Where is the Physical Evidence for Noah’s Flood?

Part 4 of a 10-part series

If there was a worldwide flood as recorded in Genesis, wouldn’t there be an abundance of evidence for it? In this 9-minute video from Answers in Genesis Canada, Calvin Smith explores the trends of evidence from around the globe that point to the facts of the Flood — unless you have this one thing holding you back.

Editor’s Note: The transcript that follows was automatically generated and lightly edited, so please be aware there could be typos or other small errors. The Stream is working toward a transcription service that does fast, accurate, and reliable work; thank you in advance for your patience!

00:00:00:21 – 00:00:26:00
Previously on the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark. We asked and answered. Where did all of the water go after Noah’s flood was over? And we also delved into the idea of whether Noah’s flood was truly a global event or just a localized flood, as some have proposed. The conclusion from the biblical text was obvious it was indeed a global flood, which means the consequences of such an event would be monumental in scope.

00:00:26:02 – 00:00:46:15
And this leads us to this episode. Join us now as we explore. Where is the physical evidence in the earth for Noah’s flood? In part one of the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark.

00:00:46:17 – 00:01:06:23
There’s no physical evidence for a worldwide flood. This is a commonly heard objection to belief in the account of the great deluge described in Genesis 6 to 9. And many skeptics believe this claim invalidates the Bible and Christianity. And they have a point. After all, if someone can’t trust the beginning of the Bible, why should they believe the rest of it?

00:01:07:01 – 00:01:31:15
However, the scriptures themselves not only predict this denial happening, but also contend with this declaration stating for this thing willingly forget that by the Word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water by which the world did. Then existed, perished being flooded with water. Second Peter three verses five and six.

00:01:31:16 – 00:01:55:19
But back to the lack of evidence. Claim everyone accepts that fossil laden rock levers cover the continents, and most of these were laid down by water. Could that be evidence for a global flood? Perhaps the problem is not lack of evidence. The evidence is right there in front of us. The problem is that many scientists don’t see it because they’ve accepted a different history of the Earth.

00:01:55:21 – 00:02:19:15
They say the fossils are the record of death over hundreds of millions of years. Even though that popular view is rife with problems. Perhaps it’s simply a matter of swapping worldviews, like taking off a pair of glasses and putting on a different pair that lets you see through a different lens. And once you do the evidence of Noah’s flood can be seen all over the earth, from sea beds to mountaintops.

00:02:19:17 – 00:02:53:02
Think about it. Whether you travel by car, train or plane, the physical features of the Earth’s terrain clearly indicate a catastrophic past. From canyons and craters to coal beds and caverns. Some layers of strata extend across continents, revealing the effects of a huge catastrophe. The Earth’s crust has massive amounts of layered sedimentary rock, sometimes miles deep. These layers of sand, soil, and material are mostly laid down by water, were once soft like mud, but they’re now hard, solid stone.

00:02:53:04 – 00:03:20:02
And encased in these sedimentary layers are billions of dead things. Fossils of plants and animals breathe very quickly. The evidence all over the earth is staring everyone in the face. It’s no wonder the Bible contains such warnings against disbelieving the account of Noah’s flood, as rejecting it has important theological implications. In Matthew 2436 and 39. Jesus used the flood as a picture of the coming judgment.

00:03:20:04 – 00:03:49:03
Likewise, Second Peter three also associates the flood with the coming judgment by fire. If the Genesis flood were merely a myth, then we could assume and dismiss the coming judgment as mythological as well. But many people, of course, want what they feel is rock solid evidence for their beliefs. So let’s look at some fossils, for example. Consider the fact that it takes special conditions to make a fossil, and the world is covered with billions of them in mass graves.

00:03:49:05 – 00:04:22:13
In contrast to the slow standard evolutionary story of deposition of sediments making fossils slowly over hundreds of years, in reality, creatures must be buried rapidly before they rot or get eaten by scavengers. And in fact, vast numbers of animals were buried and fossilized so quickly that some couldn’t even finish swallowing their meal or giving birth. And we also have multiple examples of soft bodied creatures like squid, octopus, and even jellyfish, which turn to goo in a matter of days once they die being perfectly preserved.

00:04:22:19 – 00:04:51:22
Certainly not the result of some slow geological process, but rather evidence of rapid burial and fossilization. Indeed. Another obvious evidence that makes sense in a global flood is fossils of tree trunks, some of them 30ft tall, standing upright or upside down through one or more layers. This doesn’t make sense with the slow accumulation of layers over millions of years, but instead it’s a sign that these poorly straight fossils were buried rapidly.

00:04:52:00 – 00:05:19:16
Another example which tourists can visit around the world is rock layers that were deposited around the globe at the same time. This is consistent with the Genesis account of a worldwide versus a regional catastrophe. For example, the two piece sandstone which sits on the basement rocks of Grand Canyon in Arizona, also appears far away in Wisconsin and across the ocean in Israel and Libya under different names.

00:05:19:18 – 00:05:53:20
How could a local flood deposit the same rock layer across multiple continents? The Grand Canyon also contains multiple flat layers that are sitting on top of one another, without any evidence of erosion in between. Evolutionary inclined scientists believe these were deposited millions of years apart, and in fact, other deposits were laid in the interim in other places. For example, the Coconino Sandstone sits directly on top of the Hermit Formation, but there’s no indication of any layer deposited between these two layers seen elsewhere.

00:05:53:22 – 00:06:22:21
Supposedly, 5 to 10 million years passed before the Coconino Sandstone was deposited on top of the Hermit Formation without evidence of any erosion. The Coconino looks like it was in fact deposited immediately on top of the hermit. Wouldn’t you call this evidence for a global flood? Or how about this one? You can go to many places on the planet and see row upon row of consecutively deposited rock layers that were soft when deposited and then bent, sometimes drastically.

00:06:22:22 – 00:06:46:15
Rocks don’t normally bend. They break because they’re hard and brittle, but in many places we find whole sequences of strata that were bent without fracturing, indicating that all of the rock layers were rapidly deposited and folded while they were still wet and pliable before final hardening. The Defeat Sandstone in Grand Canyon is folded at a right angle without evidence of breaking.

00:06:46:17 – 00:07:12:20
Yet this folding could have only have occurred after the rest of the layers had been deposited. Suppose that over 480 million years, while the to beach sandstone remained wet and pliable. And there’s so much more. We find fossils of sea creatures in rock layers that cover all of the continents. For example, most of the rock layers in the walls of the Grand Canyon, more than a mile above sea level, contain marine fossils.

00:07:12:22 – 00:07:41:06
Fossilized shellfish are even found in the Himalayas. We find extensive fossil graveyards and exquisitely preserved fossils. For example, billions of not allied fossils are found in a layer within the Redwall Limestone of Grand Canyon. This layer was deposited catastrophically by a massive flow of sediment, mostly lime sand, the chalk and coal beds of Europe and the United States, and the fish, ichthyosaurs, insects, and other fossils all around the world.

00:07:41:08 – 00:08:09:18
Testify of Kardashian destruction and burial. So the evidence for the flood is everywhere. If your assumptions don’t blind you to it. But I want to believe in changing the clear meaning of God’s Word to accommodate claims by fallible humans. Many who don’t believe the Scripture and deny the God of the Bible. Some Christians have actually done away with some of the best scientific evidence to confirm the Bible’s claims.

00:08:09:20 – 00:08:23:20
Join us next time as we ask, where did Noah’s Ark end up and has it been found? And investigate whether cultures other than the ancient Hebrews had legends of a worldwide flood. In part five of the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark.