We constantly hear the narrative of Noah’s flood attacked, and denounced as untrue. We are told that it is contradictory to modern science, that it never could have occurred, and that it is a mere myth. And yet, there were never more erroneous statements than these ever uttered, for a long array of scientific and historical facts can be marshalled in order, which prove to demonstration that the Biblical Deluge is not only a great truth, but is in perfect harmony with the teachings of modern science.
Let us see the evidence for Noah’s flood which can now be brought forward.
First of all there is the tradition of a great flood, which in ancient times was firmly held by the great nations of classical antiquity, and is believed to-day by many savage and heathen races, while it was also held by the ancestors of these savages long before they were influenced by Christianity.
How did this tradition arise? There must have been a cause. It cannot have been an invention, because it is found everywhere and amongst all races. It cannot have been a rain myth, because it is held by barbarous races in lands where the rainfall is slight. Besides this, the tradition as it is held by savage races, and by ancient cultured nations generally, says that the flood was a punishment for man’s sin; hence the story could not have originated from the mere fall of rain. The only way to account for the flood story is to believe that some great diluvial catastrophe occurred, the remembrance of which has been preserved by many races of mankind.
When we are told that geology proves that the Mosaic deluge never took place, it is enough to reply that those who make this objection are strangely at fault in their geology. In the past and in the present, most eminent geologists have believed and do believe in the reality of Noah’s flood. In England we may cite the honored names of Dr. Buckland, Sir Henry Howorth, and Sir Joseph Prestwich, as those of leading geologists who have maintained that the Biblical Deluge was a great fact. The eminent Scotch geologist, Hugh Miller, held the same views, and the late Duke of Argyll, a first rate geologist, maintained similar opinions. In France the diluvial catastrophe finds many able supporters. In Canada the late Sir William Dawson, the first of Canadian geologists, constantly maintained in many of his books that geology proved that the Biblical deluge had actually taken place. In America, Professors Hitchcock and Claypole have held the same view. Lastly, Professor G. F. Wright, one of the most talented of American geologists, has, in a most able work, proved conclusively that modern geology not only testifies to the perfect truth of Noah’s flood, but also demonstrates the manner in which it happened.
From all this it is plain that if talented geologists in the past and in the present, have maintained and do maintain that the account of the Biblical deluge is in harmony with geology, it follows, that those who say that Noah’s flood is contrary to modern science are not only wrong, but are completely ignoring some of the facts of geology.
The facts of geology which prove the truth of Noah’s flood are found in the clays, sands and gravels of the Quaternary formation, and in the character of the remains of the animals which these beds enclose. The earlier deposits of the Quaternary Era are not referred to, as those were formed by ice and water during the Glacial Period, and it is only the later beds of the Quaternary Epoch that concern our argument.
Now, at the close of the Quaternary Period, the whole of the north of Europe, Asia, and America, was inhabited by lions, tigers, hyaenas, leopards, rhinoceroses, hippopotami, and elephants. These great beasts everywhere suddenly disappeared at the end of the Quaternary Period, and not a single trace of any appears in the northern hemisphere at the beginning of the next epoch. How did they disappear? The question must have an answer. The disappearance is sudden, universal, and complete. They were not exterminated by man—for he could not have destroyed them all suddenly—and there is no sign of gradual dying out. Pestilence could not have destroyed a whole fauna suddenly, and there are no signs of a change of climate, except in northern Asia. Moreover, the bones of these great beasts are accumulated in enormous masses, and are often piled upon each other in vast numbers, small and great, herbivorous and carnivorous, being mingled together in great heaps and in inextricable confusion. They herded together in enormous numbers to avoid some terrible catastrophe, and what could that have been but an overwhelming flood of resistless waters? Man was present at the time, as the presence of his bones and weapons proves, and was overwhelmed by the same cataclysm.
