Thursday, April 29, 2010

Noah's Ark Silliness

Have pieces of Noah's Ark been found? See the story here: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/27/noahs-ark-found-turkey-ararat/, as well as other news outlets on the web. To star, I believe that a real Noah built a real ark, and lived on it with real animals for a year, surviving a real, world-wide flood. I believe that the ark came to rest on the "mountains of Ararat" (Gen 8:4).

But I doubt that these folks, or any other bunch that has gone searching over the centuries, has found remains of that ark. It is possible, of course. But there would be no way to prove that any wood found there was left from Noah's ark. Even if it were possible to prove that it was from Noah's ark, what would it tell us that we didn't already know? Is our faith based on pieces of wood or on the Word of God?

In addition, if there really were pieces of Noah's ark left on the mountain, we all know what would happen. They would become the object of superstitious faith; as did the bones of saints, pieces of wood from the True Cross, nails that pierced the hands and feet of Jesus, and the other flotsam and jetsam that filled the reliquaries of medieval Europe. Do you really want to start that all over again?

1 comment:

Jim O'Brien said...

Dear Benjamin, I completely agree with your remarks about making idols of ark wood. But I think there is apologetic value if verifiable ark wood were found. It would undermine the confidence with which many dismiss the early chapters of Genesis as myth of human invention. It really would be fun to see your old profs at Duke explain the factuality of ark wood! Jim