Difference between revisions of "Great Flood"

Revision as of 13:32, August 25, 2007

rofl. oh, crap, Noah forgot the unicorns.

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-[[Image:Michelangeloflood.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''The Flood'', by Michaelangelo, detail from the [[Sistine Chapel]], 1509.]]
+rofl.  oh, crap, Noah forgot the unicorns.
-Cultures around the world record a world-destroying '''flood''' in their oral or written histories.  Dr. [[John Morris]] wrote regarding the existence of a past worldwide flood the following: "One of the strongest evidences for the global flood which annihilated all people on Earth except for [[Noah]] and his family, has been the ubiquitous presence of flood legends in the folklore of people groups from around the world.  And the stories are all so similar."  <ref>http://www.icr.org/article/570/</ref> Today 60% of Americans accept as true the Biblical account of the Great Flood,<ref>http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040216-113955-2061r.htm</ref> and the olive branch returned by a dove to the Ark after the Flood is universally recognized as a symbol of peace.
-== The Flood accounts ==
-The best known of the flood accounts are, the two intermeshed versions found in the book of [[Genesis]], and the version found in the [[Gilgamish Epic]].  Both are written accounts.
-The Genesis account is the most detailed of any of the accounts, and the one against which others are usually compared.
-It has also been studied the most, with a number of terms used in reference to it, including the '''Flood''', '''Noah's Flood''', the '''Deluge''', the '''Great Flood''', and the '''Noahic flood'''.
-The terms ''pre-diluvian'' and ''post-diluvian'' are used to refer to the times before and after the flood respectively.
-A table comparing specific details in a number of different flood accounts can be found [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3107 here].
-== The Genesis account ==
-The Genesis account is the most detailed account.
-In it, God warned Noah that He was going to destroy the world with a flood, because of the wickedness of mankind.  Noah was to build an ark and take on it his family and representatives of all air-breathing, land-dwelling creatures.  The ark was to be 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide by 30 cubits high<ref>''Genesis'' 6:15</ref> (approximately 450 feet long, by 75 feet wide, by 45 feet high), have three decks, and rooms.
-God brought the animals and birds to Noah, and there were, per Gen 7:2 two of the "[[unclean (animals)|unclean]]" animals and seven (or seven pairs) of the "[[clean (animals)|clean]]", and per Gen 6:19-20 "two of every sort".
-After Noah and his family and all the creatures were on board, God shut the door of the ark.
-The flood was brought on by the eruption of subterranean water ("''the fountains of the deep were opened''"), and rain.
-The rain lasted nearly six weeks (40 days and nights).
-The flood waters apparently continued to rise for 150 days, but it was just over a year before the waters had receded enough for the occupants of the ark to leave.
-The ark is recorded as having come to rest on the mountains of Ararat, taken by many today to be the existing mountains of that name.
-God put a rainbow in the clouds, and said that it was to be a reminder that he would never again destroy the world in a flood.  (Genesis does not say that this was the first ever rainbow.)
-He also told Noah that it was now okay to eat meat.
-All people alive today are descendants of [[family of Noah|Noah and his family]].
-== The Gilgamish Epic account ==
-The council of the gods decided to destroy mankind with a flood, but Utnapishtim was warned by the god who had made man, Ea, to build a boat to take all living being.  The length, width, and height were each 120 cubits (about 180 feet).  It had seven stories.
-The gods got frightened by the flood and retreated to heaven where they cowered and wept.
-The flood lasted six days and seven nights, and was accompanied by wind and storm.
-Utnapishtim send out a dove followed by a swallow, but both returned, unable to find land.  He then sent a raven, which didn't return.
