Practical concerns have been raised about Noah’s Ark and the Flood, including whether it should be seen as an allegory. To answer this, we can compare it with allegorical passages. While it’s true that most Bible stories have metaphorical value, some are primarily symbolic. These are recognizable by their figurative language, such as the symbols in Daniel and Revelation and the parables of Christ. They speak in generalities with no historical details, such as names, ages, or places where events occurred.
The Flood account differs widely from such examples in how it reads as a factual relating of events. Noah provides multiple time markers, for example. The following is a passage from Genesis 7, showing the types of details that are not included in symbolic biblical passages:
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark. Genesis 7:11-13
As for whether the Ark could have survived the Flood, we must note that it was a miraculous occurrence by the hand of God to begin with, so he could certainly preserve the Ark through it. But the “gopher wood” used to build it (Genesis 6:14) was likely a type of cypress or cedar that could have been a stronger wood than those now available, considering the enormous difference in size and strength of plant and animal life in the catastrophic fossil record. God also instructed Noah to cover it with pitch, inside and out.
Instructions for the Ark’s design were received from God, so Noah’s lack of experience designing ships would have been irrelevant. Models have shown that simple design factors, such as a bow fin and stern projection, could have stabilized the Ark and kept it pointing into the waves to avoid capsizing. Since only skeleton basics of the design are recorded in scripture, there’s no basis to assume that such elements wouldn’t have been used (5, 12, 43).
As for animals fitting on the Ark, most of the animal species we currently see could have arisen through geographic isolation, and other factors, by reproducing from parents that were on the Ark. Genetic variation could have produced the wide variety of animals we see in each animal family. For example, every type of dog, wolf, and coyote could have arisen from a limited number of canines (16).
We should note that mutations don’t result in the development of ordered systems. What we know of them doesn’t support the theory that they could have resulted in such a wide variety of perfectly ordered life forms. Plants and animals are genetically encoded for adaptation to a variety of circumstances. This process involves variation in phenotypes, which is influenced by factors such as epigenetics and environment and does not result in crossing the species barrier (4, 11).
There are thousands of different sizes, shapes, and colors among felines, but not one of them is turning into anything other than a feline. The same is true of every other animal type. Even within the fossil record, the species are organized within well-defined families that don’t mix or crossover.
If animals evolved from each other, we should see blending between the species, not only in the fossil record but also among living creatures. Yet there are no partially evolved creatures, either living or fossilized. How did the transitional stages between every known species simply disappear? For example, if humans transitioned from apes, and we still have living apes, why don’t we also have any living transitional ape-humans? Why can’t we go to a jungle somewhere to see them hanging from the trees or sitting around a campfire using simple tools? The only consistent, logical conclusion is that…
…it’s because they never did exist that they don’t still exist.
As far as fitting into the Ark, many of the largest animals start out small, so God could have arranged for younger animals to enter into it. Simple mechanisms could have aided in the care of the animals, such as a rain catchment system with valves and bamboo pipes to deliver water to each enclosure. A similar system could have drained wastes from stalls into collecting areas for removal (71). The darkness provided by the Ark’s covering could have put many animals into a state of calm or dormancy after the storm ceased, so they wouldn’t have eaten as much food or produced as much waste as usual.
Soon after the Flood, there would have been land bridges from the ice age caused by diluvian volcanic activity. This would have allowed the population of various land masses with different types of animals that subsequently adjusted to their environments. Since fossils only form under catastrophic conditions, the path of their distribution would not have been traceable through fossilized specimens. Once the population diversified and had stable food sources, it would have stabilized and not continued changing. Rapid morphological adjustments among animals have been documented (40).
If such a cataclysmic, worldwide event really occurred, you would expect there to be some cultural memory of it. But, in fact, that’s exactly what we find. Hundreds of traditional legends and stories from people groups around the world echo the biblical Flood account. For example, Chinese legends teach of eight “immortals” who crossed the sea in a boat, matching the eight individuals on Noah’s Ark. Hawaiian legends tell of a man named “Nu-u” who built a great canoe in a story matching Noah’s Flood all the way to the rainbow (18, 41, 64).
A flood hero in the traditions of India matching Noah’s description is named “Manu,” meaning Noah (Nu) of the Waters (Ma). This makes up the etymology of the English word “man,” and serves as a subtle reference to Noah as the common ancestor of all those now living. References to Noah’s name in the context of the Flood are found worldwide (52).
Though the story was altered as it transferred down through time, these examples confirm the biblical account of a world-wide Flood. The more you look, the more evidence you find supporting a literal interpretation of the biblical Flood. But, as we will see, taking the story literally only increases its symbolic value.
The story of Noah’s Flood is further validated by an abundance of physical evidence. Stratified geologic layers throughout the earth are the remnants of an apocalyptic catastrophe. The worldwide deposit of strata with no topsoil between them testifies of a deluge of unimaginable proportions.
