The Great Flood Was an Actual Historical Event

I will first attack my opponent's second comment near the end of his R3 argument, because that is going to be extremely relevant later in this debate. I. When Was Noah's Flood in the Bible? I will post a quick proof that the Bible says the flood occured at around 2250 BC. Obviously, Jesus was born around 0 BC, meaning that there have been 2012 years since the birth of Christ. Now on to the years before that. The time between Jesus and Abraham, as stated in Luke, is around 2000 years. The time between Abraham and the first year of Adam, is stated in Genesis 5, and is also around 2000 years. [1] But what about the six creation days? "Lexicographers consistently cite the enumerated days of Genesis 1:1-31 as examples of a solar day. "[2][3] So, adding those dates, the world is around 6000 years old, and adding the amount of time between Adam and Noah, we get the date of 2250 BC. [4]Therefore, my opponent cannot use fossils from before that time. Now on to his actual arguments. II. Water My opponent isn't making much sense with "plate tectonics" here. The Bible says: And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. - Genesis 7:19The highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest - and it is 29,035 feet tall. That is the minimum amount of water. My opponent claims that the mountains were not as high back then, however, they grow at a very slow rate. However, "The Himalayan Mountains are still growing higher, at a rate of about 2.4 in/6.1cm per year. "[5] That works out to be around 800 feet since the time of Noah's Flood, making the amount of the Earth covered by water still 28235 feet - a rather insignificant difference. My opponent does not make a conclusive point here. Finally, "How could such a change be effected? To change the density and/or temperature of at least a quarter of the earth's crust fast enough to raise and lower the ocean floor in a matter of months would require mechanisms beyond any proposed in any of the flood models. "[6]To close this point and to put it into perspective for readers: How much water would it take? The total volume of water on Earth is about 1.4 billion cubic kilometers Volume of a sphere = 4/3 r3 where r=radius Radius of Earth = 6,378.15 Kilometers Height of Mt. Everest = 8.85 Kilometers The volume of water needed to cover Earth to the height of Mt. Everest is approximately the difference in volume of a sphere needed to encompass Mt. Everest and the volume of a sphere the size of the Earth. Volume of a sphere encompassing the Earth at sea level = 4/3 (6,378.15 KM)3 = 1,086,825,918,019 KM3 Volume of a sphere encompassing Mt. Everest = 4/3 (6,378.15 + 8.85 KM)3 = 1,091,388,460,971 KM3 The Difference = 4,530,488,766 KM3 Notice that this is more than 3 TIMES the amount of water presently on Earth. [7]Notice the number - 3 times the amount of water presently on Earth. For those keeping score, that around 8700 feet of water per hour. I suppose that all just came out of thin air? III. Population "Creationists would have us believe that eight white people that existed after the Flood, somehow changed into different racial types almost instantaneously. Why is it that this type of drastic evolutionary change has never occurred since? If we can believe that such a racial transformation occurred, then there should be no reason not to believe any manner of evolution occurring over tens of millions of years, for the latter is more believable than the former. "[8]How could the amount of racial diversity that we have today possibly happen? Think about it. How do we have American Indians? Hispanics? Pacific Islanders? These places would have been inaccessible to the survivors, even if they were of those particular races. The Bible says: the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. - Genesis 8:4. Therefore, there was no way they could have produced populations in those areas. I shouldn't have to explain that eight Jews (my opponent fails to make a convincing argument here) could have created the racial diversity we eperience today. "It cannot be supported by any rational or biblical means that all races were formed thereafter. "[8]Also, my opponent has failed to respond to my population argument. I extend my previous quote on the subject. As for water and fish: "In order not to kill the fish of the sea, one needs to preserve more-or-less the same level of water salinity. 4.5 billion cubic km of new water mean roughly 150 million of billions of tons of salt, which are more than 100 million cubic km of salt, in its common shape. This is enough to cover the whole area of the USA with 6.2 miles of salt. Furthermore, salty sea water would kill all the fresh water fish, from lakes and rivers which would be covered by that flood. "[9] My opponent again makes a rather irrelevant and unconvincing argument here. Salt-water fish need salt-water, fresh-water fish need fresh-water, and the various kinds of brackish fish need varying kinds of brackish water. With the sea all swirled around, the level of salt would have been virtually the same at each point by the end of the flood, wiping out all but one type of fish. My opponent tries to use evolution as an argument to prove his case, but the mechanisms of evolution are too slow to work over a period of hours or even a few millennia (meaning they could not exist today). Finally, my opponent addresses my breeding argument by basically just dropping it. IV. Geology "Had the waters once risen, even for a day, so high as to reach the level of the base of one of these cones-had there been a single flood fifty or sixty feet in height since the last eruption occurred- a great part of the volcanoes must have inevitably been swept away. "[10] <---- My opponent has not responded to geological formations surviving the flood. "Such a mass of water as the Flood would have provided sufficient buoyancy to float the polar caps off their beds and break them up. They wouldn't regrow quickly. In fact, the Greenland ice cap would not regrow under modern (last 10 ky) climatic conditions. "[11] <---- My opponent has not responded to ice core arguments. "If all sediments were deposited by a single worldwide flood, there would be but one thick sedimentary layer, not dozens or hundreds as we find throughout the earth. Any flood examined today may lay down a sedimentary deposit, even one containing different debris, but never multiple layers unless another flood occurs afterwards. "[8] <---- My opponent has not responded to sediment arguments. V. Rebuttals As for the opisthotonic pose: "Some animals found in this posture may have suffocated in ash during a volcanic eruption, consistent with the fact that many fossils are found in ash deposits, Faux and Padian said. But many other possibilities exist, including disease, brain trauma, severe bleeding, thiamine deficiency or poisoning. "[12] (Read source for more info)As for the soft-bodied fossils: I invite readers to look at source 13 for more. As for the Mt. Everest fossils: My opponent doesn't refute anything here. Mt. Everest has not gone from the bottom of the sea to where it is now in 4300 years. I won't counter the date problem due to space, but readers, read Roy's arguments. .. Sources: [1]: . http://www.apologeticspress.org...[2]: . http://executableoutlines.com...[3]: ibid[4]: AiG article mentioned earlier[5]: . http://www.extremescience.com...[6]: . http://www.geocities.com...[7]: . http://www.epicidiot.com...[8]: . http://www.orange-street-church.org...[9]: . http://thetruthiswrong.com...[10]: . http://talkatheism.wordpress.com...[11]: . http://www.talkorigins.org...[12]: . http://s8int.com...[13]: . http://ncse.com...