How does the Biblical flood fit in with the natural world we see today?

[Clinton]

I have always questioned that if God flooded the world according to the bible only some 4300 years ago (I googled it), is that enough time for all the continents to develop their own fauna and wildlife? Considering that when the ark came to rest on land all the animals must have been released in the one spot on earth. How did they then spread to all the contents and then for all the contents to develop there own interactions between their fauna and wildlife? What I'm trying to get at is why aren't all animals evenly spread throughout the world, why aren't there kangaroos in America and Lions in Europe? How and why did marsupials etc migrate to Australia and dominate there. How and why did lions, tigers etc move to Africa and dominate the environment there? Africa has is own ecosystem, Australia has its very own unique ecosystem as does Europe. We've seen how taking an animal from one ecosystem to another causes great damage to the native ecosystem (cane toads in Australia for e.g.). First there must have been one land mass when the ark came to rest for the animals to spread out when released from the ark and second it must have taken more than 4 thousand years for the continents to separate and each continent develop their own ecosystems. How does the fact that each continent has a distinct and separate ecosystem fit in the with story of the flood in the bible? I have my answer (bullshit), but I'm open to others...

 

[Clinton]

My other question is... Is 4300 years enough time for Noah and his family to reproduce and re-populate the entire earth for there to be enough people throughout the world to develop societies and related infrastructure such as the Mayans, Khmer Rough, China etc. There are ancient civilizations on each continent, how did they get there after man exited the ark in one spot on the world, and then reproduce and build such great civilizations and then fall all within 4300 years?

 

[Closer]

Well, for one, re Noah the Jewish texts are pretty much only about Jews and their lineage; others don't count so their populations don't matter.; they aren't talking about other peoples, just the lines from Adam and Eve to Abraham, David, etc.

For two, the 'Flood' need only encompass what was then the Jewish world, for the same reasons.

For three, the texts themselves don't name a specific date and time, that's just opinions by some scholars, and such timelines not even necessary to serve the narratives and points being elaborated on in the texts. They aren't strictly literal writings, despite what some may believe; you're just reading them from an erroneous perspective with pre-concieved and incorrect assumptions. You might want to read up on some basic literary devices used by the writers, starting with the less complex 'Chiastic Structures' to get a feel for the techniques and connective patterns between 'verses', for a start, and the four distinct 'voices' used, sometimes all in the same verse. This goes for believers and nonbelievers alike, if one is interested in genuine discussions about the bible and its texts; otherwise no one is on the same page and just talking past the topics or whatever, mostly just trolling in the case of those with political agendas.

 

[Valery]

For two, the 'Flood' need only encompass what was then the Jewish world, for the same reasons.

The Bible says it covered all of earth.

 

[Wayne Jr]

.

They had no concept of a planet so when they say 'water covered the whole earth' they're saying water covered all the land they could see, not the entire planet.

Evidence Noah's Biblical Flood Happened, Says Robert Ballard

In an interview with Christiane Amanpour for ABC News, Dr. Robert Ballard, one of the world's leading underwater archaeologists, talked about his findings. His team is scouring the depths of the Black Sea in Turkey in search of traces of an ancient civilization hidden underwater since the time...

abcnews.go.com

 

[Wayne Jr]

The Bible says it covered all of the earth.

Keep in mind that this story was recorded by a bronze-age civilization with no science, concept of a planet, or knowledge about curvature. Since you can only see out to about 3 miles before land drops out of site, a significantly flooded region would seem to cover absolutely everything. it's reasonable to expect a scientifically ignorant bronze-age scribe to sincerely believe that absolutely everything was covered in water. Today we know that it was a relatively local event likely caused by the Black Sea since the region in question has a history of being periodically flooded.

 

[Valery]

Today we know that it was a relatively local event likely caused by the Black Sea since the region in question has a history of being periodically flooded.

"we know?" You weren't there though.

 

[Wayne Jr]

"we know?" You weren't there though.

I wasn't at the DC riot, either, but I know that happened.

 

[Peter King]

I have always questioned that if God flooded the world according to the bible only some 4300 years ago (I googled it), is that enough time for all the continents to develop their own fauna and wildlife? Considering that when the ark came to rest on land all the animals must have been released in the one spot on earth. How did they then spread to all the contents and then for all the contents to develop there own interactions between their fauna and wildlife? What I'm trying to get at is why aren't all animals evenly spread throughout the world, why aren't there kangaroos in America and Lions in Europe? How and why did marsupials etc migrate to Australia and dominate there. How and why did lions, tigers etc move to Africa and dominate the environment there? Africa has is own ecosystem, Australia has its very own unique ecosystem as does Europe. We've seen how taking an animal from one ecosystem to another causes great damage to the native ecosystem (cane toads in Australia for e.g.). First there must have been one land mass when the ark came to rest for the animals to spread out when released from the ark and second it must have taken more than 4 thousand years for the continents to separate and each continent develop their own ecosystems. How does the fact that each continent has a distinct and separate ecosystem fit in the with story of the flood in the bible? I have my answer (bullshit), but I'm open to others...

