Is There Evidence That A Global Flood In The Days of Noah Really Occurred?

Tweet

A new movie, starring Russell Crowe, based on the biblical account of Noah and the flood is soon to be released.  Undoubtedly, this will spark many discussions concerning Noah, the flood, and the facts surrounding such an event.  Evolutionary science tells us that the physical features we see on the Earth’s surface took millions of years of slow process to come about.  While there has been a move of late toward seeing geological features as having been formed by multiple localized catastrophic events, evolutionary thinking denies that what we see was formed by one gigantic global Flood as described in the Bible.

Many creation scientists, and all young-Earth creation scientists, believe that the biblical evidence, as well as logic, and what we see in the geological formations we find on Earth, support the biblical record of the worldwide Flood of Noah’s day.  Let’s look at some of these evidences. [While the length of this article precludes going into detail, there are many good resources available if one wishes to dig in deeper. I’ve listed some at the end of the article.] 

Presuppositional biases

We need to remember that creation scientists and evolution scientists have the exact same evidence to work with.  However, evolution scientists attempt to explain this evidence from a God-less perspective. Creation scientists explain the evidence in light of God and His Word.  The presuppositions, or worldviews, one begins with will determine how he or she interprets the evidence.  Therefore, when it comes to the debate between evolutionary science and creation science, until the evolutionist starts believing in God or the creationist ceases to believe in Him, the debate will continue.

Geological Evidence

Evidence for a global flood exists all over the world.  The first bit of evidence is the fact that marine fossils are found high above sea level on every continent.  These fossils are found in the walls of the Grand Canyon and 30,000 feet up in the Himalayas.  The best explanation for this is that there was a global flood at some point in our past which covered these areas.

Marine fossils are found in the walls of the Grand Canyon.

There are also huge graveyards of fossilized plants and animals found in extensive ‘graveyards’ where they would have had to have been buried rapidly on a massive scale. One such graveyard stretches for 180 miles across northern Arizona and into southern Nevada, covering an area of at least 10,500 square miles (Ham, p.286).  These graveyards exist all over the world.  They were not formed by a local, or regional, flood; it would have taken a much larger force.

On every continent can be found layers of sedimentary rock  Many of these deposits can be traced all the way across continents, and even between continents. Geologists find evidence that these sediments were deposited rapidly, in a short period of time, not millions of years as claimed by the theory of evolution.

Evolutionary theory posits that the layers of fossil bearing sediment took millions of years to accumulate.  However, there is no evidence of the erosion that would have taken place if it had actually taken that long to form the layers.  Once again, the evidence points to these layers being laid down rapidly in a very short amount of time.

There are also many examples of polystrate fossils.  These are fossils, of dead trees for example, that run vertically through several layers of sediment that evolutionists claim were formed millions of years apart.  Are we to believe that this tree died, but did not rot away, even though it supposedly stood there for millions of years? Again, the biblical Flood explains this more feasibly. 

Logical Evidence

“And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep” (Genesis 7:19-20 ESV).  Logic will tell us that it does not matter how high the “high mountains” were (3 feet or 3 miles), if they were all covered by “fifteen cubits” of water, then it is highly probable that the entire earth was covered with water.

If the Flood were merely a localized event, why didn’t Noah and his family (and anyone else not wanting to drown) simply leave the area that was soon to be flooded and relocate to higher, dryer ground?  After all, God gave Noah 120 years advanced notice.  Would an ark of the size indicated in the Bible have been necessary for a localized flood? 

Biblical Evidence

For the Christian, and anyone else who takes the existence of God seriously, the Bible is a legitimate source of evidence for the Noahic Flood. Believers, and others, may argue about the specifics; however, to deny the historicity of this Flood is to deny the authority of God’s Word.

Genesis (chapters 6, 7, and 8) give us the biblical account of the flood of Noah’s day.  Early humanity began to reject God’s rule and rebelled against His lordship (much like humanity today).  The wickedness of man eventually led to God’s judgment on them, “So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens…’” (Genesis 6:7 ESV).  Several passages make it clear that God intended to wipe out humans and animals from the earth:

“And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Genesis 6:13 ESV).

In a passage that would be hard to make it any clearer, we read:

“And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that   swarm on the earth, and all mankind. Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the    breath of life died. He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark” (Genesis 7:21-23 ESV).

Christians should keep in mind that Jesus confirmed the historical reliability of the Flood when He spoke concerning the coming judgment, “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37-39 ESV, cf. Luke 17:25-27).  Jesus considered the Flood to be an established historical event.

The writer of Hebrews tells us, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7 ESV).

Again, in the context of judgment, Peter writes of the Flood as historical fact, “…if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly…” (2 Peter 2:5 ESV, cf. I Peter 3:20).  It would not bolster Peter’s argument if he were simply referring to a myth or fanciful story as the basis for his warning of God’s upcoming judgment.

Conclusion

Far too often, we interpret the Bible by other mediums; we interpret it by how it makes us feel, or by what we may gain from certain interpretations.  Some interpret the Word of God through the lens of evolutionary theory; in other words, the Bible’s message is modified to fit what the theory of evolution has deemed as truth.

Instead, everything should be seen through the lens of a biblical worldview. Nothing in the Bible will conflict with truth.  God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Therefore, when some philosophy/belief/theory conflicts with the Bible’s teaching, the philosophy/belief/theory must be altered.

I believe that the biblical account of the Flood of Noah is literally true.  While others may disagree, the evidence from geology, reason, and logic are in agreement with the Word of God when it says, “…the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished” (2 Peter 3:6 ESV). 

Read more about Noah and the flood here: Noah’s Ark Bible Story Summary

Resources – The Holy Bible, English Standard Version “Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.” Ken Ham, gen. ed. The New Answers Book 3. Master Books, 2009. 

For Further Study:

Don’t Miss the Boat by Paul Taylor

The New Answers Books, Vol. 1-4. Ken Ham, gen. ed.

The World That Perished byJohn C. Whitcomb

The Genesis Flood by John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris

Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe by Steven A. Austin

Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study by John Woodmorappe

Tagged as: bible, Genesis, noah, the flood