Land masses are believed to have been exposed for long ages and fossils of plants and land animals are found in many strata. But since topsoil always forms over exposed ground, its absence between layers means there’s no possibility the layers could have formed slowly.
To get an idea of how thick the organic matter should be between each layer, if evolution were true, think of how many leaves fall on a typical lawn yearly and then multiply that by around 50 million. Even if compressed, that would be massive, yet there is no organic material at all between most of the layers.
Where there is ancient topsoil, there’s usually evidence it was deposited by flowing water. The earth’s layers are also uniformly flat, indicating they swirled together from different areas, settled out of murky water, or precipitated from mineral-rich water. There couldn’t have been any exposure to weather over time, which would have caused erosion and fissures in each layer.
To see how stratified layers form when suspended particles settle out of solution, you can mix some soil into a glass of water and wait for the layers to settle out, as with informal soil testing. You will soon have a stratified soil sample somewhat like of the geologic layers in different parts of the earth.
Limestone is among several rock types found within the geologic layers. It was once thought to have taken up to thousands of years to crystalize, but has since been found to form quickly (14). Minerals such as calcium and magnesium readily bind with CO2 in water to form carbonate precipitates, such as limestone. Water during the Flood year may likely have been rich in CO2 from volcanic output, causing large amounts of limestone crystals to precipitate in the receding waters.
Sandstone can also form under water, and major Grand Canyon sandstone formations show evidence of having been wet through preserved animal tracks, etc. A feature showing multiple layers were soft when subjected to pressure is seen in how they are bent, buckled, or folded at angles of up to 90 degrees in many places, with no fracturing. This finding is also consistent with the idea that the layers were soft when water cut through to form the canyon (2).
Disasters such as the Mount St. Helen’s eruption of 1980 have shown how canyons form quickly by water cutting through soft stratified layers. Despite the differences in conditions, with volcanic ash settling out of the air, it demonstrates how layers accumulate quickly and are then shaped by water.
It’s of note that most places on Earth are missing much of the textbook evolutionary “geologic column.” Only about three places have most of the layers and even those aren’t complete. In many places, the strata are repeated or otherwise inconsistent with the evolutionary model. The only place with a complete geologic column is in artistic depictions, making it a largely hypothetical construct.
The method of assigning ages to layers based on fossils found in them is also faulty, since the mobility and intelligence of creatures would have determined which ones sought to escape the swirling elements. Simpler creatures would have been trapped in the lower strata, being less able to flee. Those with more awareness and mobility would have succumbed later, with humans last of all, resulting in few human fossils.
This is confirmed in how creatures whose fossils occur only in higher layers sometimes left their footprints in lower layers (29). The same reference discusses antediluvian society and why artifacts and building remnants are difficult to find, although some such artifacts do seem to have been found (22, 24). It should be noted that there are places where the earth’s crust has even been inverted due to tectonic activity (7). Civilization wasn’t as developed in those times, and the ferocity of upheaval and surging water during the Flood would have destroyed or deeply buried most remnants of human activity.
It’s of note that every geological layer has fully formed, highly diverse creatures, as described by the term “Cambrian explosion,” which refers to this phenomenon in the first layer where fossils are found (46). Fossils from this layer include creatures with fully developed eyes, complex neurological systems, and brains. Besides the occurrence of fossils that do not fit the evolutionary timescale (17), many of the Cambrian creatures are not found in any other layer, yet have unchanged living counterparts. That would mean they had to have disappeared for hundreds of millions of years and then reappeared, by yet another evolutionary miracle.
Most dating methods used to establish time periods in the geologic layers are problematic. Contamination of samples and variability of the environment through history are among the issues. Living plants and animals have been dated as thousands to millions of years old, for example. Technology that is subject to error, manipulation or biased interpretation provides little proof if it’s not confirmed by observable evidence.
The geologic record doesn’t support theories of long ages, whether theistic or atheistic. On the contrary, it showcases evidence of the worldwide catastrophic Flood. And the information reviewed here is merely an introduction to the volumes of evidence confirming the biblical Creation and Flood accounts. There is much more information available on websites and in videos produced by creation researchers and creation research organizations, such as those mentioned in the references section of this book.
Many things promoted by evolutionists as unquestionable facts are hypothetical or based on unfounded assumptions. If you’re listening to answers that attempt to excuse these discrepancies, you owe it to yourself to consider the other perspective. Evolutionary theory only passes for science when people don’t question it, but it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. It’s more of a grand experiment in social conformity than a discipline of objective truth-seeking.
It’s amazing to think of a place like the Grand Canyon being formed by water. While Noah’s Ark was resting on Mount Ararat, half a world away, a natural dam was breached somewhere in Arizona. The enormous quantities of water it released carved through layer after layer of softly formed sediments to leave a gaping chasm. The Grand Canyon showcases irrefutable evidence of Noah’s catastrophic Flood and stands as a symbol and reminder of how water sculpted the earth as we now know it.