This whole story of the Ark is just nonsense, they were on the waves for 150 days, how exactly did they feed all those animals? And Noah was 600 years old. It just is totally nonsensical to believe the Noah's ark story.

 

[Dragonfly]

“Everything in the Bible is dead-nuts true and unquestionably factual, except the parts that are not.”

 

[tosca1]

“Everything in the Bible is dead-nuts true and unquestionably factual, except the parts that are not.”

Oh.....how profound.

You should compile all your posts together and publish a book on them.

 

[tosca1]

The Cambrian Explosion seems to support Noah's Flood.


40 major animal groups are suddenly found - appearing out of nowhere - at the bottom of the fossil record.


Answers to the Questions Lead to More Questions

The missing rock layers were found in about a dozen sites around the world, and fossils were finally found in Precambrian rocks worldwide. But the fossils were not as expected. Precambrian fossils included bizarre organisms too different from Cambrian animals to be their ancestors, as well as fossils of bacteria and even microscopic animal embryos (mostly sponge embryos). But the ancestors of the Cambrian animals have never been found. If the rocks were able to preserve single cells, they could have preserved any animals that were really there. So it would seem that the Cambrian ancestors never really existed!

The searchers ran into another problem. They also unearthed more Cambrian fossils. Besides trilobites and brachiopods, they found echinoderms and even vertebrates. In fact, they found fossils of all the animal “crown groups”—those groups most different from each other and thus from the most distant parts (or “crown”) of the animal “family tree.”

The Cambrian has another problem: too few species. In our everyday experience, if we meet two Americans who are twelfth cousins and descendants from the same immigrant, we expect to find many other living American descendants who came from the same immigrant. For similar reasons, if we see very different animals in the Cambrian, we expect to find many, many other closely related species. But we find far fewer species than expected.


Since evolution can’t explain the Cambrian Explosion, what can?


By starting our scientific investigation with a firm faith in the truth of the biblical account of the Flood, scientists can find a solution to the Cambrian Explosion, which is so mysterious within the evolutionary perspective.

One: Life’s Unexpected Explosion

Where did the Cambrian Explosion come from?

answersingenesis.org

An open mind, is what we need.

 

[beancounter]

The earth is NOT 6,000 years old...

 

[tosca1]

Why is the Cambrian Layer Called an Explosion?

The reason that scientists, archaeologists and paleontologists call the Cambrian Explosion an “explosion” is because most of the present species that exist today or have ever existed are found in what is known as the Cambrian layer or explosion.

This “explosion” of fossils comes in an extremely shallow layer of the earth that seems to match the creation account of Genesis, where all plant and animal life were created within a short period of time.

Since all life was created by God so suddenly, it would make sense that the fossils would be found so close together in earthen layers.


The Cambrian Explosion is a sudden appearance of all life as we know it.
There are exceedingly few that come before this and those that follow the Cambrian show no differences than their ancestral cousins or predecessors that follow. It is like an explosion of life that appears almost instantaneously on earth.

What is amazing about the Cambrian layer is what is not there before it and after it. In other words, you will find almost no predecessors or ancestors of the Cambrian creatures; that is, absolutely nothing above or below this layer.
This roaring silence of evidence is what was a problematic area for Darwin, who believed that in the years to come, there would be hundreds of transitional fossils that would validate his theory. With hundreds of thousands of digs, there are still gigantic gaps in the transitional fossils that would allegedly show the transitions of species into totally different species.


Read more: https://www.whatchristianswanttokno...on-why-christians-need-to-know/#ixzz6lVJJqALO

 

[RAMOSS]

My other question is... Is 4300 years enough time for Noah and his family to reproduce and re-populate the entire earth for there to be enough people throughout the world to develop societies and related infrastructure such as the Mayans, Khmer Rough, China etc. There are ancient civilizations on each continent, how did they get there after man exited the ark in one spot on the world, and then reproduce and build such great civilizations and then fall all within 4300 years?

Theoretically, 4300 years is plenty of time for that number of people. However, it is not enough time for the genetic diversity we see in the human population. (it also is assuming that the mortality rate is low, which until recently, was not true0.

However, when it comes to geology , that pretty much falsifies the 'noah flood' claim of a world wide flood. (Not to mention physics too)

 

[Wayne Jr]

The earth is NOT 6,000 years old...

No one said it was. OP said the flood was thousands of years ago, not the formation of the earth.

 

[Daisy]

The earth is NOT 6,000 years old...

The Bible does not give us an age for the earth...it does give us the account of preparing the earth to maintain life...

 

[Buckeyes85]

They had no concept of a planet so when they say 'water covered the whole earth' they're saying water covered all the land they could see, not the entire planet.

