Noah’s Ark is one of the first Bible stories you may have learned, but it’s more than just a story. Today’s scientific evidence supports the truth of the Flood as a very real event that permanently changed the geology and climate of planet Earth.
“By the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.” - 2 Peter 3:5-6
Bible scholars aren’t the only ones who think there was a worldwide flood. Stories of a great flood that wiped out everyone except one small group of people are found in ancient texts and folklore from cultures all over the world. Secular and creation scientists agree that there has been major, catastrophic flooding in Earth’s past. If Noah’s Flood happened as Genesis describes, what does that reveal about our origins? And could it happen again?
Did That Ark Float?
Scientists, secularists and creationists, agree that there was major, catastrophic flooding in Earth’s past. However, that’s where their agreement ends.
Scientists have two very different opinions of Noah’s Flood based on two different presuppositions (assumptions made beforehand). To better understand both points of view, it helps to understand two really big words that are key to our discussion: uniformitarianism and catastrophism.
These are two different foundational beliefs that explain why two scientists who look at the same evidence can come back with two different conclusions.
Uniformitarianism is the doctrine that processes like erosion and deposition that we observe today operated in exactly the same way in Earth’s remote geological past. An easier way of remembering this is the phrase “the present is the key to the past.”
This concept underlies the belief that our world is billions of years old. Secular scientists believe that a single layer of geological strata represents a significant amount of time —even millions of years—of Earth’s activity. These secular scientists acknowledge that there have been changes to the landscape over these millions of years but still believe that the changes have been slow and gradual and happened at a fairly constant rate. Does that sound familiar? That’s because if you apply uniformitarian thinking to biology—the study of life—you get evolutionary ideas.
Creation scientists see the world in the opposite way. They don’t assume that processes like erosion and deposition that we see today happened in exactly the same ways in the past as they do now. That’s because between what we see now and what we would have seen then there’s been a world-altering, watery catastrophe that resulted in our present-day geological formations.
This doctrine of catastrophism says that Earth-surface features, like the rock layers and erosion in Grand Canyon, are the consequences of a key catastrophic event: a violent, destructive flood and its aftereffects. Contrary to uniformitarianists, Flood geologists say that the forces that have shaped Earth’s landscape and altered its geology and climate were all caused in a very short timeframe by a single, year-long catastrophic event—Noah’s Flood.
Think Tank
If you apply the uniformitarianism viewpoint to biology you get the idea of evolution. If rock strata took millions of years to form, then so did creatures.
What are some common reasons uniformitarian scientists say the Flood didn’t happen? They assume that “the present is the key to the past” and that today’s geological processes are fully responsible for forming the geological layers, fossils, and rocks. According to this theory, the global Flood did not happen because Earth’s materials and landforms that we see today are the result of slow and gradual processes.
According to creation scientists, the Flood took place about 4,500 years ago.
Why is it inaccurate to imagine the Flood in terms of just a lot of heavy rain? The Flood did a lot of geological work in a very short amount of time. The Bible even says the fountains of the great deep were broken up at the beginning of the Flood. A modern-day example of this kind of catastrophe, we can look at Mount St. Helens. Like the Flood, it did a lot of geological work in a very short time, including carving a canyon and depositing rock layers.
How did the floodwaters cover giant mountains like Mount Everest? The mountains were much smaller back then and were later uplifted by the collision of continental plates during the Flood to the heights they are now.
Where did much of the Flood’s water come from? Much, if not most, of the Flood’s water came from deep reservoirs the Bible calls the “fountains of the great deep” (Genesis 7:11). The ocean floors became hot, occupied more volume, and forced the world’s sea level to rise.
How would most scientists describe the organization of our continents in ancient times? All of the continents were once combined into a large supercontinent. At some point this continent broke apart into the continents we see today.
How does Mount St. Helen’s eruption support Noah’s Flood? It shows that a catastrophe like the Flood could, in fact, do “millions of years” worth of geological work in a short time.
Back to the Bible
Read Genesis 6-9 and 2 Peter 3:3-6.
What common origins viewpoint does 2 Peter 3:3-6 describe? These verses remind us of the doctrine of uniformitarianism.
List all of the ways that Peter describes the scoffers. He says that they are following their own sinful desires, questioning the promise of Jesus’ coming, and choosing to forget God’s creation and the Flood.
What do the scoffers “willfully forget”? They willfully forget the Flood and creation by God’s powerful spoken word.
In the context of the entire chapter, why do you think that Peter specifically mentions the Flood in 2 Peter 3:3-6? Perhaps, Peter mentions the Flood because, if God judged the world once by water, then He can do it again by fire, as He promises. Peter is warning us that “in the last days” people will begin to deny that God is the Creator and will choose to forget key events like the Flood so they can pretend that their evil deeds won’t be judged by a holy God.
Do you know anyone who reminds you of the people Peter is talking about in this passage? How could you approach them with the truth about creation and the Flood? A good start is to ask them questions about what they believe about origins and why.
How might Noah and his experience with the Flood be a picture of what Jesus did for us? Just like He did for Noah, God provides a way of escape and rescue from destruction for us. The danger facing Noah was a worldwide Flood. For us, it’s separation from God in hell. Jesus is the way of escape. In the same manner that only those in Noah’s ark were saved from the Flood, only those that are in Jesus Christ will be saved today.
What was God’s covenant with Noah? Does this mean that catastrophe will never strike the earth again? Why or why not? God would never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 8:21;9:11). This doesn’t mean there will never again be a catastrophe.
Major Takeaway
Sometimes it takes courage to go against popular ideas and stand firm in your faith like Noah did. When we do, we can be certain that the same God that took care of Noah on the Ark is the same God we can trust to provide for us.
Next Week: How Old Is Earth?