I have no wish to hijack this thread or be argumentative. You seem to be sincere, however, so I will address the issues you raised. I sincerely suggest that you also do your own independent (read: scientific, not creationist propaganda) research. If you wish further discussion about Noah's flood, a new thread would probably be in order.
Fish swim so no need to rescue fish and all those that swim. Birds fly, others can find refuge correct?
No. No part of this statement is correct. Sea life have evolved to require very specific environments. Drastic changes in temperature, water pessure, even PH levels would result in the extinction of many, if not all, species. Salt water species cannot live in fresh water and vice versa. The combining of all the worlds bodies of water into one would cause the salt water and fresh water to combine, with obviously toxic results.
But there is an even worse problem: The sheer volume of water. In order to cover the tops of all the Earth's mountains, it has been estimated that an estimated 4.55 Bilion cubic kilometers of water would need to fall in the 40 days the bible claims for the flood. Water condensing from vapor releases heat. The amount of heat generated by that volume of water would have raised the surface temperature of the earth to around 1600 degrees Celsius, hot enough to evaporate all the water in the oceans, let alone kill whatever miraculous fish had survived the massive destruction of their living environment.
As for the birds, what refuge could they find? The entire Earth was an ocean. Some could possibly have stayed aloft for a short time in this torrential downpour the likes of which the world had never seen, but surely even the most stout could not have survived more than a few days in such conditions, and that's being generous. It's also clear that Noah is depicted as having birds on the Ark, as indicated that he released some at the end of the flood. This brings up another interesting point: A flood of that magnitude, with the Earth totally submerged in water for over a month, would have killed all the trees. Where was that magic fig tree that the dove found?
God can guide His creation by Holy Spirit evident by the swines being led over the cliff and many more wonders. So He can easily guide the animals to the Ark. I have a question for you. Did the Ark drift aimlessly through the waters?
Actually your original point was about the geological evidence for the flood, which is why I directed you to the point on that site where they talk about the geology of an Earth-wide flood event. I will grant you that if the flood story is true God could have miraculously led the animals to the Ark. I will not, however, stand by while you accuse the Hoy Spirit of porkicide! It was the legion of demons that Jesus exorcised from the possessed man that caused the pigs to run over the cliff. The holy spirit mearly directed them to the pigs.
As to the point about the Ark drifting aimlessly, if the story were true, then I suppose not.
Did the cities mentioned in the bible exist? What about Solomons temple and Zerubabel (sp) temple? Did they exist and who built them? And what exactly is your theory about the origin of man? And what truth are you talking about? The teachings that JW's give.
The city of Tokyo exists, that doesn't mean I think Godzilla is a documentary. My theory of the origin of man is irrelevant, as the issue here is whether the flood story is accurate. However, I believe there is massive, overwhelming evidence that man evolved from lower species. That took me a while to come around to, however. I stopped believing the bible was inspired long before I came to accept evolution. In fact I was a atheist before I accepted evolution.
When I mentioned the truth it was somewhat tongue in cheek, since the JW's call their entire religion "The Truth", yet they are far from it.
What is it you have to teach me that might better my life? I am reading intently :)
I don't consider myself a teacher or a leader of a movement. I may indeed be able to teach you things that will better your life, but bettering your life is your responsibility, not mine. But I don't think that's the point you were trying to make. So is your point that you would follow the JW's or some other attractive teaching, regardless of whether it's true, in order to better your life? How sad. The issue for me is the truth. The truth may be that I have cancer. Is that going to make me happy? No. But if it's the truth, I want to know. If we know what the truth is, then we can adjust our lives accordingly.
