Noah's Ark

Fact or Fairy Tale?
Noah’s Ark has been the laughing stock of the scientific community, (or at least, they call themselves “scientific”) for decades. But in light of modern research, The Bible’s account of the Ark is no longer a fairy tale. Unfortunately, I don’t think enough Christians know this. Answers is Genesis has written extensively about Noah’s Ark, so I will be using a lot of their info for my own post. This post will contain information on the Capacity, Constructability, and Survivability of the ark.

Capacity
Before Modern Genetics, I suppose scientists had a reason to question the Bible’s account. You see, back then scientists didn’t fully understand how species can naturally change through time. Sounds like evolution doesn’t it? Well, it is, Micro Evolution is change within certain limits, And we see it happening all the time. Its Macro evolution that is the problem. Back to the point, since scientists didn’t understand genetics, they thought there must have been two of every species of animal on the Ark. And they knew there was no way any type of boat could fit all those animals. For this reason, they reasoned, the Ark story must have been a strange campfire story invented by savages. However, we now know that only two of each TYPE of animal was needed on the ark. From two ancestor dogs, it is possible to derive all the diverse dogs we see today. In fact, we now know that no more than 35,000 animals were needed on the ark. Try that compared to millions! Also, most of the animal’s aboard the ark were very small, not at all what the children's ark depicts. Even large animals like elephants could have been carried as juveniles. Of course, 35,000 is still a big number. However, the ark was a big boat! It was at least 450 ft long, 75 ft wide, and 45 ft high, a mid-sized cargo ship by today’s standards. Capable of carrying twice that amount of animals! This leaves plenty of room for food, fresh water, and even other people.

Constructability
It seems ridiculous to think that Noah, with only his three sons, could have built such a monstrous boat. But the Bible never says that Noah and his sons built the ark alone! I never really thought of this until I read an article on Noah’s ark on the Answers in Genesis website. Noah could have hired tons of skilled laborers and engineers. Think of the types of building loans you could take out if you never had to pay them back! Evil laugh….. Just kidding, I’m sure Noah was an honest man, and even if he never hired any help, he had years to complete his vessel. Many would argue that technology in Noah’s days was insufficient to create such a huge vessel. But this is an “evolutionary concept” as Answers in Genesis says, “Even accounting for the possible loss of technology due to the Flood, early post-Flood civilizations display all the engineering know-how necessary for a project like Noah’s Ark. People sawing and drilling wood in Noah’s day, only a few centuries before the Egyptians were sawing and drilling granite, is very reasonable”! Not only could Noah have had the technology to build the ark, he could have maintained it very well too. Automatic grain dispensers, Waste disposal mechanisms, and other mechanisms wouldn’t necessarily make life on the ark enjoyable, but livable.

Survivability
When modern engineers first analyzed the proportions of the biblical ark, they were surprised to find they were not unlike a modern cargo ship! For Years, Creationists have depicted the ark as a rectangular cube. This design helps analyze capacity, and illustrate size. In wave pool tests, the rectangular ark showed a balance of stability, comfort, and hull-strength. However, the bible never says the ark was a rectangle. The bible only gives us length, width, and height. But God more likely than not gave Noah much more detailed instructions than this. Although the proportions of the biblical ark are near optimal (able to withstand 98ft waves!) researchers have created designs that would have made the ark even more stable, without contradicting scripture. Structures that catch the wind and current could have been built to keep the ark facing the waves. This would ensure that the ark wouldn’t broach, (turn sideways in the waves and roll over). In the end there is no reason to believe the ark could not have survived the flood. With the limited information given in the Bible we know that the Ark’s proportions were good, but we don’t have to assume the ark was a floating box. Modern ships are described all the time in dimensions of length, width, and height without implying a box-shaped hull. So yes, the Ark could, (and obviously did) survive the flood.