Posted on 12/11/2001 2:56:51 AM PST by jalisco555
"And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth; and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered."
Genesis 7, verses 19-20
Stories about cataclysmic floods prompted by angry deities have abounded in European and Asian mythology for thousands of years, but geologists paid little heed.
Then, in 1997, two Columbia University geology professors, Walter Pitman and William Ryan, stunned the earth-science community with their theory that there had, in fact, been a great deluge around 7,000 BC -- the same time that the Bible says Noah loaded animals and family onto the Ark on instructions from God.
The professors' theory, which became the subject of a popular book, Noah's Flood,and a BBC documentary, was based in large part on detailed radiocarbon-dating of shells and sedimentary cores taken from the floor of the Black Sea.
The two geologists, who did comprehensive mapping of the Black Sea floor and seismic tests to examine the seabed sediments, were astonished to discover that the remains of plants and shells were the same age -- originating about 7,540 BC.
They concluded that as glaciers melted, the level of the Mediterranean Sea rose quickly and sediments formed a natural dam between it and the Black Sea in an area called the Bosphorus Strait.
Pitman and Ryan believe that the pressure from the rising Mediterranean caused the dam to break. This allowed a terrifying cataract of close to 12 billion cubic feet per minute of water to pound across the Black Sea Basin, where the first people to till the land instead of hunting to survive had been established.
The rapid rise in the Black Sea submerged mountains and killed everything in its path, according to Pitman and Ryan.
Their work was an instant hit with many Judeo-Christian theologians, who immediately used it in sermons. To some preachers, the geologists provided proof that the Scriptures were literal truth, as was the image of a deity who would angrily destroy those who sinned and ultimately put a rainbow in the clouds, vowing to never again destroy the earth.
At the same time that the Pitman and Ryan work was being acclaimed in 1996, two Canadian earth-science researchers, Richard Hiscott and Ali Aksu of Memorial University of Newfoundland, were also examining the floor of the southwestern part of the Black Sea.
The researchers were looking at the Bosphorus Strait seabed to determine the origin of organic carbon-rich sedimentary deposits. With funding from the National Science and Engineering Research Council, they were trying to determine if the deposits had anything to do with oil-bearing rock formations and if they were releasing greenhouse gases.
"We were preparing to go to the field when the Ryan paper came and Rick and I looked at each other and we laughed and chuckled because we knew that even the preliminary data were showing the other way," Aksu recalls. "Now, we've written nine papers and no matter what we do, the data do not go Ryan's way."
Aksu and Hiscott were startled to see that their own findings from seismic shooting and sonar mapping of the sea floor along with radiocarbon-dating of the sediments were at odds with that of Ryan and Pitman.
Their work did not show any evidence of rapid, catastrophic flooding through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea over the past 20,000 years. Instead, their findings showed a much slower rise in sea level occurring between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago as the glaciers melted.
"All the data that we have looked at during that time interval [20,000 BC to the present day] basically does not show any evidence of a massive event that would require people to run for their lives," Aksu says.
The two Newfoundland professors have published several papers contesting the flood theory, but until their most recent study, they attracted little public attention.
Aksu recognizes that challenging the Noah flood story will not make him popular with some religious leaders. "In the back of most Christians' minds, they would like to think that there is a true flood and the Bible is correct and finally it is proven," he says. "But as a scientist I have to . . . interpret the data the way the data want to be interpreted."
Aksu, who has spoken several times with Ryan, said it appears the U.S. geologist was premature in writing the book and expounding on the flood theory. "He had a sexy idea and ran with it," he says.
However, Ryan is sticking to his story. He says he and Pitman collected more than 80 soil and sediment cores that probed eight to 12 metres into the seabed and provided data from as far back as 30,000 years.
In work he has seen, he says, the Newfoundland geologists have not reviewed enough of the ancient seabed cores to refute the flood theory. "They have built a case based on extrapolation and extrapolation is risky, and if it disagrees with what someone else has observed, I don't think it is quite right to say that what someone else observed is wrong," he says.
In a telephone interview, Ryan sounds weary of the controversy. "I'd be glad if somebody proved that the Black Sea flood didn't occur. My life would be simpler," he says.