-Dr. Jonathan Sarfati comments on the Gilgamish Epic:
-:It is common to make legends out of historical events, but not history from legends. ... For instance, in Genesis, God’s judgment is just, he is patient with mankind for 120 years (Genesis 6:3), shows mercy to Noah, and is sovereign. Conversely, the gods in the Gilgamesh Epic are capricious and squabbling, cower at the Flood and are famished without humans to feed them sacrifices. That is, the human writers of the Gilgamesh Epic rewrote the true account, and made their gods in their own image.<ref Name="JS_GE" />
-== Other ancient references ==
-The Assyrian King [[Ashurbanipal]], who lived in the seventh century B.C., recorded, "I have read intricate tablets inscribed with obscure Sumerian or Akkadian...inscriptions on stone from before the Flood."<ref>[http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1032092 Ashurbanipal]<!-- this may not be the best reference for this.--></ref>
-== Common Themes for Flood Accounts ==
-=== Cause ===
-Many of the accounts say that the flood was caused by God or some equivalent being.
-In Genesis, it was Yahweh<ref>Genesis 6:3</ref>.
-In the Gilgamish Epic, it was the council of the gods <ref Name="JS_GE">[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3107 Noah’s Flood and the Gilgamesh Epic] by Jonathan Sarfati, ''Creation'', vol. 28 No. 4 pp.12-17</ref>.
-In the Bundaba (Australian aboriginal) flood story, it was Ngowungu, the Great Father. <ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1468 Australian Aboriginal Flood Stories], ''Creation'' Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 6-9.</ref>
-The Greeks recorded it as being [[Zeus]].<ref name="Greek">[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html#Greek Greek], in ''Flood Stories from Around the World'' by Mark Isaak.</ref>
-=== Purpose ===
-When the cause of the flood is attributed to a god, the reason is frequently said to be for [[mankind]]'s wickedness.
-Genesis adds that "every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time".<ref>Genesis 6:5 (NIV)</ref>
-The Miao account from China says, in verse, "These did not God's will nor returned His affection. / But fought with each other defying the Godhead. / Their leaders shook fists in the face of the Mighty."<ref>[http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=341 Genesis According to the Miao People], by Edgar A. Truax, ''Impact'', April 1991</ref>
-A Navajo account says that it was because of "their sins of adultery and constant quarreling". <ref>[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html#Navajo Navajo (Four Corners area)], in ''Flood Stories from Around the World'' by Mark Isaak</ref>
-=== What saved the people ===
-People were generally saved either by floating out the flood, or fleeing to the top of a mountain.  In the former case, the vessel took a variety of forms.
-A Hopi Indian story has them surviving in the hollow stems of giant reeds<ref name="Hopi">[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html#Hopi Hopi], in ''Flood Stories from Around the World'' by Mark Isaak.</ref>
-The Greek story has them surviving in a chest. <Ref name="Greek" />
-In Genesis, Noah was instructed by God to build an ark to dimensions and other specifications included in the account.
-=== Who was saved? ===
-The survivors were often a single family.
-An Australian aboriginal account has Ngadgja, the Supreme One, telling Gajara to take his wife, his sons, and his sons' wives.<ref name="Wunambal">[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/1467 Aboriginal Flood Legend], by Howard Coates, ''Creation'' Vol. 4 No.3, pp.9-12</ref>
-The Masai account from East Africa has Tumbainot taking his two wives, his six sons, and their wives.<ref name="Masai">[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html#Masai Masai (East Africa)], in ''Flood Stories from Around the World'' by Mark Isaak.</ref>
-A Hawaiian story has Nuu taking his wife and three sons. <ref name="Hawaii">[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html#Hawaii Hawaii], in ''Flood Stories from Around the World'' by Mark Isaak.</ref>
-Noah took his wife, his three sons, and their wives.<ref>Genesis 7:13</ref>
-=== Birds sent out ===
-Genesis describes Noah sending out birds to see if there was yet dry land.<ref>Genesis 8:6-12</ref>
-Initially this was unsuccessful, but a subsequent attempt was successful when a dove didn't return.  In the Hopi account also, they unsuccessfully sent out birds to find land.<ref name="Hopi" />
-An Australian aboriginal account has a cuckoo not returning because it found land.<ref name="Wunambal" />
-The Masai account has Tumbainot sending out a dove, which returned because it had no place to rest.<ref name="Masai" />
-=== A rainbow ===
-The Masai account has four rainbows signifying that God's wrath was over.<ref name="Masai" />
-A Hawaiian account has the god Kane leaving a rainbow as a perpetual sign of his forgiveness.<ref name="Hawaii" />
-From an Australian aboriginal story comes this account:
-:Ngadja, the Supreme Being, put the rainbow in the sky to keep the rain-clouds back. The rainbow lies bent across the sky; he ties up the clouds behind it and the rain does not come. The rainbow keeps the clouds back and protects us so that the rainfall does not rise too high. Our people understand the significance of it. When we see the rainbow we say, ‘There will not be any abnormally heavy rain.’<ref name="Wunambal" />
-Genesis says that the rainbow would be a reminder that God would never again destroy the world with a flood.<ref>Genesis 9:12-17</ref>
-=== Criticisms ===
-''See also criticism in [[Noah's Ark#Controversy|Noah's Ark]] and [[Flood Geology#Controversy|Flood Geology]].
