The literal interpretation of the flood,as reported in the Christian NIV bible, could have happened.

Contention to Opening Argument: All my opponent has said in his opening argument is that there could be a possibility. He says if he told me about cellphones or planes when i was in the 400 A. D. , it would all sound bizarre and outlandish to me. Indeed it would. However, if he in detail describes how they would work, then it would be much more reasonable to think of such technologies when we were in the 400 A. D. (though you'd have to be way ahead of your time). For us now, it's easier since we can look back into history. The idea if a worldwide flood is ridiculous since if it did happened, then so many things we see today would not be as they are. (A) My opponent argues that we do not know if Earth's condition 6500 years ago was much different, smoother, etc. He says it is then possible to think that a worldwide flood is possible. However, there are many things from now on which we can determine the Earth was pretty much the same. At least 6500 years ago. Tree ring records go back more than 10,000 years, with no evidence of a catastrophe during that time. "The Bible suggest the water came from under the ground (Genesis 7:11 on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth) It would not be unlikely that there was much more water under the ground than currently. " This is Walt Brown's Hydroplate theory. Walt Brown's model proposes that the Flood waters came from a layer of water about ten miles underground, which was released by a catastrophic rupture of the earth's crust, shot above the atmosphere, and fell as rain. Let's say the water was only a mile deep. The earth is boiling hot and the water would've been poaching, especially when shot up and coming down with tons of energy. Noah would've been barbecued. How would the water have been contained under the earth's crust? Rock that makes up the earth's crust doesn't float, so it would've come out long before Noah came skipping along. Where is the evidence? The escaping waters would have eroded the sides of the fissures, producing poorly sorted basaltic erosional deposits. These would be concentrated mainly near the fissures, but some would be shot thousands of miles along with the water. (Noah would have had to worry about falling rocks along with the rain. ) Such deposits would be quite noticeable but have never been seen. (B) First I want everyone to note that my opponent has failed to address the last 3 points I raise after talking about the Ark itself. He has only tackled the Ark. "In summary this argument is pure speculation, not scientific. " All my opponent has said is that we don't know what Noah had back then. We can speculate that he had the technology. This is not evidence at all. "There are numerous stories (over 200) of a worldwide flood found in many different cultures and countries. The account of the flood is told by the Hindus, Chinese, Greeks, Mexicans, Hawaiians, and numerous other countries. .. " Why is there no mention of the Flood in the records of Egyptian or Mesopotamian civilizations which existed at the time? Biblical dates (I Kings 6:1, Gal 3:17, various generation lengths given in Genesis) place the Flood 1300 years before Solomon began the first temple. We can construct reliable chronologies for near Eastern history, particularly for Egypt, from many kinds of records from the literate cultures in the near East. These records are independent of, but supported by, dating methods such as dendrochronology and carbon-14. The building of the first temple can be dated to 950 B. C. +/- some small delta, placing the Flood around 2250 B. C. Unfortunately, the Egyptians (among others) have written records dating well back before 2250 B. C. (the Great Pyramid, for example dates to the 26th century B. C. , 300 years before the Biblical date for the Flood). No sign in Egyptian inscriptions of this global flood around 2250 B. C. Flood myths are fairly common worldwide, and if they came from a common source, we should expect similarities in most of them. Instead, the myths show great diversity. [Bailey, 1989, pp. 5-10; Isaak, 1997] For example, people survive on high land or trees in the myths about as often as on boats or rafts, and no other flood myth includes a covenant not to destroy all life again. . http://www.talkorigins.org... But an explanation for most of the stories can be explained still. Here's where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers come into play. The two waterways that slice through modern day Iraq served as the main thoroughfares for trade at that time, and were the setting for the flood story in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Because both rivers flood each summer, scholars think that Noah's story may be based on that actual event -- a greater than usual flooding of the Tigris or Euphrates. In fact, archeologists have uncovered evidence of such a great flood in Mesopotamia, dating back to around 2900 B. C. , that quickly wiped out a number of Sumerian cities [source: Saggs]. . http://history.howstuffworks.com... "Scientifically speaking we know that there have been mass extinctions of animals in the past. .. " Exactly which deposit of extinct animals are you referring to? Animals dying and becoming fossilized isn't something peculiar in history. "If a global flood occurred we would expect to see massive amounts of oil, natural gas. .. " Again, what specific example are you referring to? Because these things are common. "Enormous Ocean Ridges evidence massive earthquakes and tectonic movement. .. " This divergent boundary first formed in the Triassic period when a series of three-armed grabens coalesced on the supercontinent Pangaea to form the ridge. Usually only two arms of any given three-armed graben become part of a divergent plate boundary. The failed arms are called aulacogens, and the aulacogens of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge eventually became many of the large river valleys seen along the Americas and Africa (including the Mississippi River, Amazon River and Niger River). Nothing about bursting water from the underground. Oh and by the way, I used your own source. . http://en.wikipedia.org...