The Noahs ark and why it didn't happen

[Tonus]

I realise that this subject has been done to death

Lots of religious topics are going to be repeated here, it's just the nature of a forum with any degree of turnover and new visitors. But there's a pretty new thread on this topic open right now, this would probably be better suited as a reply in that topic.

In any event, TalkOrigins has a pretty comprehensive FAQ on the flood myth and the problems with any explanation that doesn't involve "godidit." Without falling back on a supernatural being who could use magic to move things along, the story simply isn't realistic. IMO, the amount of magic required to salvage the story as actually happening is so substantial that you wonder why god didn't do something far less complicated, like make every person on the planet just drop dead on the spot.

[ThePinsir]

1) Gawd did it.
2) Gawd did it.
3) Gawd did it.
4) Gawd did it.
5) Gawd did it.
6) Gawd did it.
7) Gawd did it.
8) Gawd did it.
9) Gawd did it.
10) Gawd did it.
11) Gawd did it.
12) Gawd did it.
13) Gawd did it.
14) Gawd did it.

[Bad Wolf]

As I predicted the answer was either god did it or some answer involving assertions, thank you 'alpha male' for that lovely piece: There was only one continent! Are you kidding me?
P.S. your username 'alpha male', are you sure you aren't compensating for something? You don't happen to drive a hummer and watch Madagascar on your in-car TV and then merge without looking?

[John V]

As I predicted the answer was either god did it

Yes, as I noted this is the simplest explanation for details of an admittedly supernatural event. I don't know why critics bother to attack it or Christians bother with natural explanations. (I only did so because I'm bored on Friday afternoon and Exlax got his panties in a bunch over my first post.)

or some answer involving assertions,

Not sure what this means.

thank you 'alpha male' for that lovely piece: There was only one continent! Are you kidding me?

No. Science says the same thing. The only difference is timing. In fact, science thinks there was only one continent numerous times, if you can believe that!

P.S. your username 'alpha male', are you sure you aren't compensating for something?

Yes.

You don't happen to drive a hummer and watch Madagascar on your in-car TV and then merge without looking?

Actually I'm going car shopping tonight for the wife, but it's looking like a low-mileage 2013 Town & Country will fit the bill, not a Hummer.

[Rampant.A.I.]

[Anomalocaris]

He is a Christian. It's a chicken and egg problem.

[Bad Wolf]

Yes, as I noted this is the simplest explanation for details of an admittedly supernatural event. I don't know why critics bother to attack it or Christians bother with natural explanations. (I only did so because I'm bored on Friday afternoon and Exlax got his panties in a bunch over my first post.)

And you didn't realise that your response would be pointless because I don't believe a lot of what the bible says.

thank you 'alpha male' for that lovely piece: There was only one continent! Are you kidding me?

No. Science says the same thing. The only difference is timing.

So science doesn't say the same thing then.

In fact, science thinks there was only one continent numerous times, if you can believe that!

It might be news to you, but not to anyone else.

You don't happen to drive a hummer and watch Madagascar on your in-car TV and then merge without looking?

Actually I'm going car shopping tonight for the wife, but it's looking like a low-mileage 2013 Town & Country will fit the bill, not a Hummer.

You clearly didn't get the reference.

[Minimalist]

I thought the biblical flood story itself was already the very nadir of human ignorance and wishful thinking. But I was wrong. Every christain can sink even lower trying to defend it.

It's necessary in order to pretend such obvious bullshit is real.

[Tonus]

In fact, science thinks there was only one continent numerous times, if you can believe that!

It might be news to you, but not to anyone else.

It shouldn't be, as it's a pretty old concept: Pangaea.

[ThomM]

I realise that this subject has been done to death and that any reasonable person with the most basic scientific knowledge would accept that the biblical world wide flood didn't happen. We know it didn't happen, not just because it is physically impossible but also there is no evidence on earth that it happened except in a centuries old book.
However, unfortunately some people still don't get it. I guess i'm going to have to make a huge list of reasons why the tale of Noah's ark, couldn't have happened.

1) How did all the animals fit on the ark?

There are billions of species of animals. We would never be able to fit two of every species on the biggest ship we have today, so how the hell did they fit on the ark which is much smaller than modern vessels? Answer: They didn't. I have even heard creationists claim that they took baby animals to save space. That still wouldn't work, there still wouldn't be enough room. And if there was how did these baby animals survive without there parents to care for them? Magic? Godidit? Cause that's the only explanation I can think of.