-Critics of the global flood suggest that the flood accounts are unrelated accounts of local floods, or stories influenced by the arrival of missionaries.
-However, Nozomi Osanai responds that "''...the detailed nature of the widely spread statements has common elements to the Bible. In fact, even people who live far from the sea or in mountainous areas have flood traditions which are similar to the Genesis account.''"<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4089/ A comparative study of the flood accounts in the Gilgamesh Epic and Genesis, chapter 7], by Nozomi Osanai.</ref>
-And Murray Adamthwaite responds regarding the missionary influence, "''...that explanation fails since in many cases secular anthropologists gathered the stories before missionaries reached these tribes with the Gospel. In other cases missionaries have related how they indeed told the story of Noah, only to find that the tribal folk already had a similar tale in their own legends.''"<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2538 Animals, a Deluge and Noah’s Ark]</ref>
-== Modern explanations ==
-===Black Sea theory===
-In 2000, explorers discovered evidence that humans lived where the [[Black Sea]] now is and speculated the sea was created during a great flood <ref>http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/09/13/great.flood.finds.ap/</ref>.  Dr. Robert Ballard expanded on this theory, postulating that the Black Sea was much lower during the Ice Age (including the finding of a beach thousands of feet underwater), and when the walls holding back the Mediterranean Sea at the Bosporus broke, the sea rushed in and drowned the inhabitants; those who survived told the tale orally, and according to Ballard this became the basis for the flood accounts of Genesis and Gilgamesh [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/ax/frame.html].  This theory is for a local flood, and not the world-wide flood as recorded in Genesis and many other cultural traditions.  It also doesn't fit with many other details of the Genesis account.<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3392 Proof of Noah's Flood at the Black Sea?] by Creation Ministries International.</ref>
-===Crustal Displacement Theory===
-In ''When the sky fell: In search of Atlantis'' (1996), Rand Flem Ath <ref>http://www.flem-ath.com</ref> expanded on Professor [[Charles Hapgood]]'s theory of crustal displacement whereby the entire earth's crust moved with respect to the core. The suggested date for this was about 10,000 years BC. If a displacement had occurred then it would have caused enormous disruption to the the earth's oceans with massive tsunamis and heavy rain. Although the book was nominally about the disappearance of [[Atlantis]], the theory of crustal displacement not only explains the discrepancies in ice thickness in Greenland and Antarctica but also the sudden demise of the mammoths. This theory could also potentially explain the widespread existence of flood accounts throughout different cultures.
-== Flood geology ==
-''See main article:  [[Flood Geology]]''
-Flood geology is the study of the Earth's geology from the point of view that the Genesis account is true and accurate, and that evidence of the Flood can be found in the geology of the Earth.
-Until the rise of [[uniformitarian]] geology in the early 19th century, most geologists accepted the Noahic deluge as part of geology.
-But [[James Hutton]] proposed in 1795 that geology ought to be based on the processes that we see happening now, thereby automatically ruling the Flood out of consideration.
