Was the Great Flood of Noah local or worldwide?

“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.”                                                                                                      Genesis 7:19-24

Many biblical scholars today teach that the flood mentioned in the Bible was either a myth or just a local flood. One of the warnings in Scripture concerning the last days, would be the rejection of a worldwide flood.

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished,”                                II Peter 3:3-6

Does the evidence we have support a flood as recorded in the Bible or was it just a myth? Let the evidence speak for itself.

Was there enough water to cover the Earth?

          There is enough water on the earth to do the job. Remember, over 70% of the surface of the earth is water. People get confused because Mt. Everest (29,000 ft) was a result of the flood, just as the Mariana Trench (36,000 ft deep) in the Pacific Ocean was also a result of the great flood. All the land masses combined could fit into the Pacific Ocean with room left over.

Sea Shells on Mountains – Every mountain range on earth has seashells as well as fossilized sea animals that are high above sea level.

Grand Canyon – Many scientists claim that the Colorado River carved out the Grand Canyon over millions of years. They fail to realize that a global flood could have had the same effect.

Massive Fossil Graveyards - Scientists around the world continue to find billions of fossils that have been buried by water.  As a result of the great fountains of the deep breaking up, mudflows covered thousands of miles, entrapping an untold multitude of plants and animals which we find buried in rock layers today.  This explains what happened to the majority of the land animals that we refer to as dinosaurs.

Mountain Ranges - As the waters of the great deep shot upward, part of the sedimentary rock below was drawn up also.  This created the continents and caused them to move in different directions. Due to the violent shifting of these land masses, the ground would push up as a result of their colliding, and cause the mountain ranges.  Those that shot downward, caused the deep trenches of the oceans. This would explain how the waters receded.

Grand Canyon - Referred to by many as one of nature’s greatest wonders, the Grand Canyon is strong evidence for a global flood.  Though many evolutionists claim that the different layers of strata rock could only have formed over great periods of time, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens proved that these layers could form in a matter of days. 

Historical Flood Legends - If the Great Flood was world‑wide and Noah was truly the father of all the human race, then there should be some record of this catastrophe in every known civilization. In fact, there are over two hundred flood legends across the world that bear a remarkable likeness to the Genesis account.  As the story got farther from the eye-witness account, and was passed from generation to generation, the story was distorted to fit into the culture of the people. Below is a sampling of these legends:

The Fiji Island Legend – “The angry god then gathered the dark clouds together and caused them to burst.  Towns, villages and mountains were covered with water.  The persons saved were eight in number."

Greek Legends from Syria recorded by Lucia – “Long after the time of the first man, the earth became wicked and careless of the worship of the gods, one man was righteous, Noe. Noe made a large canoe with a house on to of it with animals and food."

The Aztec Legend - "But before the flood, God warned the man, Nota and his wife, Nena, saying, "Hollow a great cypress in which you shall enter to escape a flood”. When they entered, God shut them in."

Huron Indians - The Great Father of the Indian tribe survives with his family and selected animals on a large covered raft.

Other Evidences Include:

Oldest Living Trees - High in the White Mountains, northeast of the town of Bishop, California, grow the majestic Bristlecone Pine Trees.  At over 4,000 years old, these pine trees are considered the oldest living things on earth.  It is interesting to note that according to its age even the oldest Bristlecone could not have been in existence before the flood. This fact is overwhelming evidence that there was a world‑wide flood covering all elevations of land. Although the redwoods are the biggest and tallest trees in the world, they are not the oldest as is commonly believed.

Strata & Mount St. Helen - The eruption from the north side of Mount St. Helen on Sunday, May 18, 1980, pushed the water from Spirit Lake into the adjacent hills, carving out a series of canyons. This was an unusual occurrence due to the fact that most volcanoes explode upward. The resulting canyons, formed in just two days, were equal to 1/40th the size of the Grand Canyon. Upon examination, the new canyon walls were found to have layers of strata. Normally this type of finding is attributed to a process of thousands of years.  The results of this catastrophe are similar to what is found in the Grand Canyon as it was carved by the Great Flood. 

Frozen Mammoths - In the regions of Siberia and Alaska, hundreds of frozen mammoths have been found perfectly intact.  Upon dissection, the vegetation found in their stomachs and mouths showed no signs of decay indicating that they were frozen instantly. Because elephants are tropical animals, this finding provides evidence of a dramatic shift in climate consistent with a global flood theory.  What we now know as the polar region was originally a tropical climate along with the rest of the earth.  The violent effects of the flood are believed by some to have shifted the earth off its axis, creating the frozen polar caps in which these animals were found and forever changing the earth’s climate.

 If the flood was local, why would God require Noah to build a ship large enough to hold all of the land animals? Why didn’t God just lead Noah as well as the animals, to a place where the floodwaters would not prevail?

 These are just a few of the many different types of evidences that our young world experienced a worldwide flood consistent with the Genesis account. 

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