Noah's Ark

[|Paradox|]

Hey there,

I am not arguing, I'm just trying to find out other people's opinion on this topic. I am a new Christian, but find it hard to believe in certain parts of the Bible and want to understand how other people accept certain issues.

My problem regarding Noah's Ark. Firstly, I do have doubts on the possibility of a global flood, being able to have two of EVERY creature and then surviving on the ark for a year. But supposing this did happen. I find it hard to accept that my loving and caring God would give up on all the people, especially young babies/children and kill them all.

I do apologise if someone takes offense to what I've said, but think you can understand where I am coming from.

Thanks for your help/assistance,

Paradox

 

[W Jay Schroeder]

Many do have struggles with what occurred in the old testement. We can not fully understand how God works. what seems impossible to happen happens a lot today. tornadoes come through a town and destroyes your neighbors house and doesnt touch your house at all. i heard a story of a house having a gas leak and a mother and two kids ran to get out but didnt make it out before the house blew apart. they lived without many injuries. the House was in pieces. How does this happen. It's not that important to know how it happened but to believe it did. We need not to understand the complete way of how God works or did work but to know how he is working in us know. the Flood happend and we have stories in a lot of cultures so something major happened or it would not have been such a wide spread story. Why is it important for you to have to know for certain that it did or did not?

 

[mmreed]

There are a few interesting studies on the feasibility of the Ark:

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c013.html

they all seem to say it is quite possible to have a pair of each.

 

[|Paradox|]

Thanks W Jay Schroeder for your reply and mmreed for your website. It has opened my mind a bit more into the possibility but still have some doubts.

I agree terrible stuff happens everyday but its part of His plan. My reason for asking is basically my answer to:

Why is it important for you to have to know for certain that it did or did not?

What my issue is, is does a Christian believe nearly everything in the Bible? Because I don't think I believe everything.... when I say everything I'm not meaning having doubts on a setence or a translation error, but a passage like Noah's Ark.

Any further info would be appreciated. Take care,

|Paradox|

 

[SoulFly51]

Hey there,

I am not arguing, I'm just trying to find out other people's opinion on this topic. I am a new Christian, but find it hard to believe in certain parts of the Bible and want to understand how other people accept certain issues.

My problem regarding Noah's Ark. Firstly, I do have doubts on the possibility of a global flood, being able to have two of EVERY creature and then surviving on the ark for a year. But supposing this did happen. I find it hard to accept that my loving and caring God would give up on all the people, especially young babies/children and kill them all.

I do apologise if someone takes offense to what I've said, but think you can understand where I am coming from.

Thanks for your help/assistance,

Paradox

First of all, do you believe that God is all powerful? Do you believe if God wills it, it will happen?

God simply spoke, and space, the stars, the planets, the earth and everything in them were created! God is all powerful. If He wills it, it happens!


As far as your comment that you can't believe God would give up on people, here is a Scripture that you might find helpful. It might make you rethink your stance on this issue:


1 Peter 3:17-22
17 It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison
20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,
21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also-- not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-- with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
(NIV)


This Scripture says that Jesus (while in the Spiritual form) went and preached to the spirits of those who died in the great flood while they were in prison (hades - which is different from hell).

Also, keep this in mind. God would never give up on us. He would never abandon His children. However, that doesn't mean that His children don't give up on or abandon Him ...

Hope this helps.

 

[W Jay Schroeder]

Thanks W Jay Schroeder for your reply and mmreed for your website. It has opened my mind a bit more into the possibility but still have some doubts.

I agree terrible stuff happens everyday but its part of His plan. My reason for asking is basically my answer to:



What my issue is, is does a Christian believe nearly everything in the Bible? Because I don't think I believe everything.... when I say everything I'm not meaning having doubts on a setence or a translation error, but a passage like Noah's Ark.

Any further info would be appreciated. Take care,

|Paradox|

depends on who you ask. We can certainly not understand or fully comprhend how it could or did and still be a christian. Noah Ark to me ilustrates sin and it curse of death, some think it is just a illustration or parable, though i think their wrong, it still has the same meaning to them as it does to me. I dont understand that view but we are all different. their are books about the Ark which is probably easier to believe thenm a world wide flood, especially if your in science and most dont think it was world wide, so the pressure is on you to prove such a thing. But that is not the issue so i dont see the point, though i dont mind debating it or discussing it. I think we should trust God and look to the future. Not let the past which you were not apart of lead you astray or give you doubts about the future.

 

[Singing Bush]

What my issue is, is does a Christian believe nearly everything in the Bible? Because I don't think I believe everything.... when I say everything I'm not meaning having doubts on a setence or a translation error, but a passage like Noah's Ark.

Howdy |Paradox|, I'm not sure if I understand your question fully, but if I do I believe your problem stems both from (1) a common misconception that the Bible must be completely 100% true in every aspect for it to be valid and (2) a loss of focus on the Bible's purpose. The Bible is meant to be our spiritual guide for life and salvation. If it's scientifically, or historically, or mathematically accurate then great, bonus, but if it is not then the Christian message is not necessarily bogus as a result. In order for Christianity to be "true", the only statements at all that really need be accurate in the Bible are those concerning Christ's nature and life. The whole rest could be story and poetry, riddled w/ factual errors, and the life that Christ brings us would still be genuine.