-During the 19th century a number of "[[scriptural geologists]]" held out against the rising acceptance of Hutton's principles,<ref>The Great Turning Point, by Terry Mortenson.  See also a series of articles in the ''Journal of Creation'', commencing with "British scriptural geologists in the first half of the nineteenth century: part 1" by Terry Mortenson, ''Journal of Creation'' Vol. 11 No. 2 pp. 221-252.</ref> but they fought a losing battle and interest in flood geology virtually died out by the end of the 19th century.
-However, in the second half of the 20th century, interest was revived amongst people keen to show that the biblical account was correct, and a small but growing number of geologists are now studying this field again, although the vast majority of geologists still reject the idea of a global flood on Earth.
-Flood geologists propose that such a world-wide, year-long flood would have caused massive erosion, sedimentation, and geological movements, and leaving extensive evidence in the [[geology|geological]] record.
-Many propose that there was a single continent before the flood that broke up during the flood.
-The idea of tectonic plate movement was proposed by creationary scientist Antonio Snider in 1859,<ref>[http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3670 What About Continental Drift], Chapter 11 of The Answers Book Updated & Expanded, Don Batten (Ed.)</ref> although it was not until several other scientists had proposed similar ideas that the idea was adopted by mainstream scientists in the last few decades of the 20th century.
-According to flood geologists, the flood resulted from subterranean water erupting to the surface ("''the springs of the great deep burst forth''"&mdash;Genesis 7:11, NIV), combined with 40 days and nights of rain.
-Although the rain stopped after 40 days, the flood waters continued to rise for 150 days, and lasted just over a year before Noah and the others on the boat were able to leave.<ref>The flood began on the 17th day of the second month of the 600th year of Noah's life (Genesis 7:11) and the ark's passengers alighted on the 27th day of the second month of the 601st year of Noah's life (Genesis 8:13-15)</ref>
-During the flood, there was massive tectonic activity, including some land rising up and other land dropping, such that the waters ended up in newly-deepened oceans.
-All the animals and birds (except those on the ark), and large numbers of sea creatures perished, and many of them were buried so quickly that they became [[fossil]]s, accounting for the vast majority of fossils existing today.
-Flood geology also proposes that the flood waters swept together and buried large mats of vegetation ripped from the surface of the Earth, forming the [[coal]] beds that are mined today.
-===Creationist Scientists Defense of Flood Geology ===
-Creationist scientists assert that there are multiple lines of evidence from the field of geology showing that flood geology is correct. <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/geology.asp</ref><ref>http://www.creationism.org/topbar/geology.htm</ref><ref>http://www.grisda.org/georpts/gr11.htm</ref><ref>http://www.nwcreation.net/geologylinks.html</ref><ref>http://globalflood.org/</ref>  Creationist scientists also state that there was enough water to cause a worldwide flood and various other objections to a worldwide flood are invalid. <ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/AnswersBook/flood12.asp</ref><ref>http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/flood.asp</ref>
-==External Links==
-*[http://www.maicar.com/GML/Flood.html Greek Myths: Deucalion and the Flood]
-*[http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 11 (Flood Story)]
-*[http://www.nwcreation.net/geologycolumn.html Geological evidence from Northwest Creation]
-*[http://www.genesisfiles.com/Library.htm#B Genesis Files website]
-*[http://www.searchgodsword.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T2631]
-*[http://www.answersingenesis.org/Home/Area/AnswersBook/global10.asp Was the Flood Global? Answers in Genesis article]
-*[http://www.nationalgeographic.com/blacksea/ax/frame.html Black Sea theory, from Dr. Robert Ballard and National Geographic]
-*[http://www.ilhawaii.net/~stony/lore64.html Native American flood story]
-*[http://wovoca.com/myths-flood-1.htm Collection of Flood myths]
-== Notes ==
-<references />
-[[category:geology]]
-[[category:religion]]
-[[category:history]]

Difference between revisions of "Great Flood"

Revision as of 13:32, August 25, 2007

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