APPENDIX 5
The Universality of the Deluge
 
Central to the question of the historicity of the early chapters of Genesis is the question whether the Noahic Flood was global or only regional. A worldwide Flood would have cataclysmically changed the entire surface of the globe, including any fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks that may have been formed prior to that time. Consequently, the earth’s present fossiliferous sediments must date largely from the time of their deposition in the waters of the great Flood.
On the other hand, the modern evolutionary system of earth history denies any such global cataclysm and is based on the assumption of uniformitarianism. The sedimentary rocks and their fossil contents have been interpreted as evidence of a vast series of evolutionary ages extending over billions of years of time, deposited slowly and generally uniformly over the earth as living organisms gradually evolved into higher and higher forms during those ages.
The “day-age theory” is the attempt by Bible expositors to accommodate these evolutionary ages within the framework of the six days of creation. The “gap theory” is the attempt by other expositors to accommodate them outside the framework of the six days of creation. Both such theories, if consistent, are associated with the “local flood theory,” since a universal Flood would have destroyed the sedimentary framework of the geological ages. That is, a universal Flood precludes the historicity of the geological ages, and vice versa.
If the Genesis Flood actually was worldwide, then the strained exegesis associated with the day-age and gap theories becomes unnecessary and harmful. In the tabulation below, therefore, are listed one hundred reasons why the Flood should be accepted as a true global cataclysm.
From the Genesis Record
 
Genesis Reference
Argument
1.
1:7
Water above the atmosphere must have been global in extent.
2.
2:5
No rain on the earth must have been worldwide condition.
3.
2:6
Earth mist watered the whole face of the ground.
4.
2:10–14
Edenic geography no longer in existence.
5.
4:22
High civilization at dawn of history not continuous with present world.
6.
5:5, etc.
Longevity of antediluvian patriarchs indicates distinctive biosphere.
7.
6:1
Man had multiplied on the face of the earth.
8.
6:2
Demonic-human unions coextensive with mankind.
9.
6:5
Universal evil inexplicable in postdiluvian society.
10.
6:6–7
Repentance of God extended to the whole animal creation.
11.
6:11
Earth was filled with violence and corruption before God.
12.
6:12
All flesh was corrupted (possibly including animals).
13.
6:13
God decided to destroy both man and the earth.
14.
6:15
Ark too large for regional fauna.
15.
6:17
Everything with the breath of life to die.
16.
6:19
Purpose of ark was to keep two of every sort alive.
17.
6:20
Animals of all kinds migrated to the ark.
18.
6:21
All kinds of edible food taken on the ark.
19.
7:4
Every living substance on the ground to be destroyed.
20.
7:10
“The flood” (Hebrew mabbul) applies solely to Noah’s Flood.
21.
7:11
All the fountains of the great deep cleaved open in one day.
22.
7:11
The “sluiceways from the floodgates” of heaven were opened.
23.
7:12
Rain poured continuously for forty days and forty nights.
24.
7:18
The waters prevailed and increased greatly.
25.
7:19
High hills under the whole heaven were covered.
26.
7:20
Waters fifteen cubits above highest mountains.
27.
7:21
Every man died on the earth.
28.
7:22
All flesh with the breath of life in the dry land died.
29.
7:23
Every living substance destroyed off the face of the ground.
30.
7:24
Waters at maximum height for five months.
31.
8:2
Fountains of deep open for five months.
32.
8:2
Windows of heaven open for five months.
33.
8:4
Ark floated over 17,000-ft. mountains for five months.
34.
8:5
Water receded 2-1/2 months before mountain tops seen.
35.
8:9
Dove found no suitable ground even after four months of recession.
36.
8:11
Plants began budding after nine months of the Flood.
37.
8:14
Occupants were in the ark over a year.
38.
8:19
All kinds of present nonmarine animals came from the ark.
39.
8:21
God smote all things living only once.
40.
8:22
Present uniformity of nature dates from the end of the Flood.
41.
9:1
Earth was to be filled with descendants of Noah.
42.
9:2
Changed relation between man and animals followed the Flood.
43.
9:3
Man permitted animal food after Flood.
44.
9:6
Institution of human government dates from Flood.
45.
9:10
God’s covenant made with every living creature.
46.
9:11
The Flood promised by God never to come again on the earth.
47.
9:13
Rainbow placed in sky after the Flood.
48.
9:19
Whole earth overspread by the sons of Noah.
49.
11:1
Whole earth of one language after the Flood.
50.
11:9
All men lived in one place after the Flood.
From Other Biblical Writers
 
