(March 15, 2012 at 9:21 am)Mosrhun Wrote: We all know this story is bullshit, but I just had a debate with a Christian about this issue and it's still fresh on my mind so here it goes. A foreword, math is not my strong point and this was a quick write up as I'm currently at work, so if someone more mathematically inclined would like to fix my values go right ahead.
As of 2010, there are 1.7 million known species on Earth. Let's give the Christians the benefit of the doubt and remove Fish (31,300), Crustaceans (47,000), Corals (2,175) and Algae (13,201). Let's also condense the insects down to say, 25,000 from 1,000,000 for space sake. This lowers to number of species to a paltry 631,324. Double that and you have 1,262,648 animals. Each animal requires it's own space and it's own food to survive for 40 days and 40 nights. Some animals are much larger then others and some are much smaller. To reach an easy medium of space needed, let's say that all these animals need approximately the space and food a human would need. A human could survive for a little over a month in say, a 6x4' (24sq ft) room or so. Using this logic, the Ark would have needed to be 30,303,552sq feet just to store the animals. That's 1.08699sq miles. This is before you take in to account the amount of food and fresh water needed to sustain all these animals. Now obviously the boat would have been boat shaped and not a square. If you just take the 6 foot rooms needed and multiply it by the number of species you end up with a ship that is 1434 miles long, almost half the distance across the United States...
It's ridiculous to think that Noah would have been able to build something this massive, gather all these creatures, gather all the supplies, keep 1,262,648 fed and hydrated and managed to clean the feces from said animals several times a day.
If you are trying to make sense of the story of Noah as a logistical account of how to save the planet and the various species from ELI like a global flood, then you miss the whole point of the story. The logistical account is lacking for one reason. The story of Noah was not about one man defying God and saved the planet through his planning and efforts. The Story of Noah and the boat He built was the story of the extraordinary faith that was required of one man, to deem creation salvageable. Noah did not save creation through His efforts (his boat) Noah provided the faith that prompted God to save a remnant from righteous wrath.
so the same God that call creation into existence, call the animals to the Ark, sustained them on the Ark, had them repopulated their original habitats. Understand the ark was not the boat Noah built. It was the faith that fueled the whole effort. Remember Noah did not save creation though his efforts, God did.