Evidence Noah's Biblical Flood Happened, Says Robert Ballard

In an interview with Christiane Amanpour for ABC News, Dr. Robert Ballard, one of the world's leading underwater archaeologists, talked about his findings. His team is scouring the depths of the Black Sea in Turkey in search of traces of an ancient civilization hidden underwater since the time...

abcnews.go.com

They didn't need a concept of the entire earth if god told them he was going to flood the entire earth. And that's what the bible says. To suggest otherwise is just another example of christians arguing interpreting the bible literally when it suits their purpose; metaphorically when it doesnt
As to the OP, no it is not remotely possible that a mere 4300 years ago a flood covered the earth; the continents drifted apart and plants and animals repopulated the globe.

 

[Closer]

Re the bible, the age of the Earth is a completely irrelevant issue.

 

[Noodlegawd]

How does the Biblical flood fit in with the natural world we see today?

Well, let's see. The Biblical flood involved water, and the natural world has water too. That's it. That's all I can come up with.

 

[Napoleon]

Keep in mind that this story was recorded by a bronze-age civilization with no science, concept of a planet, or knowledge about curvature. Since you can only see out to about 3 miles before land drops out of site, a significantly flooded region would seem to cover absolutely everything. it's reasonable to expect a scientifically ignorant bronze-age scribe to sincerely believe that absolutely everything was covered in water. Today we know that it was a relatively local event likely caused by the Black Sea since the region in question has a history of being periodically flooded.

The Black Sea, like any body of water, periodically floods the surrounding landscape. It has never risen 16,854 feet to deposit magical boats on mountain tops.

 

[Napoleon]

This whole story of the Ark is just nonsense, they were on the waves for 150 days, how exactly did they feed all those animals? And Noah was 600 years old. It just is totally nonsensical to believe the Noah's ark story.

Magical boats? No. People who are hundreds of years old? Unlikely, but maybe not completely out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Wayne Jr]

They didn't need a concept of the entire earth if god told them he was going to flood the entire earth. And that's what the bible says.

"We need to read the Flood story through the lens of ancient literature, but also ancient cosmology. Because the ancient Israelites (like all people in the ancient Near East) lacked telescopes, satellites, and other modern scientific equipment, they pictured the universe as it appeared to everyday observation. Ancient Near Eastern people thought that rain comes from an ocean above the sky (which explains why the sky is blue), and that this ocean wraps all the way around the earth (which explains why deep wells always hit water). They also thought of the “whole Earth” as simply the edges of their current maps, which mostly consisted of today’s Middle East."

How Should we Interpret the Genesis Flood Account? - Common Question - BioLogos

The Flood story proclaims God’s grace and love for his people, but how should we interpret the genesis floods?

biologos.org

 

[Wayne Jr]

The Black Sea, like any body of water, periodically floods the surrounding landscape. It has never risen 16,854 feet to deposit magical boats on mountain tops.

I agree.

"Because of the curvature of the earth, the horizon drops from where the viewer is standing. However, the drop is proportional to the square of the distance between the viewer and an object on the horizon (Young nd). From these relationships, it can be seen that a tribal chief (or Noah) standing on the deck of a large boat (Ark), perhaps 7.8 meters above the water, would not be able to see the tops of any hills as high as 15 m from as little as 24 km away across flood plains covered with water because the curvature of the earth prevents it (See the Appendix for examples of calculations). Most hills in this region that are as much as 15 m high are more than 95 km away from the river levees. Therefore, the survivors of the Flood could see only water in all directions while they were floating down the Tigris River and over the flood plains. Many of these hills would also be partly covered with water which would make their tops project less above the water level, and therefore, the curvature of the earth would make them disappear from the line of sight in even a shorter distance than 24 km."

Yes, Noah's Flood May Have Happened, But Not Over the Whole Earth | National Center for Science Education

Introduction The Bible (Genesis 6–9) describes a worldwide flood (the Noachian Flood) covering even the highest mountains of the earth and the construction of a huge boat (a rectangular box-like craft) that transported animals, at least two of a kind of all land animals on the earth.

ncse.ngo

 

[MamboDervish]

I have always questioned that if God flooded the world according to the bible only some 4300 years ago (I googled it), is that enough time for all the continents to develop their own fauna and wildlife? Considering that when the ark came to rest on land all the animals must have been released in the one spot on earth. How did they then spread to all the contents and then for all the contents to develop there own interactions between their fauna and wildlife? What I'm trying to get at is why aren't all animals evenly spread throughout the world, why aren't there kangaroos in America and Lions in Europe? How and why did marsupials etc migrate to Australia and dominate there. How and why did lions, tigers etc move to Africa and dominate the environment there? Africa has is own ecosystem, Australia has its very own unique ecosystem as does Europe. We've seen how taking an animal from one ecosystem to another causes great damage to the native ecosystem (cane toads in Australia for e.g.). First there must have been one land mass when the ark came to rest for the animals to spread out when released from the ark and second it must have taken more than 4 thousand years for the continents to separate and each continent develop their own ecosystems. How does the fact that each continent has a distinct and separate ecosystem fit in the with story of the flood in the bible? I have my answer (bullshit), but I'm open to others...

I burned out 27 sump pumps over those 40 days and nights, and it took many months to get the mold out of the basement.