11

11. Day Age Theory of Genesis and the Ark
February 25, 1998

Osareya, thank you for your unique insight.

In a message dated February 25, 1998, Osareya writes:

"But one of the biggest problems with the Day Age theory is the need of plants for light. By Genesis' account plants were created on the third day (Genesis 1:12). However, the sun, the source of life for all green plants, did not come into the picture until Genesis 1:16, on the fourth day. If the Day Age theory is taken to be correct (and some creationists do not believe so), then how did plants survive and thrive for thousands or even millions of years without the sun?"

I have no idea! As far as I know, most plants require sunlight in order to turn the nutrients they absorb from the soil into usable energy. Certainly there were no hydroponic systems available before God created the sun in Genesis 1:16?

Speaking of plants, I don't ever remember any verse in Genesis where God commanded Noah to collect two of every species of plant life. The Bible seems only to mention Noah collecting animals and 'creeping things'. Did I miss something while reading this story, or were the fauna pulled by two's and seven's in order to survive the Flood, while the flora were supposed to survive on their own somehow? Or, was this an oversight of the editors of the Bible?

Osareya continues: "There are also some problems with God's behavior in Genesis. In Genesis 4:5, God refused to give respect to Cain nor accept Cain's offering, though Cain worked as hard as Abel at producing his offering. God refused it. Sounds to me like God is petty and not so kind as some would believe."

Not only unkind, but the Christian 'God' seems particularly UNJUST to me. The Cain story above is only one example of many that fortify my impression of an UNJUST Christian God. Certainly, I don't see any similarity between the Christian notion of 'supreme being' and the concept 'LOVE'.

Osareya continues: "Also by Genesis 5 there were already many people living on earth. Where did all those people come from and where did Cain's wife come from and the wives of Cain's descendents?"

I have often wondered this myself. Where are all the 'begats' that would account for all these people populating the earth by Genesis 5? Perhaps Cain procreated with his own siblings in order to produce wives for himself? This incest may account for all the ignorance of some people today as well as the generally negative and even spiteful attitude against women found throughout the Bible.

More Osareya: "Many times I have heard creationists say that the Ark had enough room for all the animals and land insects. I decided to check on that claim. The Ark was said to be 300 cubits in length. That's about equal to 450 ft (assuming that a cubit is about 1.5 ft, about the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger). Its breadth is 50 cubits, or about 75 ft, and its height is 30 cubits, or about 45 ft, giving an interior volume of 1,518,750 cubic ft. That is all the space allowed on the Ark. If one takes an average volume of an insect, about 0.021 cubic ft, and then multiply by the number of insect species, about 20 million species of land insects, will give a volume of about 417,000 cubic ft, a close third of the volume of the Ark. Then we add the non-insect animals, having an average volume of about 5 cubic ft and a population of about 10 million land animal species giving a volume of about 50 million cubic ft. This is far more than the Ark could hold. The Ark would have to have an interior volume of nearly 50.5 million cubic ft. This would mean that a cubit was more than 280 ft in length, and at no time in known human history has a cubit ever measured anywhere near 280 ft."

Don't forget to make room for all the seeds of all the plants and trees, and all the varieties of vegetation that now populate the earth, for surely someone will argue that these were included in God's instructions to Noah.

On that point, aren't there animal and plant species that exist in remote parts of the earth which are unique to those areas and which do not naturally inhabit other parts of the earth? Aren't there species of snakes, insects, mollusks, arachnids, weeds, flowers and trees that are native to South America or Australia that are not found in the Middle East (near Ararat, specifically, where the Bible asserts was the final resting place of Noah's bulk carrier)? Perhaps Noah just dropped off a few species here and there as he toured the flooded earth. Would that account for the eucalyptus trees in Australia? Or the anaconda in Brazil? How about the coral snake in Arizona? Or the California condor? Just how did all these unique species find themselves throughout the earth? Certainly not by evolution?

Any answers?

Tindrbox

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