The biblical story of Noah taking two of every animal and bird along with his family onto the Ark while rain pounded the earth for 40 days and nights has been ridiculed by many scientists, who say it would have been impossible to care for so many creatures on a boat.
At the same time, archeologists and adventurers have made several fruitless attempts to scale icy cliffs in the area of Mount Ararat in Turkey, where legends say an ancient wooden structure that is the remains of Noah's Ark is located.
Some archeologists have suggested that Noah and his three sons would have taken only domesticated animals on board the ark, along with enough seeds to plant their next crop.
Ryan says his flood theory does not prove the story of Noah's Ark. But anthropologist Joao Zilhao of the Instituto Portugues de Arquelogia claims agriculture in western Mediterranean countries of Portugal and Italy dates back to about 5,400 B.C.
Basing his findings on radiocarbon-dating of items such as sheep bones, barley and beads, the Portuguese researcher says the first settlers to work the land rather than hunt probably arrived by sea and the colonization took place rapidly over about six generations.
That conclusion, published in November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could coincide with the aftermath of the great flood as displaced farmers looked for new land to cultivate.
The study excites Ryan more than the ongoing debate about Noah's Ark. "Once the Black Sea floods, all the communities have to get out," he says. "The biblical mythical story has animals and seeds put on a boat to survive a flood and has a survivor going to a faraway place and his sons spreading different races around the world. . . .
"The archeological records show a rapid spread of people about that time populating areas and they have domestic animals and domestic grains," he adds.
But that still leaves the question of whether the flood took place.
Ryan and Aksu are now planning to put their opposing theories to the test. They are organizing an expedition to the Black Sea soon to take more seabed cores and analyze the results.
"I don't want to say nasty things publicly," Ryan says. "But if he [Aksu] wants to do this [refute the flood theory], there is going to be egg on one of our faces," he says.
The story makes provisions for both rain and rising water, not just rain.
The little girl said, "The Bible says Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, and so I believe he was."
"How do you explain the small throat? How could Jonah have gotten down a whale's throat?" asked the teacher.
"I don't know, but I'll ask Jonah when I get to heaven," said the little girl.
"What if Jonah went to hell?" asked the teacher.
"Then," said the little girl, "you can ask him."
Verse 1
A long time ago when the earth was green,
There were more kinds of animals than you've ever seen,
They'd run around free while the earth was being born,
But the loveliest of all was the Unicorn.
Chorus:
There were green alligators, and long necked geese,
Some humpty-back camels and some chimpanzees,
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as your born,
The loveliest of all was the Unicorn.
Verse 2
Now God seen some sinning and it gave him pain,
And he said stand back I'm going to make it rain.
He said hey brother Noah I'll tell you what to do,
Build me a floating zoo...
"And take some of them..."
Chorus:
Verse 3
Well Noah was there to answer the call,
And he finished making the ark just as the rain started to fall.
He marched in the animals two by two,
And he called out as they went through...
"Hey Lord I got your..."
Chorus:
Verse 4
Well Noah looked out through the driving rain,
The Unicorns were hiding and playing silly games.
They were kicking and a-splashing while the rain was pouring,
Oh them silly Unicorns.
1/2 Chorus:
Noah cried close the door, because the rain is pouring,
And we just can't wait for no Unicorn.
Verse 5
Well the ark started moving and it drifted with the tide.
The Unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried,
And the waters came down and sort of floated them away,
"And that's why you've never seen a Unicorn - to this very day"
Chorus:
Well, if GOD said he needed an ark, then Noah probably needed an ark.
The story makes provisions for both rain and rising water, not just rain.
The Bible story does...I was asking about this 'flood theory' mentioned in the article.
I do remember reading somewhere that whale was just assumed that it was a large fish, but never says in the text that it was specifically a whale. Point is, the Bible said it happened, it happened, and these great scientists with all their degrees, and all their scientific equipment can root around underwater for the next 30 years, it still doesn't mean that they will ever come to the correct answer. God covered the earth in water, I don't think there's too much to argue there.
1 Corinthians
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
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