Noah's Ark

Is Noah and the ark real or just a myth?

Are there reasons to believe that the biblical account of Noah and the Ark, as recorded in Genesis Chapter 6-9, is historically accurate?

My answer is Yes, I believe so. Below are three logical reasons to believe this Bible story is fact.

1. The Perfect Design -- According to the biblical description of the ark, it was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. A 1993 study conducted by researchers at the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) investigated the seaworthiness of the design of Noah's Ark as described in the Bible (Genesis 6). Led by Dr. Seon Won Hong, the team tested the Ark's dimensions against various other hull proportions to evaluate stability, comfort, and safety in high seas.

Key findings from this 1993 study include:

• Optimal Proportions: The biblical dimensions (a 6:1 length-to-width ratio) were found to be nearly ideal for balancing stability, cargo capacity, and seaworthiness.
• Stability Against Capsizing: The design was found to be virtually impossible to capsize, with the capacity to handle waves over 30 meters (approximately 100 feet) high.
• Seaworthiness: When compared to alternative models, the biblical Ark performed better or equal to them in turbulent sea conditions.
• Structural Strength: The study concluded the design was robust and, with a 30 cm thick wooden hull, could withstand the pressures of a massive, long-term flood event. 

The ancient authors of the book of Genesis could not have guessed the ideal boat design.

2. The Flood Was a Global Phenomenon -- The story of a great, world-altering flood is remarkably common across global cultures, appearing in over 200 distinct, widespread legends from ancient Mesopotamia to the Americas, China, and India. These narratives often feature a divinely initiated deluge to destroy humanity, with a few righteous individuals surviving on a vessel, similar to the biblical Noah's ark. 

The prevalence of these stories, even in regions far from each other, indicates that the "flood myth" is one of the most widespread and consistent cultural narratives worldwide. 

3. Enough room for animals and people -- In Genesis Chapter 7, God commanded Noah to gather two of every "kind"-- not every breed of animal. He needed just two dogs, not two poodles and two labradors. Scientists estimate that the world contains between 1,000 and 7,000 animal kinds. So, Noah would have collected between 2,000 and 14,000 individual animals. That's a lot of cargo. But the ark was the size of 522 train cars. And while a few animals were quite large, most were rather small. 

Other evidence exists. For example, archaeologists believe they have found the landing place of the Ark on Mount Errarat. 

These are logical reasons to accept the Bible story as fact. Not an incontrovertible fact, but a reasonable, logical option to consider. Like the Creation and the experience of Adam and Eve, Noah's story stands or falls on the veracity of the Bible as an authentic record of God's dealings with earth and His creatures. If I accept the Bible as factual, I must accept the historical accounts it holds. On the other hand, if I have evidence that the Bible stories are plausible, those stories lend credibility to the Bible. If parts of it are true, could I reasonably assume that all of it is true?

Once again, it becomes a matter of choice. I choose to believe in Noah and the Ark. I cannot explain every aspect of the story. I know scientists propose alternative theories for why the story of the flood transcends cultures. Their version of the human timeline contradicts the timeline of the Bible account. And they have explanations for why fossils of ocean creatures are found on mountain peaks. They examine geological evidence and come up with theories that eliminate God.

The bottom line is that scientific conclusions are only theories. No one alive saw the flood, witnessed the Ark, watched species evolve from microorganisms to humans, or saw the ancient ocean floors rise through tectonic pressure into majestic peaks. Science is as much about faith as religion. Science is a modern religion. I choose to believe God's version of the history of the earth as logically plausible as atheistic science and far more hopeful for the outcome of the human race. 

I choose God. I choose to believe.

Adam and Eve

Is there any reason to believe that Adam and Eve and their experience in the Garden of Eden are not fairy tales?

1. Jesus said they were real. Quoted in Matthew 19:4-5, Jesus cited the precedent of God joining Adam and Eve as a married couple during their time in the Garden of Eden. If Jesus truly was the Son of God and had access to God's knowledge of the truth, why would He cite a mythical story to make His point about marriage?

2. Scientists trace all humans back to one "Mitochondrial Eve" and one "Y-chromosomal Adam." Mitochondrial Eve is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. She is the woman from whom all people are descended in an unbroken line through their mothers. The Y-chromosomal Adam (Y-MRCA) is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor from whom all currently living humans are descended through an unbroken male line.

Scientists are quick to state their belief that these two ancient ancestors were not the only woman and man alive at that time, but they are the only two people whose DNA did not die out. While no evidence exists to suggest that these two human progenitors were a couple, the most recent research indicates that the time periods and regions in which they lived may have overlapped.  

I do not dispute that a population of the human species may have existed. What I believe, however, is that God chose one couple to serve as the prototypes from which the human race would descend to inhabit the earth. I believe this because I believe in God, and when God's involved, nothing happens by accident.

3. The conscience--the moral sense of right and wrong--is generally universal among humans. Scientific evidence indicates that animals don't feel guilt. 

Scientists agree that the conscience is a combination of biological instincts and socialization. The ability to distinguish right from wrong, empathize, and feel guilt is present in young children, suggesting it is innate rather than learned. 

