Noah's Ark Could Not Have Happened

First off, Thank you for the chance to debate a fun topic.I see 4 main arguments for me to refute after I make my initial statement.1. Animal migration2. Animal health and dietary requirements 3. Dimensions of the ark4. Improbability of Noah doing all this (as a 600 year old man) Pro says “Noah's Ark Could Not Have Happened”. This makes my side of the debate the very easy position that the human events of Noah’s are possible. Since the premise is that this event is a work of God, we will leave out the aspects for which God is the prime mover.Here is a time-line of flood events.After Noah is 500 years old he fathers Shem, Ham, and Japheth.- (Gen 5:32)There is a population explosion (Gen 6:1)God says that he will “blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land” (Gen 6:7)God gives dimensions of the ark (3 decks, 450 ft long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet tall) Gen 6:15-16God tells Noah to “take for yourself some of all food which is edible, . . . for you and for them”(Gen 6:21)God tells Noah to enter the ark (Gen 7:1) with his household, 7 pairs of each clean animal (Gen 7:2), one pair of each unclean and 7 pair of birds.Noah did as instructed in before the 7 days were finished (Gen 7:4)Then the rains begin to fall.Noah and family enter the ark because the flood water have begun to rise (Gen 7:7)Pairs of animals went into the ark to Noah.“On the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.” (Gen 7:11)Then God closes the door of the ark behind them. (Gen 7:16)The water rose to a height of 22 feet above the mountain peaks. (Gen 7:20)Noah stayed in the ark for 370 days [1]Some details that make the story more plausible. 1. God gave Noah 120 years of warning in which to prepare. 2. We have some of the details of the size of the ark (1518750 cubic feet in 3 decks of 33750 square feet. 3. The flooding brought animals to the high lands where the ark was (so Noah did not have to herd them) 4. God brought the animals onto the ark in pairs. Since this is a supernatural one time event it is not part of this debate. 5. We have details about the time for the flood to subside that don’t fit the “once upon a time” style of story.There are some questions where we don’t have enough detail.1. Was this a global flood, or a flood of the “known world”? If it was global then the migration issues are far more serious. If it was a regional flood that wiped out humans and their locale the migration issues are less extreme. Since PRO did not specify I am assuming a “known world” flood rather than the distributed continents we have on our maps today. [2]2. How many animal were on the ark? Assuming a regional flood before humans had migrated far from the Tigris / Euphrates river valleys & flood plains we have a much smaller number of animals needing rescue than the entire planet. Morris and Whitcomb estimate 35,000 individual animals needed to go on the ark.[3] John Woodmorappe suggest that less than 3000 is closer to the correct number, and that the ark could easily accommodate 16,000 animals.[4] More recent estimates suggest the ark could hold up to 50000 animals. [5]3. Are fossil beds evidence of a catastrophic flood? We would expect a flood to leave some traces even after all this time. Many believe the large beds of fossils and other geographic features to be evidence of the flood. [6] “National Geographic Society explorer Robert Ballard, inspired by Ryan and Pitman's hypothesis, has discovered supporting physical evidence, including an underwater river valley and ancient shoreline as well as Stone Age structures and tools beneath the Black Sea. His team has also unearthed fossils of now-extinct freshwater species dating back some 7,460 to 15,500 years.” [7]4. What might God have used to cause the flood? Bruce Masse, an environmental archaeologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, suggests that a 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) wide comet crashed into the ocean off the coast of what is now Madagascar.[7]Let me take a moment to respond to PROs questions: “Even if they somehow were magically able to come within a few miles of the ark spontaneously, how would they not hunt each other to extinction?” - Since the animals were fleeing a flood they were more interested in not drowning than in food. Even though many would feed well (in preparation for the ark) only one pair (or 7 for some species) were needed. Extinction was not really an issue as all but a few were going to die.“Surely they would've eaten eachother, right? ” - wrong actually if we can keep animals long term in zoos, I’m sure Noah could have arranged cages to stop feeding.“Aside from food, they would need water, also. ” - I don’t think a lack of water would be a problem. Catching rain water would not have been difficult to engineer into the ark. Food is a big deal. I am assuming that Noah would want to under feed animals (as zoos do before transport) to minimize poop, nausea and motion sickness. Noah had 120 years to prepare, so the gathering of food is less of a problem than the storage space. Food would need to be stored as ballast, and then be replaced by poop as the days went by.“how did none of them get sick?” - Very good question. Since sickness generally transmits within a species there is less trouble than within a population of the same species. I would say this required God’s special choosing of animals healthy to begin with.“How did Noah fit the animals aboard” - The 1518750 cubic feet is about 600 railway “livestock” cars. Although you might get only a few pairs of large animals, you need to remember that there is no need for full sized adult specimens. The pairs needed to be able to breed eventually, not immediately. The standard double-deck livestock car can accommodate 240 sheep [5] so 600 cars worth of space could hold a lot of animals and food.“Also, isn't bacteria an animal?” - NO!“and how would he gather it?” - Noah didn’t gather them, they came to the ark after Noah and his family were aboard. This was an act of God like the shutting of the door and sending the flood and is outside the scope of this debate.Thanks for the great questions.It was fun to research.You state that “Noah’s ark could not have happened.” and then limit the debate to the ark, animals and what Noah could have accomplished.I conclude it is possible. Noah had 120 years in which to prepare. He could have hired help to build the ark and collect food for the year in the ark. The rising waters brought species near the ark. God brought the pairs into the ark. Too much water was the problem, and rainwater collection was a well known process. Food (as ballast) would be replaced by poop (as ballast) to keep the ark stable. The dimensions of the ark would allow it to handle rough conditions. The dimensions of the ark give it room for 120000 pairs of animals.I would say that the story of Noah is unlikely, but that is exactly the point! God did this one in the known history of humanity. It is a unique event. Nothing done by Noah is outside the realm of possibility, and he shows just how human he is in Genesis 9:20 ff when he passes out drunk and bad things start to happen all over again.[1] http://www.godspointofview.com...[2] http://ncse.com...[3] http://www.amazon.com...[4] http://www.amazon.com...[5] http://christiananswers.net...[6] http://christiananswers.net...[7] http://science.howstuffworks.com...