A number of readers have asked the same two recurring questions which I will address:
Has evidence been found for Noah’s Ark?
How do you reconcile the millions of years of evolution with the Bible timeline of thousands of years?
Allow me to address those two issues in this one Nugget, simply because I don’t want to spend time on these topics when we can get on to other more interesting things.
Has Noah’s Ark Been Found?
There are three possibilities claimed for the resting place of Noah’s Ark.
- Ahora Gorge on Mount Ararat at 4,267 metres above sea level supposedly seen by Ferdinand Navara in 1952.
- On the Plains of Duripinar in North Eastern Turkey and thoroughly investigated by Ron Wyatt and his team.
- On the mountain ranges of Judi Dagh in Turkey.
These locations have all been claimed as the resting place of the ark. But unfortunately all are unsubstantiated to date. The most fanciful and supposedly thorough investigated is claimed to be that of Ron Wyatt’s expedition. However, when asked to provide the evidence of what was found he produced all kinds of excuses. It is not to be believed. It would be sound evidence to provide proof for the resting place of Noah’s Ark. But alas it is not possible with any degree of certainty. If it were true the Ark would have been excavated and exposed for all to see.
Millions of Years or the Biblical Time Frame
A problem I had with the evolutionary claim to millions of years both at school and at university was the cyclical arguments for the age of fossils and the fit to the standard geologic column. The geologic column that we see in science books does not exist as such in any place on earth. It is a theoretical composite of evidence gathered. Each level of the column is based on indicator fossils which represent the layers of the rock in geologic time. But frequently we were told that fossils were tested and found to be have radiocarbon dating that did not match the geologic age of their correct fit according to theory. So what happens? The radio carbon dating is assumed to be incorrect and they were reclassified according to where they were assumed to fit on the geologic time scale. That one fact was something that disturbed me (among others) as I went through university. It seemed to me to be a cyclical argument. Date the fossil but if it doesn’t fit the theory then reassign its date according to the theory.
I would often answer the question this way if people asked questions about the long ages or biblical time frame in God Awesome Book seminars. When God created man how did He create him? Was he an embryo, a baby or a fully-grown man? The answer is a fully-grown man. When God created trees, were they seeds, seedlings or fully-grown trees? Answer, fully grown trees. When God created mountains, were they hillocks, hills, or mountains? Answer, mountains. The problem for us measuring back to the base point or the moment of creation is that what is observable comes with apparent age. How then do you determine the age of something when it came with the appearance of age. It is not possible then to measure back to the beginning point.
Charles Lyell, the father of modern geology, claimed “the present is the key to the past”. In other words the processes of mountain building and erosion have continued as we observe them now, for ever and a day. Thus the theory is we can measure the rates of mountain building, deposition and erosion as we see them today and extrapolate the process back into the past to form our guesstimates for the age of the earth. But that is simply not true. The Bible tells us that before the flood the earth was watered by a mist that rose. Then the Noah’s flood came and it was a flood like no other seen on the face of the earth. Many Christian geologists have re-examined alluvial landforms (like the Grand Canyon) from that viewpoint and concluded the run off must have been phenomenal to have formed the patterns we see in evidence in the rock layers. They could not have been formed by present river flow or deposition rates.
The present is not the key to the past, God’s Word is the key to the past.
See also the following Nuggets: