The Story of Noah's Ark Cannot Reasonably be Accepted as True

Many thanks to my partner, for agreeing to this contest. I would hope, however, that my mind remains closed. Preventing an open mind is why I wear a motorcycle helmet. I will begin by restating that my task will be to demonstrate that a reasonable, sane adult is unlikely to believe that Noah’s Ark is an accurate account of real historic events – as it is written in the creation story that appears in the bible. It will be the task of my partner to prove that it really happened. I note that there are many suppositions (which I see no need to describe in detail right now), that there may have been a massive regional flood that might have occurred in about the same region from which the Old Testament was compiled. It may be reasoned that a memory of this cataclysm might have inspired the tales of a great flood – including the famous two that appear in the bible. This will not do. As an atheist, I regard the bible as very much ‘non-literal.’ Those who ‘believe’ in the truth of the bible do not have this luxury. Arguing that portions of the bible are ‘non-literal’ is tantamount to arguing that they are ‘not true.’ This is the very definition of atheism. Here are a few elements of the story: Date: According Irish archbishop James Ussher, Flavius Josephus, and other biblical scholars, we can range the date in which the flood occurred from 2500 BC and 2300 BC. [1] The Egyptian Fourth Dynasty ended, and the Fifth Dynasty began, c. 2494. The flood killed all life on earth, excluding the Ark: (Gen. 6:13) “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me” (Gen. 6:17) “ I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.(Gen 7:4) every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. Gen 7:21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth…. 7:23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive..." All life on earth was stored inside the Ark along with all the food they would need: (Gen. 6:19) “And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. (Gen. 6:20) Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.” The Size of the Ark: The biblical description reads, (Gen. 6:15) “The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.” The book of Ezekiel describes a “cubit” as being about 10 ½’ long. This would make the Ark about 3150 feet long. The Ark was also made of “gopher wood,” and it had no metal nails, bolts or iron support beams. There is no shipbuilder alive who would launch such a vessel; it would fall apart instantly. Noah’s family made up the entirety of the human race following the flood: (Gen. 6:18) “But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. 7:7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark…” Noah was 600 years old: 7:6 “And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.” Sea Levels Rose to Cover the “High Hills” and Mountains: (Gen 7:19) And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 7:20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. The flood lasted 150 days: 7:24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. These descriptions of the creation story raise many questions for Creationists. I will present a few of them here. To guard against accusations of “Gish Galloping,” I will only ask that six of them be answered in the next round. I have marked these six with an asterisk. 1. Incest questions: * Did Noah’s grandsons have incestuous relationships with his granddaughters? Was there a sufficient breeding population for humans and animals? 2. Incomplete Food Chain: * What did the predators eat after they left the Ark? Carnivorous predators require an uneven ratio of meat-eating to plant-eating animals: lions would need to eat faster than the two (or seven) gazelles could reproduce. What did they eat when they were returned to the wild? What about the other 250 species of land predators? How did the marine animals eat without a complete food chain? Why didn’t the Venus fly trap kill the only two flies that existed after the flood? 3. Marine Life and sea levels: * If the flood was freshwater, it would have killed all the oceanic life that depends on very delicate levels of saltwater salinity. If the flood water was salty, it would have killed all of the freshwater species. How did Noah catch, store and feed the two blue whales? How could he have fed them plankton – when only two of these tiny “life substances” existed? If sea levels rose to cover the “high hills” and mountains, then where did the water go after only 150 days? 4. Deep Sea/Surface Level Creatures: How did the rise in sea levels impact those sea creatures that depend on very specific depths and pressures for their habitat? 5. Male and Female?: * How did Noah bring animals into the Ark by male and female – when so many species are hermaphroditic (such as earthworms) or female only? [2] 6. Microscopic life: How did Noah protect bacteria and other microscopic organisms? 7. Did Noah exterminate the Animals that God had ordered to be saved?: * (Gen. 8:20) “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.” Why didn’t this cause the extinction of “every clean beast” and fowl? 8. Time Frame Logistics: How much time does the creation story say that Noah had to load and unload all the animals into and out of the Ark. Compared to how long it might take to load/unload passengers in air travel, does the bible give a reasonable amount of time to accomplish this? 9. Lack of Worldwide Records: * Why didn’t the Fifth Dynasty Egyptians (who left written records and histories) make note of the fact that they were all killed? If it is argued that the flood did not occur during this stage of Egyptian history, then why did no other civilization notice that their entire civilization was wiped out? If it is argued that the flood occurred during prehistory, then why is the bible wrong? 10. Inconsistencies: There are contradictory statements regarding the numbers of each type of animal brought into the Ark, how long the Ark was used, and when Noah loaded and entered the Ark. How can these variations be reconciled? As I ask these questions, I am struck by how aggressive they seem - it feels almost disrespectful to present them. And yet, this is the actual, clear wording of the creation story that we are being told should be taught in American schools. Creationists would have us "teach the debate, and present both sides" in science classrooms. If this is a serious suggestion, then questions such as these will need to be answered eventually. My argument in support of my statement that this legend should be considered a "non-literal," or fictional account is prima facie: reasonable, sane and rational adults do not believe these things - removed from the arena of religion. Included in religion, most adults will simply dismiss them as the atheists do - as "not literal." [1] Dating: http://www.creationtips.com... [2] Female-Only spider mites: http://news.nationalgeographic.com...