Next, we have the undoubted fact that since man appeared upon the earth, a vast accumulation of sands, clays, and gravels, have been formed, which, geologically speaking, belong to the latter part of the Quaternary Period. The beds of the former portion of the Quaternary Epoch—belong to the Glacial Period and are not now under consideration. The deposits we have alluded to are chiefly found in the northern hemisphere, and are full of bones of lions, hyaenas, tigers, elephants, and rhinoceroses; they are, in fact, the same great animals to whose sudden disappearance we have just alluded. Many of these beds are found spread out in great sheets on the summits of hills, and on the tops of extensive table-lands. These beds were formed by water, but not by rivers, for rivers run in valleys and do not flow along the tops of the hills. The beds of clay, sand, and gravel, cover hills and valleys in one vast winding-sheet. Some tremendous cause, therefore, must have formed them, which acted for a short time and then altogether ceased. Also, these beds often contain great rocks and boulders which are frequently a ton in weight, which proves that the water which deposited them rushed along with terrific speed. In many places in these beds, far away from any rivers, the deposits contain great masses of animals’ bones. These are often piled up in heaps, and the remains of all kinds of animals, herbivorous and carnivorous, great and small, are mingled together in the greatest confusion. In some places even, the bones of fishes and other sea animals are confusedly mingled with the remains of land animals. Man was present at the time of this catastrophe, for his bones and flint weapons are found in the sands and gravels, side by side with the remains of the great animals referred to. In England and in various places in Europe, these beds are known as “The Rubble Drift,” and in Siberia the bones, teeth, and tusks of elephants and rhinoceroses are found piled together in great masses in the frozen plains, and especially in the Liakoff and New Siberian islands in the Arctic Ocean.
Another proof that a great flood has occurred since man appeared upon the earth is found in the ossiferous fissures. In. many places in England and in Europe, the limestone rocks have been rent and torn into great cracks. These fissures are filled with earth, rubble, and broken stones, and the earthy deposits in the fissures are crammed full with the bones of lions, hyaenas, deer, elephants, horses, wolves, and rhinoceroses.
These bones are confusedly mingled in masses, the remains of herbivorous and carnivorous animals being crowded together in astonishing numbers. At Windy Knoll in Derbyshire, in an area of 25 feet by 18, no fewer than 6,800 bones were sorted, besides those cast aside. Man was then living on the earth, and was involved in the same catastrophe, his bones and weapons being found in a fissure at Plymouth, side by side with the remains of the animals referred to. As some of these ossiferous fissures are found on the tops of hills, it is plain that the animals must have ascended the hills in great herds, carnivorous and herbivorous animals crowding together in terror; and what could have caused them to seek shelter on the tops of the mountains except a tremendous flood, which rose above the summits of the hills and drowned the animals which had sought safety on these eminences?
Now, the catastrophe which destroyed these great animals, and heaped their bones together in masses, occurred since the creation of man. Not merely were vast multitudes of animals destroyed, but a whole fauna suddenly perished. Nothing like this has ever been seen on the earth. Very often pestilences sweep away great numbers of animals, but these murrains never destroy all the animals of one race entirely, over a widespread region. But at the time we speak of, the lion, tiger, hyaena, elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, suddenly and entirely disappeared from these northern lands, and were never seen there again. The way also that these great animals all crowded together in multitudes shows that some overwhelming catastrophe overtook them. In one spot in Oxfordshire the remains of no fewer than fifty elephants were found crowded together in one gravel pit! Similar instances have been found in other countries. There is no way of explaining such extraordinary facts except by admitting a sudden and overwhelming, flood of water. More than this, the race of men living at that time (i.e., palmolithic men) utterly perished along with the great animals, and no trace of them can be afterward discovered. How are we to account for all this wonderful array of scientific facts? It is plain that geological science proves that, since the advent of man upon the earth, a tremendous flood period or era of diluvial waters has prevailed over a large portion of the world. The Biblical account of Noah’s flood is, therefore, proved to be scientifically true, and once more it has been demonstrated that science, rightly interpreted, is in perfect harmony with the revelation of God.
D. GATH WHITLEY.
[Reproduced from “Friends’ Witness,” by kind permission of the Editor, as also of the Author.]