If you're having trouble w/ the spiritual implications of a passage, however, (and are not struggling w/ the veracity of a story or claim as I was under the impression you were in my statement above) then yes, the Bible must be taken as truth. That IS, after all, what the Bible is for (2 Tim 3:16). That said, it's always dangerous to put too much emphasis on a single story or passage in the Bible and so the Bible is best interpreted w/ reference to the rest of it. It may seem cruel that God would destroy the world in such a manner, but do not get from this the belief that God then is a merciless, blood-thirsty God. After all, it's made clear later that God is love (1 John 4:8). As such, there must be a way for both of these seemingly contradictory statements to be true and while we may not ever be able to fully explain some of these (i.e. predestination vs free will), we can surely come up w/ numerous possibilities to many of them. If you'd like I'd be more than happy to explain my own take on it, but I didn't think that was incredibly important right now.

By the way, it's in my not so humble opinion that the material put forth in http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c013.html
is intelligent-sounding rubbish if you remain skeptical after reviewing it. But alas, that's a different issue entirely.

 

[Telrunya]

Hey there,

I am not arguing, I'm just trying to find out other people's opinion on this topic. I am a new Christian, but find it hard to believe in certain parts of the Bible and want to understand how other people accept certain issues.

My problem regarding Noah's Ark. Firstly, I do have doubts on the possibility of a global flood, being able to have two of EVERY creature and then surviving on the ark for a year. But supposing this did happen. I find it hard to accept that my loving and caring God would give up on all the people, especially young babies/children and kill them all.

I do apologise if someone takes offense to what I've said, but think you can understand where I am coming from.

Thanks for your help/assistance,

Paradox

I, for one, do believe the bible to be 100% true and accurate. It is not 100% literal though. God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar in dreams and what he saw wasn't literal but representations that meant something. There is alot of alagory in the bible. There is also alot of poetry in the bible. The global flood is recounted in many cultures the world over and in most of them only one small family survived. In many of those the name of the patriarch of that family is a variation of Noah. Did the flood happen? 100% true. Was Noah God's chosen who survived the flood? 100% true. This leaves the question of how in the world did he stuff that many animals into a boat? Being a believer in a literal 7 day creation I dont believe in evolution. Adaptation however is a proven fact. Were there red squirrels, grey squirrels, flying squirrels all on the Ark? Most likely not. 2 squirrels. Why would Noah need to but a full grown pair of elephants on the ark when 2 very young (and comparitively small) elephants would work just fine? Add to the fact that this was a miracle of God's own hand. 2 Kings 4:1-7 tell of a widow who needed money and only had a little oil in her house. Elisha told her to borrow a lot of jars and fill them with what she had in her one jar and she did. She was able to pay her debts and still had money enough left for her and her sons to live on. The point that applies here is that God who created the universe isn't bound by what we concider the laws of physics. Spacial demensions dont mean alot to the One who created the laws of physics. Could all powerfull God have made room on the ark for 2 grey squirrels, 2 red squirrels, 2 fully grown elephants and every other genuis and species? You bet He could!

 

[talitha]

Paradox, from what I can see, your heart-question does not have to do with whether or not every detail of the Bible is historically accurate or not. Your question is much more critical than that; it has to do with the character of God. When we come face to face with a part of God's character that doesn't fit into our theology, we have a choice to make -- either we accept God for who He is, or we reinvent Him -- and this is a subtle form of idolatry. We all have to guard against this; all mankind is tempted to reinvent God, and when we do, we no longer worship and serve the true God but the one we like better, the one that doesn't do things we don't understand (in fact, he does nothing at all; we made him up).

"Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man -- and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." (cf Romans 1)

We must determine to accept God for who He is, whether we like it or not, whether it makes sense to us or not. Whether you believe, for example, that Job was a literal man or not is not the issue. If he was an actual person, he's dead now. But read the last few chapters of the book of Job (starting with chapter 38), and you will see what God has to say to someone who has a theology crisis because of suffering. Basically it says that God is God and we are not, and we need to come to terms with that fact so we can go on from there.

I pray that you will.
blessings
tal

 

[SoulFly51]

By the way, I also believe the Bible to be 100% accurate, although I personally don't take all of it literally.


For instance, in Genesis it says that God created the heavans and the earth in seven days. I believe that these "seven days" occured over the course of thousands of years.

 

[Ave Maria]

Don't feel bad. I also have doubts about certain parts of the Bible like Noah's Ark. I think these links might be helpful for you though:

http://www.christiananswers.net/creation/menu-catastrophe.html
http://www.answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/noah.asp

 

[Evie]

Hey there,

I am not arguing, I'm just trying to find out other people's opinion on this topic. I am a new Christian, but find it hard to believe in certain parts of the Bible and want to understand how other people accept certain issues.

My problem regarding Noah's Ark. Firstly, I do have doubts on the possibility of a global flood, being able to have two of EVERY creature and then surviving on the ark for a year. But supposing this did happen. I find it hard to accept that my loving and caring God would give up on all the people, especially young babies/children and kill them all.

I do apologise if someone takes offense to what I've said, but think you can understand where I am coming from.

Thanks for your help/assistance,

Paradox

Paradox,
take it like this.
If you don't start now believing everything that is written in His holy Word now,sweetie,you will have a problem. If God said "let there be 2 of every animal-then there were 2 of every animal! God is all powerful and when he says" man,it happens" shouldn't question the big man upstairs-just believe it and let it get deep in your heart,soul and mind!

 

[Singing Bush]

As an addendum to my post, if you are in fact having trouble correlating your factual knowledge of reality with a certain interpretation of the Bible consider what's more likely: that the information you have learned is wrong or that your interpretation of the passage is wrong? God gifted us w/ intelligence, let us use it for His glory.

 

[beetlequeendiva]

As far as the animals going it's most likely that they would be baby animals taken into the ark - there is more likelyhood of them going on to multiply and fill the earth!!!