2) How did all the animals get to the ark?
Firstly, it is impossible that two of every species travelled to the ark. Period. How did they get across the oceans? How did they know where to go? How did they travel millions of miles across unfamiliar land?
Also, countries like Australia were not known of back then, so how did the kangaroos and wallabies and koalas get to the ark? Noah sure as hell didn't know about Australia, so how did it happen? Did he sail over there and pick them up himself?

3) Even if we accept the nonsense that two of every species of animal fitted on the ark. What did they eat and drink for 40 days? Are you telling me that there was 40 days worth of food on the ark for each animal. Bearing in mind that the different species need different food sources. For example, pandas eat exclusively bamboo. Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves. What, did they grow the plants on board? Where was the room for that? And how did they store all the water for the animals? How much water did they need? Can someone calculate that?

4) What stopped the predators eating the prey animals? Were all the species kept in their own cages? Again, according to the size of the ark, there would be no room for it.

5) How did they get rid of all the waste? With every terrestrial and avian species on board, there must have been a hell of a lot of shit and piss. Please explain how, what was it? 8 people, managed to clean all that up?

6) What did Noah's family eat and drink?

7) A wooden ship the size of the ark would have had leaks. How did so few amount of people prevent the ark from sinking?

8) Once the flood had ended, how did all the animals get back to where they came from? How did they know where to go? A sloth for example would take thousands of years to get back. Did they all migrate together? Then where is the evidence of it?

9) Where did all the water come from and where did it all go. On earth, we have a finite amount of water? Just saying: 'it rained a lot' or 'the water came up from the depths of the earth' doesn't make sense.

10) All terrestrial plant life would have been killed by the flood waters. Granted, some seeds could have survived and species could have continued, but how did it grow back so fast as to sustain all the herbivores? And what did the predators eat, as soon as they came off the ark, they would have killed and eaten all the herbivores. GC thinks that the predators survived off of the dead bodies of the animals killed by the flood waters. Are you fucking kidding me? 40 days in the water would rot any corpse and make it inedible. Even if some fish survived the flood, there would not have been enough to feed all the predators. Also a lot of the predators would be unable to catch fish.

11) If only two of every species survived there would be evidence of a genetic bottle neck. But there isn't. We know that cheetahs went through a genetic bottle neck at the end of the last ice age. We can see this in there genes. They are almost genetically identical to the point that you can graft skin from one unrelated cheetah onto another and there will be no rejection, no immune response. Other animals such as pandas, elephant seals, American buffalo and yes humans went through genetic bottle necks. If the story of the ark really happened, then why do we not see genetic bottle necks in every species alive today?

12) How do you explain the fact that some trees are older than when the supposed flood happens. A global flood would have killed every tree.

13) I can't quite remember how many people were on board the ark but do you know when the pyramids were supposedly built? Wasn't it something like a few hundred years after the flood. Are you telling me that Noah's family multiplied so fast that they managed to create hundreds of thousands of people in a few hundred years? Enough jews to make the pyramids?

14) Creationists often claim that the flood could have layered down sediment. Although it is true that sediment can be layed down by floods, it is not the same as geologic processes. We can tell the difference you know. The KT boundary for example. This is a layer of sediment underneath which, all non-avian dinosaurs are found. None are found above this layer. In this layer, there is Iridium. Iridium is extremely rare in the earths crust but is common in meteorites. Which leads palaeontologists and such to think that a giant meteorite struck the earth and killed off the dinosaurs. If you don't believe this: How did the flood lay down this KT boundary with the iridium?

I would just like to point out that any sentence with a question mark at the end is indeed a question and I want it to be answered. I do realise that they won't actually be answered. This is pointless to say as I know it won't influence the answers at all but: claiming 'god did it' is not an explanation.

Actually - the claimed flood was supposed to have happened AFTER the building of the great pyramid. The Flood is claimed to have happened in 2150 BCE - The great Pyramid was complete about 2560 BCE - about 400 years BEFORE the flood. That there is NO evidence of water damage to the Pyramid is just one of the proofs that the flood as described did not happen.


And - pressure from a column of water 50,000 feet high (Over the highest mountain) - would have reduced EVERY man made structure to dust - so the great pyramid should not exist. = nor should any man made item before 2150

The problem with the flood is worse that claimed - if you accept that ALL animals were created by god at the same time - because the mixing of the salt sea water and fresh water would have wiped out all fresh water fish - and all sea water only fish - leaving only the fish that could survive in both.
And that didn't happen either.

But the obvious PROOF that the great flood did not happen is DNA proof of the sequential family order of the Egyptian Pharaohs - and their language - before and after the date - which would be IMPOSSIBLE based on the MYTH.


Sorry - the claim of a great flood - could only be a local event - not a worldwide one