T H E   F L O O D

A topic that has always been of great interest to students of the Bible is
the Flood, an alleged event more cataclysmic than any oth er natural
disaster in history.

There are a great number of difficulties, impossibilities and unanswered
questions accompanying the biblical account.

Anyone believing in the Flood must provide rational answers to the
following questions:

(a) Gen 6:16 says, "A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit
shalt thou finish it above..."  How could so many creatures breathe with
only one small opening which was closed for at least 190 days - 150 days
plus an additional 40 days (Gen. 8:3-6)?

(b) Gen 6:15 says, "The length of the Ark shall be 300 cubits (450 feet),
the breadth of it 50 cubits (75 feet), and the height of it 30 cubits (45
feet)." How could two of every animal survive for approximately 10 months
on a boat encompassing 1,518,750 cubic feet? The food alone would absorb
tremendous space.

(c) Gen 6:17 says, "I do bring a flood of waters upon the Earth, to
destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and
everything that is in the earth shall die."  Gen 7:4 re-enforces this
point, "...and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from
off the face of the earth." Yet, how would a flood destroy sea animals,
such as whales, porpoises, sea snakes, dolphins, amphibians, and all
animals living entirely under water?

(d) Gen 7:8-9 says, "Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean,
and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, There went
in two and two unto Noah into the Ark, the male and the female, as God had
commanded Noah." The problems associated with this account of the
creatures entering the Ark are particularly interesting. How did animals
that are restricted to certain parts of the earth get to the Ark?
Penguins, kangaroos, polar bears, koala bears, and many others would have
had to have crossed vast oceans. How animals from other continents managed
to cross the seas can only be surmised. How did many of the animals
withstand climatic changes?  Many of those from polar regions could not
have withstood the heat of the Middle East. How were animals prevented
from killing their natural prey?

Slow animals from other continents - snails, sloths, turtles, and so forth
- must have started their journey to the Ark before the earth was created.
How did only 8 people feed and water the world's greatest zoo for many
months?  How was the Ark kept sanitary since there was only one window and
one door?  How did the animals know where to go when the time arrived to
enter the Ark?  After being released, how did they return to their
respective regions of the world?  The vegetation which many animals eat
only grows in certain parts of the world.  How was it brought to the Ark
for storage?

Are we to believe that two of every species - two dogs, two cats, two
horses, two snakes, and so forth - entered the Ark?  If so, then are we
also to believe, for example, that the tremendous variety of dogs in the
world today, from the great dane to the chihuahua, descended from two of
the species?  This would mark a tremendous evolutionary change in only a
few thousand years.  Yet, biblicists are the ones who denounce the theory
of evolution.  And how did the animals know when to seek the Ark?  The
text implies they just came voluntarily.

(e) Gen 7:15 says, "And they went in unto Noah into the Ark, two and two
of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life."  How did water creatures
such as whales, porpoises, sea snakes, dolphins, and so forth enter the
Ark? Moreover, since millions of species of animals exist throughout the
world, how could a pair have been taken from each.  There are over 500,000
separate species of insects alone.

(f) Gen. 8:4 states, "And the ark rested in the 7th month, on the 17th day
of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat."  How could the Ark have
rested upon several mountains at once?

(g) "Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated
from off the face of the ground" (Gen 8:8).  Why did Noah send a bird to
learn what was clearly evident?

(h) Gen 8:11 says, "And the dove came in to him in the evening; and lo, in
her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off."  Its difficult to believe a dove
could have found an olive leaf to freshly pluck in a world that had been
submerged for nearly a year.

(i) Gen 8:20 states, "And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of
every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on
the altar."  Killing animals of which only two remain after the Flood
seems absurd.

(j) Gen 7:13 states, "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."  If the human race began anew from Noah and
his sons, are we supposed to believe the wide variations among the earth's
people developed in the short period since the Flood?  Are we supposed to
believe that the fair-haired Swede, the brown-skinned, dark-haired Indian,
and the black-skinned native came from the same ancestors?

(k) Gen 7:4 says, "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon
the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I
have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."  But what had
the beasts and the creeping things done to excite God's anger?  They had
committed no sin; they had eaten no forbidden fruit; and they had not
tried to reach the tree of life.

(l) Gen 8:5 and 8:13 state the Flood covered the earth and its mountains.
If so, where did all the water go?

(m) Lastly, the questions raised by Gen 8:19 must be answered.  The verse
says, "Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever
creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark."
How were the animals preserved after leaving the Ark? There was no grass
except such as had been submerged for a year.  How were the herbivores
taken care of until the earth was again clothed with vegetation?  There
were no animals to be devoured by the carnivores, except those which were
on the Ark.  From whence came their food? Apologists will be asked in next
month's issue to address an equally large number of contradictions between
the verses themselves.

T H E   R E S U R R E C T I O N

Among those beliefs crucial to Christianity few are of greater importance
than that of the Resurrection.  Paul went so far as to allege the very
foundation of Christianity rests upon its occurrence.  "And if Christ be
not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain" (1 Cor
15:14,17).  Yet, why should the Resurrection be of such significance.

