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Noah's Flood
Speaking of the Black Sea hypothesis and Noah's Flood, I recommend Duane Jeffery's article on the topic from the October 2004 issue of Sunstone Magazine. It is freely available here and I will add a link to it on my sidebar.
The article is structured in three parts:
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(I) history of interpretation, (II) the Black Sea hypothesis, and (III) the Mormon perspective. While the Black Sea hypothesis is interesting to think about, I think most of the value is in parts I and III. Jeffery raises some interesting questions to consider--especially in the Mormon context. I also recommend the endnotes, which contain much additional information and discussion.
Note #28 brings up a question of particular interest to me: "Did Noah and his family carry all the known human disease pathogens, one wonders?" This question is only the tip of the iceburg of microbiological questions a global flood raises.
Consider:
1. Many disease-causing organisms have a limited host range. Smallpox, measles, and poliovirus are all exclusively human pathogens. Furthermore, immunity to these diseases is long-lasting. How could the few number of people on the ark (and after) maintain these organsisms? The same question applies to many animals with their specific pathogens.
2. It is not uncommon for a cross-species transmission of a disease to be highly lethal for the new host. (In a human context, SARS and Ebola come to mind, or the mass seal die-off that occured when a dog virus entered a seal population.) With all of those animals concentrated together, what stopped epidemics and mass casualties from taking place? Did rabies make it through?
3. Many microbes and parasites have complex life-cyles, infecting and continuing development in several different hosts. Were these life-cycles maintained?
I suppose it could be argued that these diseases came into existence after the flood, or that they were miraculously dormant during the flood--but that raises more questions.
Anyway, you can read a creationist defense of a global flood here. Also see FAIR's resources, including an Ensign article defending a global flood and Nibley's "Before Adam."
4 comments:
Jared, just as a matter of interest, another article that discusses the Flood but isn't listed in your links is F. Kent Nielsen's "The Gospel and the Scientific View: How Earth Came to Be" (Ensign, Sept. 1980, 67-72).
Also, the LDS Guide to the Scriptures, in an article titled "Flood At Noah's Time" says this: "During Noah's time the earth was completely covered with water. This was the baptism of the earth and symbolized a cleansing (1 Pet. 3: 20-21)... After the waters had receded, the land of America became a choice land, Ether 13: 2."
It seems to me worth noting that this Church published Guide to the Scriptures does not have a doctrinal disclaimer associated with it. You may feel that isn't important, however. And that's okay too.
Gary,
Thanks for the links.
In regard to Nielsen's article, I think it is a little more complicated than whether uniformitarianism is assumed or not. It's also a matter of what effects a global flood should have and whether our observations (both of nature and human history) can fit within that paradigm. If they cannot, then some explanation is needed.
I hadn't heard of the "Guide to the Scriptures" either. Based on a quick perusal, it appears to summarize what the scriptures say on a given subject with little or no interpretation.
The "completely covered with water" claim without a specific scipture to back it up appears to be one of the instances where interpretation crept in.
Ed,
Doctrine means "teaching," so I would say yes, the Church teaches a global flood.
Is it the ultimate truth? Since I don't have access to God's mind, I don't know, but my opinion is that it is not a critical issue and I favor a local flood--or floods. (Note that the PofGP uses the word "floods." So does the brother of Jared in discussing their voyage.)
The lessons and symbolism of the story of Noah are pretty much the same whether the flood was global or not. That Noah was an actual person is probably critical, IMO.
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