Bible Questions?

Q: Did Noah need oxygen on the Ark?

A: Why would someone ask this question? Let’s back up and look at this from a big picture. Consider what the Bible says about the voyage of the Ark:

The water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered. The water prevailed fifteen cubits higher, and the mountains were covered. (Genesis 7:19–20)

People then look at the earth today and note that the highest mountain is Mt. Everest, which stands just over 29,000 feet above sea level. Then they put two and two together and say that Noah’s Ark floated at least 15 cubits above Mt. Everest—and at such high altitude, people need oxygen!

It sounds like a straightforward argument, doesn’t it? But did you notice that I emphasized the word today? In light of this, the solution is quite simple: the Flood did not happen on today’s earth, but rather on the earth of nearly 4,300 years ago (according to Ussher).

The world today is not the same as it was before the Flood, or even during the Flood. For instance, if the mountains, continents, and oceans basins of today’s earth were more leveled out (as would be expected in a global Flood), the planet’s surface water alone would cover the earth an estimated 1.66 miles deep—about 8,000 feet. Yet when I visited Cusco, Peru, which is around 11,000 feet above sea level, I didn’t need an oxygen tank.

Furthermore, atmospheric air pressure is relative to sea level. So as rising sea levels pushed the air column higher, the air pressure at sea level would stay the same.

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Continue reading as Bodie Hodge answers the question Did Noah Need Oxygen on the Ark?

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Website: www.answersingenesis.org

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Ice Age

More On The Ice Age

Q. I love this web site. How long do you think it has been since Adam was driven out of the garden? You mentioned that you believed there was an ice age and that it occurred about 10,000 years ago and ended approximately 2000 years before Abraham. Are you suggesting that Adam may have been driven out around that time or, in other words, do you believe that time since Adam has been approximately 6000 years? What are your thoughts?

A. Please read my answer to the Ice age question more carefully. What I said is that traditionally scientists have believed that the Ice Age occurred about 10,000 years ago (which would be 8,000 BC) but that now it appears it was much more recent, and probably ended about 2000 BC, as Abraham was being born.

Here’s a very brief summary of how it might have happened. Assume that Adam was created about 6000 years ago (4000 BC). Using the life spans from Genesis 5 we can determine that the Great Flood came 1656 years after the Creation, or about 2344 BC. The Ice Age was actually an after effect of the Great Flood. Having that much water on the surface of the Earth would have caused its surface temperature to rise and evaporation to increase, resulting in almost constant cloud cover. Because of the cloud cover the sun’s rays were blocked and atmospheric temperatures dropped. The water vapor in the saturated clouds reached the dew point and fell back to Earth turning to snow as it passed through the cold air. This cycle repeated itself until much of the Earth was covered with deep snow which caused surface temperatures to drop. As the Earth became colder the evaporation stopped. Once the cloud cover had dissipated, the sun “came out” again and the snow and ice on the Earth began to melt. As it did the world’s oceans rose up to 200 feet. (In many parts of the world there are ruins of formerly coastal cities now submerged in up to 200 feet of water.)

This all happened over the 300 year span of time between the Great Flood and the birth of Abraham, which took place 1947 years after the Creation (about 2053 BC). It was during this time that civilizations flourished in the Middle East, because the frequent precipitation during the Ice Age made the Middle East and other areas near the Equator lush and fertile. After the Ice Age ended, the precipitation stopped and the Middle East became the arid desert we see there today.

This is a gross oversimplification, presented just to give you a rough idea of how the Ice Age came to be, according to the “recent” point of view. While the length of time between the Creation, the Great Flood, and the Birth of Abraham can be accurately determined from the Biblical account, the actual year of their occurrence is just an estimate.

Website: www.gracethrufaith.com

Ice Age?

Was There An Ice Age?

Q. Since there is no mention of it in the Bible I have often wondered if there actually ever was an “ice age” as many in science claim with certainty there was, or if all the physical evidence that they point to was actually caused by the flood. Do you have any thoughts on this?

A. Yes, it appears there really was an Ice Age, but according to some experts it happened much more recently than scientists have traditionally believed, which is about 10,000 BC. It was more likely one of the after effects of the flood and was ending about the time Abraham came on the scene, around 2000 BC. A book entitled Ice Age Civilizations, by James I. Nienhaus, presents a fascinating case for the more recent date from a Christian perspective.

Website: www.gracethrufaith.com