:4)
(79) The Hebrew word for flood "mabbul" only refers to Noah's flood, so it must have been different to all other floods. (Gen 7:10)
(80) All the "fountains of the great deep" broke up in one incident. (Gen 7:11)
(81) The "fountains of the great deep" would not have affected a simple, local land-based flood. (Gen 7:11)
(82) The opening of the windows of heaven (if this refers to "the waters above the firmament") would had a global impact. (Gen 7:11)
(83) The double superlative, "all the high mountains under all the heavens" ["all the high hills under the whole heaven" - NKJ], indicates a global covering. (Gen 7:19)
(84) The highest mountains were covered by 15 cubits (6.75m) of water. (Gen 7:20)
(85) The Hebrew word, "kasah", used to mean that the mountains were covered has a meaning of "overwhelming". (Gen 7:20)
(86) Every human died on the whole earth. (Gen 7:21)
(87) All living things on dry land, with "nephesh" life in them, died. (Gen 7:22)
(88) Every living thing on the earth was destroyed. (Gen 7:23)
(89) The floodwater remained at maximum height for 5 months. (Gen 7:24)
(90) The "fountains of the deep" were open for 5 months. (Gen 8:2)
(91) The "windows of heaven" were open for 5 months. (Gen 8:2)
(92) The floodwaters took 5 months to drain off the land. (Gen 8:3)
(93) The ark floated above the mountains for 5 months. (Gen 8:4)
(94) The waters receded for 2.5 months before the mountain tops were visible. (Gen 8:5)
(95) The dove couldn't find solid ground until the water had receded for 4 months. (Gen 8:9)
(96) Plants did not grow for 9 months. (Gen 8:11)
(97) Noah, his family, and the animals were in the ark for over a year. (Gen 8:14)
(98) All current life came out of the ark. (Gen 8:19)
(99) God promised that he would not destroy all living things again in the same way. (Gen 8:21)
(100) The current seasonal conditions date from the end of the flood (Gen 8:22), indicating a radical change from the previous environment.
(101) God commanded Noah and his family to breed and fill the earth with people again. (Gen 9:1)
(102) A flood will not be used by God to destroy the earth again. (Gen 9:11)
(103) The earth was re-populated from Noah's family. (Gen 9:19)
(104) Everyone spoke the same language after the flood (Gen 11:1), indicating decent from a single ancestor.
(105) Everyone lived in the same area after the flood. (Gen 11:9)
FROM ELSEWHERE IN SCRIPTURE...... [9 reasons]
(106) The floodwaters overturned the earth. (Job 12:15)
(107) The floodwaters covered the whole earth. (Is 54:9)
(108) The flood took all people off the face of the earth. (Matt 24:39) - Jesus talking
(109) The flood destroyed all humans. (Luke 17:27) - Jesus talking
(110) The whole world was condemned. (Heb 11:7)
(111) God destroyed the old world. (II Peter 2:5)
(112) God flooded the whole world. (II Peter 2:5)
(113) The Greek word for flood, "kataklusmos", is only used to describe Noah's flood. This indicates that it was vastly different from any other flood. (II Peter 2:5)
(114) The old world perished by flood. (II Peter 3:6)
