Creation Science Book Review
The Answers Book, Chapter 12
Noah's Flood - What About All the Water?
By Greg Neyman
© Old Earth Ministries
First Published 11 June 2003
A very good question, considering that all the water of the Flood returned from where it came. Looking at today’s topography, there is no way that the earth contained enough water to cover the tallest mountains. Because of this problem, the young earth creation science camp has a two-fold solution, the catastrophic plate tectonic model, which claims the earth was one continent, and lower in elevation than it is now, and secondly, the “Waters of the Deep.”
The authors start with deception on page 170. They mention that 70 percent of what comes out of volcanoes is water…so what! This has nothing to do with how much water there is in the earth’s crust. Water comes up as steam because it’s hot down there, and water’s low boiling point makes it come up first, before anything else (most rocks melt at 600 Degrees F. or higher).
The Windows of Heaven (Page 170)
The authors mention Genesis 2:5 as proof that it had not yet rained on the earth. Young-earth proponents like to say that it did not rain until after the Fall, or, even until the Flood of Noah. However, that is not what this verse implies. Simply paraphrased, it states that “there were no plants, for their was no rain yet.” It did not say that there was no rain until man. From the rock record, we have ample evidence of “rain pits” formed from rain dropping onto sediments. There was obviously rain millions of years ago. Genesis 2:5 simply says there were no plants until it rained. The “mist” of Genesis 2:6 presents no problem…it was obviously cold and damp, with an overlying fog providing moisture.
The Waters Above (Page 171)
Interesting that Mr. Humphrey’s theory of the Waters Above meant water from beyond the stars at the edge of the universe!!! (I always thought he was “out there!”) How would this affect his new cosmology theory which was explained in Chapter 5? Surely the mass of this water would negate this entire theory!!!
A Water Vapor Canopy (Page 172)
A Major Problem (Page 173)
Interesting to note the young earth creation science camp has apparently abandoned this theory. However, if this truly is the case…why can I still read about it on their web sites? (Addendum: The main young earth science organizations denounce this theory, whereas the radical right of young earth creation science still embraces it (for example, Kent Hovind's ministry))
Where Did the Waters Go? (Page 174)
The authors appeal to Psalms 104 to claim the mountains rose and the valleys sank down. So, does this passage of scripture support them? Let's see, read it here...but I'll include verse 5. I'll comment on each verse.
5 Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.
Here, you have to take into account Genesis 2:1-2, which states "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made.” God has rested from his creation, after he laid the foundations during the creation events of Genesis 1.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
Okay here's the Flood of Noah.
7 At Thy rebuke they fled; At the voice of Thy thunder they hasted away.
Okay, now God rebukes the water and it recedes. Notice the water is the only thing moving.
8 They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
Here, the water went up over the mountains?, and the water went down into the valleys, to the place that God appointed for them (oceans and underground). Again, the water is doing the moving…not the mountains or the valleys.
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, That they turn not again to cover the earth.
Here, a boundary has been set for the water.
The authors' claim this passage implies uplift and other earth movements...exactly where does it imply this? The only thing moving in these verses is the water! You can see in verse 5, and from Genesis 2:1-2, creation is complete...the mountains are in place. Unless the movement occurred from natural processes, any movement during the Flood of Noah would equate to a second creation event, but that can't be, since its clear from Genesis 2:1-2 that creation is complete! Even more compelling is the focus of Psalm 104. Look in any Bible commentary, and you will discover it is talking about the waters during the creation, in Genesis 1:2, 9. It's not even talking about the Flood!
Sorry about getting sidetracked, but this lie needed addressing. Back to the waters, yes, some of the waters obviously sank into the ground, completing the so-called “return” to their place of origin. However, there is not nearly enough groundwater to come anywhere close to providing a global flood. Since the Psalm 104 argument has been disproved, the model of a flat earth, with 2.7 Km of water, as depicted on page 175, cannot be true.
Mount Everest (Page 175)
Not much of importance here, except the obvious lack of geologic learning of the authors. The last paragraph on page 176 says that erosion from the Flood is the reason river valleys are much larger now than they should be. The authors show a complete lack of understanding of rivers. Wide river valleys are observed today, as rivers frequently change course within the basin. One merely needs to look at an aerial photo of the Mississippi, with all its oxbow lakes, to understand the process known as ‘meandering.’ I’m surprised at such a simple admission of ignorance.
If you are not a Christian, and you have been holding out on making a decision for Christ because the Church always preached a message that was contrary to what you saw in the scientific world, then rest assured that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, and you can believe in Christ and receive salvation, while still believing in an old earth. Click here for more.
Are you a Christian who believes in young earth creationism? Now that we have shown the many difficulties of the young earth creation science model in this and many other articles, how does this impact your Christian life? If you are a young earth creationism believer, click here.
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