Because Adam and Eve were human, they were wired for morality. According to the Bible account, Adam and Eve learned about good and evil. Humans have inherited the ability to feel guilt and shame, and Adam and Eve's experience set the moral pattern that has shaped the human conscience.

To be clear, science doesn't "disprove" the reality of Adam and Eve. It suggests that the story doesn't align with evolutionary models of a small founding population. Nevertheless, scientists are theorizing from limited evidence. No one knows for sure what happened in human evolution. I look at the same evidence and theorize that God guided the origins of the human family. Some choose to believe in random gene mutation and natural selection. I choose to believe in a Creator-God who designed and guided everything. One view is not more logical than another. It's ultimately a choice. My choice is God.

A belief in the account of Adam and Eve is important because their experience is one of the three pillars of God's Plan of Salvation: The Creation, The Fall, and the Atonement. Adam and Eve's transgression in the Garden introduced sin into the world. If sin didn't exist, there would be no need for a Savior. Because I choose to believe in Jesus Christ and His atonement, I choose to believe in Adam and Eve.

Creation and the Creator

Why do I believe God created everything?

Three reasons I choose to believe God created all things, including all things on the earth:

1. Everything that starts needs a starter. A true perpetual motion machine does not exist. The Second Law of Thermodynamics says "the total entropy (disorder) of an isolated system always increases over time, or remains constant for reversible processes, meaning energy naturally disperses and processes have a specific direction. It implies heat flows spontaneously from hot to cold, and perfect, 100% efficient energy conversion is impossible" (https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/second-law-entropy/). In other words, order always devolves to disorder, and heat always transfers to cold.
   
   No one has ever seen ocean waves on the shore spontaneously creating a sand castle. An analog watch has never been assembled by wind blowing loose metal and glass fragments together. If you fill a jar with three colors of M&Ms, you can shake the jar for the rest of your life, and the colors will never settle into three discrete layers. If astronomers and physicists are correct that the universe started with the "Big Bang," something had to start it. I believe that "something" is God.
   
   
2. One hundred conditions for the "Goldilocks Zone." Based on scientific research in astrobiology, astrophysics, and planetary science, the Earth requires a complex, highly specific set of conditions to support complex life. These factors include the nature of the star, the composition of the planet, and its position in the galaxy (https://seec.gsfc.nasa.gov/what_makes_a_planet_habitable.html).
   
   For example, a habitable planet must be far enough from the center of its galaxy not to be overwhelmed by supernovas and radiation, but not so far from the center that heavy elements cannot form. Its star must be a G-type main-sequence star (like the Sun). The planet must be the right distance from the Sun to permit liquid water. It must be in a circular orbit to avoid climate extremes. A large moon is needed to stabilize the planet's axis tilt to enable moderate seasonal variations. The planet's size must be large enough to generate sufficient gravity to hold a substantial atmosphere and water vapor, but not so large as to create a "gas giant." The planet must have a molten core to generate a magnetic field to shield the planet from excess solar radiation. It needs an oxygen-rich atmosphere, liquid water, carbon materials, moderate surface temperature, deep oceans, tides, and on and on.
   
   The odds of a planet satisfying all 100+ conditions are extremely low--unless it is done by design. I believe God is the Designer.
   
   
3. The human genome is almost infinitely complex. A human cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes that host 3.2 Billion base-pair sequences of DNA, containing roughly 20,000-25,000 genes. The structural variation of genes within humans makes each collection as unique as a fingerprint. The odds of the human genome developing by random gene mutations are astronomically low (near zero) if viewed as a precise, predetermined outcome (https://www.reddit.com/r/theydidthemath/comments/1f4ae7f/request_what_is_the_probability_that_humans/).
   
   The scientific caveat to the theory of unguided evolution is natural selection. We have evidence of natural selection driving evolution within species. What scientists cannot prove, however, is how natural selection caused some organisms to become fish, others birds, still others mammals, and ulitimately humans.
   
   The incredibly complex messaging in human DNA suggests that behind it all was a Master Messager. I believe the genetic programmer is God.

Those who do not accept the Creation/Creator proposition put their faith in other precepts, such as the power of big numbers and the inevitability of natural selection. It is simply a matter of a different kind of faith. No one has watched billions of planets form around billions of stars in billions of galaxies to know for sure that the Goldilocks Zone happens by accident. No one has witnessed a sequence of gene mutations over a billion years turn a cat into a dog, a fish into a bird, or a monkey into a man.

I'm not saying the modern scientific theory of how the earth and human life came about is without merit. I'm saying that scientific theory is based on plausible suppositions and stretches of imagination. Other plausible suppositions are also possible.

At the same time, no one on earth today saw God trigger the Big Bang or watched Him tinker with the formation of our planet or witnessed Him guiding the gene mutations that led from a prokaryote to a human. Faith is required for either scenario. Weighing the options and looking at the evidence, I choose to believe that God created (organized, guided, directed) the forces and materials that became the universe, the Milky Way galaxy, our solar system, the planet on which I live, and me. It takes a stretch of faith either way. I choose the way that leads to God.