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Hugh Ross, President of Reasons to Believe Ministry.
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Hugh Ross, President of Reasons to Believe Ministry “I kind of read through the text and it seemed obvious to me that it had to be a local flood, not a global flood, and I was shocked to discover that there are all these Christians, and even Christian scholars that held to a global flood. And I wanted to figure out, you know, how did this happen? You know, how did people get off track like this? And maybe I’m speaking a little bit pridefully here, but you know, that’s how I was operating in my youth, you know. Where did they get off on this?” Hugh Ross, The Flood, Part II, Audio Tape, 1990
Hugh Ross, President of Reasons to Believe Ministry “If you want to get at the scientific details, you must read it in the Hebrew. Let’s do that. As you go through the Hebrew, ‘the waters rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains’- the word ‘high’ is not in the original. It’s not there. Now, it comes up in almost every English translation. But in translations into other languages,..
Hugh Ross, President of Reasons to Believe Ministry …it’s not always there, and it’s not in the Hebrew. So you can take your Bible and cross out the word ‘high.’ It’s not there. I don’t recommend you do that all the time as you go through your Bible, but in this case there is a good basis for it: it’s simply not there in the original Hebrew.” From an audiotape by Dr. Hugh Ross giving commentary on Gen. 7 by Ross’ RTB ministry
And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. Genesis 7:19
Bible – Sea 2 – June 2002 The following slides are from a free online presentation at www.nwcreation.net/presentations/ The Genesis Flood An Approach Based on Logic and Evidence Mike Riddle Answers in Genesis
Local Versus Global Flood Hugh Ross, Ph.D. Astronomy http://www.reasons.org (Popular progressive creationist) “Genesis 8 gives us the most significant evidence for a universal (with respect to man and his animals and lands), but not global, flood… continued
What does the geological data tell us about massive floods in the earth’s history? The evidence shows that the only place in the world where massive flooding has occurred since the advent of modern man is the region of Mesopotamia…. We are not saddled with a contradiction between the established facts of science and the words of the Bible”
Question If God wanted to teach a global flood, how could He have said it more clearly?
Word Usage There are over 10 words in the Bible used to designate a flood Mabbuwl (Hebrew) ……… a deluge Kataklusmos (Greek) …… an inundation
Critical Thinking Question Could a local/regional flood [in Mesopotamia area only] destroy all people, beast and birds on the earth?
Critical Thinking • Noah had over 100 years to build the Ark • God brought animals and birds to the Ark • Water and gravity
New Testament • Matthew 24:36-39, Luke 17:26-27 Confirmation from Jesus about the historical fact of the Flood, Noah and the Ark • Hebrews 11:7 Confirmation of the Flood, Noah and the Ark • 2 Peter 2:5 Only 8 people survived the Flood
Historical Records And the Flood
Archaeology • 33 separate tablets have been discovered of a gigantic flood • 30 tablets mention an ark • 28 mention an ark came to rest on a mountain • 29 state that birds were sent out • 30 mention favor for the survivors • Most mention an act of worship as the survivors left the ark
Weld-Blundell Prism Found in 1923 in lower Mesopotamia Written about 100 years before Abraham The record begins with 8 kings who ruled before the Flood At the end of the list of kings it says that the flood swept over the earth
Weld-Blundell Prism The record parallels the genealogies in Genesis 5 and 11 Long life-spans inscribed on the prism are comparable to those found in Genesis
Ebla Tablets Over 17,000 clay tablets discovered in Northern Syria Documents written on clay tablets from around 2400 B.C. Contained a creation account and a flood account The tablets mention Sodom and Gomorrah, previously thought to be mythical cities
What Do We Observe? • Billions of dead things buried in sediments (worldwide) • Fossil graveyards (worldwide) • Marine fossils on mountains (worldwide) • Large amounts of biomass buried for fossil fuels (coal, oil) (worldwide) • Evidence of turbidities (worldwide) • Lack-of-time breaks between rock layers (great unconformity – Grand Canyon) • Preservation of animal tracks (worldwide) • Polystrate fossils (worldwide)