Elijah raised a child from the dead (1Kings 17:17,21-22); Samuel said to
Saul, "Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up" (1Sam 2 8:7,11,15);
Elisha raised the dead son of a Shunamite (2Kings 4:32,34-35); a dead man
being lowered into a grave revived when he touched the bones of Elisha
(2Kings 13:21); Moses and Elijah revived at the time of the
Transfiguration (Luke 9:29-30); the saints arose at the time of Jesus'
death (Matt 27:52-53); Jairus' daughter rose from the dead (Matt
9:18,23-25); the widow of Nain's son rose from the dead (Luke 7:11-15);
and Lazarus rose from the dead (John 11:43-44).  All of these people
ascended from death and all did so before Jesus.  So why attribute so much
importance to the event.  By the time Christ rose from the dead this was a
rather common occurrence. Moreover, people not only rose before Jesus but
after him as well.  Peter raised Tabitha and Paul raised Eutychus.  While
participating in a radio call-in program several years ago, the Editor was
told by a caller that, except for Jesus, all of the above mentioned people
eventually died again.  But Paul clearly asserted its the Resurrection,
per se, that matters, not the fact that Jesus never died again.  The
caller was asked to cite a passage that justified his contention.  There
was no reply.  A second major difficulty associated with the Resurrection
lies in the contradictory accounts in the four gospels of what occurred.

The following represent some of the major disagreements surrounding the
events connected with the Resurrection:

(1) At what time in the morning did the women visit the tomb? - At the
    rising of the sun (Mark 16:2) VS - when it was yet dark (John 20:1).

(2) Who came - Mary Magdalene alone (John 20:1) VS - Mary Magdalene and
    the other Mary (Matt 28:1) VS - Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of
    James and Salome (Mark 16:1) VS - Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the
    mother of James and other women (Luke 24:10).

(3) Was the tomb open or closed when they arrived? - Open (Luke 24:2) VS -
    closed (Matt 8:1-2).

(4) Whom did they see at the tomb? - The angel (Matt 28:2)-VS-a young man
    (Mark 16:5) VS - two men (Luke 24:4)- VS-two angels (John  20:11-12).

(5) Were these men or angels inside or outside the tomb? - Outside (Matt
    28:2) VS - inside (Mark 16:5, Luke 24:3-4, John 20:11-12).

(6) Were they standing or sitting? - Standing (Luke 24:4) VS - sitting
    (Matt 28:2, Mark 16:5, John 20:12).

(7) Did Mary Magdalene know Jesus when he first appeared to her? - Yes, he
    did (Matt 28:9) VS - no, she did not (John 20:14).


If the stories were consistent, one could write one long continuous
narrative incorporating all four versions without fear of divergences.
Yet, this has never been done without adding, altering, or omitting
verses. Apologists often submit the witnesses-at-an-auto-accident argument
which is quite irrelevant since two diametrically opposed and mutually
exclusive versions of the same event cannot be simultaneously accurate.
One or the other is false.  Moreover, witnesses at an accident, unlike
gospel writers, are not claiming inerrancy.

Thomas Paine summarized the relationship between the gospels quite well.
"...it is, I believe, impossible to find in any story upon record so many
and such glaring absurdities, contradictions and falsehoods, as are in
those books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They are more numerous and
striking than I had any expectation of finding, when I began this
examination..." (The Age of Reason, p.1 67).

A third major problem connected with the Resurrection lies in the fact
that even if Jesus had risen, nobody is going to follow his example. "For
the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same: as one
dies so dies the other... man has no advantage (pre-eminence) over the
beasts...  All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to
dust again.  Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the
spirit of the beast goes down to the earth" (Eccle 3:19-21 RSV).  Job
7:9-10, 1T im 6:15-16, and Isaiah 26:14 say as much.

And lastly, others participated in even more momentous events.  Adam was
never born to begin with (Gen 1:27); he came into the world as a
full-grown adult.  Enoch (Gen 5:22-24) and Elijah (2Kings 2:11) never
died.  The latter went straight to heaven, which, incidentally,
contradicts Hebrews 9:27 which says, "And it is appointed unto men once to
die..."  In fact, what did Jesus ever do that had not already been
accomplished?  He rose from the dead but only after others.  He performed
miracles but so had others.

What, then, did Jesus do that was different, that had not already been
done?  Plainly stated, "what makes him stand out from the crowd?" Hundreds
have claimed to be the Savior; so what are the acts that substantiate his
credentials.

It may interest readers that the Bible has been rewritten many hundreds of
times (this was covered in a previous issue I believe), particually before
the invention of the printing press. Many books have been removed as they
cause conflicting stories, these few I have given above are a few that
still exist.  Ask yourself what happens if we remove all conflicting
stories, and just how do we decide which ones to remove?

Assertions alone prove nothing. Anyone can claim to be the Messiah and
hundreds have and still do!