Biblical Reference
Argument
51.
Job 12:15
The waters overturned the earth.
52.
Psalm 29:10
The Flood testified God as eternal king.
53.
Psalm 104:8
Flood terminated by crustal tectonics.
54.
Isaiah 55:9
Waters of Noah went over the earth.
55.
Matthew 24:37
The days of Noah like those when Christ comes.
56.
Matthew 24:39
The Flood took them all away.
57.
Luke 17:27
The Flood destroyed them all.
58.
Hebrews 11:7
Noah warned of things never seen before.
59.
Hebrews 11:7
Noah condemned the world by his faith.
60.
1 Peter 3:20
Only eight souls saved on the ark through the Flood.
61.
2 Peter 2:5
God spared not the old world (Greek kosmos).
62.
2 Peter 2:5
God brought the Flood on the world of the ungodly.
63.
2 Peter 2:5
The “flood” (Greek kataklusmos) applied solely to Noah’s Flood.
64.
2 Peter 3:6
The world that then was, perished by the watery cataclysm.
From Non-Biblical Evidence
 
Argument
65.
Worldwide distribution of Flood traditions.
66.
Origin of civilization near Ararat-Babylon region in post-Flood time.
67.
Convergence of population growth statistics on date of Flood.
68.
Dating of oldest living things at post-Flood time.
69.
Worldwide occurrence of water-laid sediments and sedimentary rocks.
70.
Recent uplift of major mountain ranges.
71.
Marine fossils on crests of mountains.
72.
Evidence of former worldwide warm climate.
73.
Necessity of catastrophic burial and rapid lithification of fossil deposits.
74.
Recent origin of many datable geological processes.
75.
Worldwide distribution of all types of fossils.
76.
Uniform physical appearance of rocks from different “ages.”
77.
Frequent mixing of fossils from different “ages.”
78.
Near-random deposition of formational sequences.
79.
Equivalence of total organic material in present world and fossil world.
80.
Wide distribution of recent volcanic rocks.
81.
Evidence of recent water bodies in present desert areas.
82.
Worldwide occurrence of raised shore lines and river terraces.
83.
Evidence of recent drastic rise in sea level.
84.
Universal occurrence of rivers in valleys too large for the present stream.
85.
Sudden extinction of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.
86.
Rapid onset of glacial period.
87.
Existence of polystrate fossils.
88.
Preservation of tracks and other ephemeral markings throughout geologic column.
89.
Worldwide occurrence of sedimentary fossil “graveyards” in rocks of all “ages.”
90.
Absence of any physical evidence of chronologic boundary between rocks of successive “ages.”
91.
Occurrence of all rock types (shale, limestone, granite, etc.) in all “ages.”
92.
Parallel of supposed evolutionary sequence through different “ages” with modern ecological zonation in the one present age.
93.
Lack of correlation of most radiometric “ages” with assumed paleontologic “ages.”
94.
Absence of meteorites in geologic column.
95.
Absence of hail imprints in geologic column, despite abundance of fossil ripple-marks and raindrop imprints.
96.
Evidence of man’s existence during earliest of geologic “ages” (e.g., human footprints in Cambrian, Carboniferous, and Cretaceous formations).
97.
Similar structural features (rifts, faults, folds, thrusts, etc.) in rocks of all “ages.”
98.
Absence of evidence of drainage systems in sediments of any “ages” except the most recent.
99.
Hydraulic evidence of rapid deposition of each stratum and of continuous formation of every sequence of strata, with no worldwide time gap between any formation and another above it.
100.
Numerous modern sightings of probable remains of Noah’s ark at about 15,000 feet elevation in ice cap on Mount Ararat.
Morris, Henry M.: The Genesis Record : A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings. Grand Rapids, MI : Baker Books, 1976, S. 683