Aside from the impossible logistics of gathering two of every animal on earth and all the requisite food to keep them alive, what about the myriad fishermen alive during that time? Surely their boats could survive during this time and they could drink the rain water and catch fish for sustenance, right? So why would Noah’s boat be the only one to survive? And did he have two white people and two Asians and two Africans and two Indians and two people of every race? Did they then all commit incest to grow their numbers sufficient to repopulate the planet?
This particular story has always bothered me. And when one calculates the sheer volume of water to accomplish what the story says, it’s simply preposterous on its face. Even if every bit of ice melted the sea level change wouldn’t even come close to covering the whole earth up to the mountaintops. Sure, it would swamp the low-lying areas and all the coastal towns would be inundated, but the people and animals could simply move to higher ground and survive.
I think the Noah story was about a regional flood and as it was retold numerous times the size and impact of the flooding got exaggerated and when it was finally written down it wasn’t even remotely accurate any more.
But that’s just my two cents. Your mileage may differ.
I think the retold stories are stories of when the glaciers melted and mankind all over the world had to move inland as the waters rose and the land changed. So many populations lived near the waters edge as we do today so it was told and retold, the story of the rainbow was a poetic touch as well.
I think the retold stories are stories of when the glaciers melted and mankind all over the world had to move inland as the waters rose and the land changed. So many populations lived near the waters edge as we do today so it was told and retold, the story of the rainbow was a poetic touch as well.