A Laboratory Test of Noah's Flood

Geologists have long held that Noah's Flood was a regional event rather than a global deluge.  The traditional view was abandoned in the 19th century due to multiple lines of evidence that were incompatible with or contradicted the idea of a universal flood. 

One such line of evidence pertains to the formation of shale, which accounts for about 70% of the sedimentary rock found in the earth's crust.  Together with limestone and sandstone, shale deposits contain nearly all of the fossils found on earth.  Some shale deposits are thousands of meters thick.  

Shale is made in watery environments as silt and clay settle out to form thin, delicate layers, called laminae (plural of lamination), which can be less than 1mm thick.  These layers build up over time and form rock as they are compacted and dried out.  

Until recently, it was thought that laminae can only form in nearly still waters, since microscopic clay particles would be swept up by moving water, preventing them from settling.  Geologists have maintained that the entire process is very gradual, requiring tens of millions of years to lay down thick shale deposits.

But recent laboratory research, using a large simulation tank called a flume (top), has shown that laminae do, indeed, form in moving water under optimal conditions, and at a faster rate than was once thought possible.  This groundbreaking research is being conducted by Juergen Schieber at Indiana University. 

Dr. Schieber's discovery has been promoted by young earth, creation scientists in videos and articles as breakthrough evidence for the flood theory.  They believe that the massive shale deposits which were once thought to require millions of years to form in still waters, were laid down by fast moving waters in the last few months of Noah's flood, as the waters receded.

On the surface this may sound plausible, but the devil is in the details, which creation scientists typically gloss over.  After reviewing some of the literature surrounding Dr. Schieber's research, I reached out to him by email with some additional questions, which he was kind enough to answer.  

The flume experiments show that sediment accumulation is based on the speed of the current.  At high speeds (>25 cm/sec), most clay particles remain suspended instead of falling to the bottom to form laminae.  The optimal speed of deposition is 20-25 cm/second, which is about 1/2 mph.  This is 1/100th to 1/80th of the velocity calculated by creation scientists for Noah's flood, except, perhaps, at the very end of the process, after nearly all of the water has receded.   

At optimal speed, sediment accumulates at the rate of only 1-2 cm per week.  That amounts to about 0.5 to 1 meter per year.  The water content of the freshly deposited sediment is around 85%.  In order to form shale, the water needs to be squeezed out by compaction.  That will reduce our 1 meter layer of sediment to 15 cm of rock.  Under optimal conditions, then, the rate of shale formation will not exceed 15 cm per year.  Needless to say, this is infinitely slower than the flood scenario imagined by creation scientists.

We can gain an appreciation for scale by considering the Belt Basin formation of Montana and Idaho, which is approximately 20 km thick.  Though not all of it is shale (some is sandstone and limestone), it still illustrates the point.  At 15 cm per year, it would take over 133,000 yrs to form 20 km of rock.  This assumes that ideal conditions of speed and sediment load are maintained over the entire stretch of time—a virtual impossibility in the real world.  Taking into consideration the intermittent nature of flow and deposition, a more realistic number might be 5x to 10x longer.   

Given these limitations, it is clear that recent research in sedimentology provides no on-ramp for flood geology.  Unfortunately, creation scientists have a reputation for selectively citing research in support of their cause, while ignoring the inconvenient facts that contradict their beliefs.  The universal flood theory fails for many other reasons, both scientific and Biblical, some of which I present in my video, Science & Christianity:  2.  Geology vs. The Genesis Flood.  

Yet, the Biblical Flood has not been entirely dismissed by geologists.  Many regard it as a regional event.  David R. Montgomery discusses this view in his book, The Rocks Don't Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah's Flood.   A group of 11 Christian scientists, writing from a similar perspective, published a fully illustrated volume on the Flood, The Grand Canyon: Monument to an Ancient Earth.  Noah’s Flood is even mentioned as a regional flood in the 2004, US Geological Survey publication, The World’s Largest Floods, Past and Present.

Hamas in Their Own Words: The Hamas Founding Covenant of 1988

Here in the West, those who support the Palestinians distinguish between opposing Israel and hating Jews. I have no doubt that some are sincere. But this distinction is lost almost entirely in the Middle East where Jew hatred is a way of life among most Muslims. Islamic antisemitism runs deep.

Consequently, Westerners who throw their support behind Hamas—even as they attempt to distance themselves from its murderous tactics—are upholding its antisemitic values, its Jewish conspiracies, the utter extinction of Israel, and the slaughter of Jews. Framing Hamas as freedom fighters or a resistance movement is an abortive attempt to conceal the true character of an organization which thrives on hate, terror, and sadism.

Excerpts from the Hamas founding charter are arranged topically, below. In this document, Hamas refers to itself as the “Islamic Resistance Movement.” Numbers in brackets indicate the article number.

Source:  https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp

 

⦿ The Jews and Zionists are behind virtually all of the wars and evils in the world.

Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.  [1]

They [Zionists/Jews] aim at undermining societies, destroying values, corrupting consciences, deteriorating character and annihilating Islam. It is behind the drug trade and alcoholism in all its kinds so as to facilitate its control and expansion.  [28]

Zionist organizations under various names and shapes, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, espionage groups and others, which are all nothing more than cells of subversion and saboteurs.  [17]

They [Zionists/Jews] were behind the French Revolution, the Communist revolution and most of the revolutions we heard and hear about, here and there. With their money they formed secret societies, such as Freemasons, Rotary Clubs, the Lions and others in different parts of the world for the purpose of sabotaging societies and achieving Zionist interests.  With their money they were able to control imperialistic countries and instigate them to colonize many countries in order to enable them to exploit their resources and spread corruption there.  [22]

They were behind World War I, when they were able to destroy the Islamic Caliphate, making financial gains and controlling resources. They obtained the Balfour Declaration, formed the League of Nations through which they could rule the world.  [22]

They were behind World War II, through which they made huge financial gains by trading in armaments, and paved the way for the establishment of their state. It was they who instigated the replacement of the League of Nations with the United Nations and the Security Council to enable them to rule the world through them. There is no war going on anywhere, without having their finger in it.  [22]

⦿ Israel indiscriminately kills and persecutes Muslims.

The Islamic spirit is what should prevail in every Moslem society. The society that confronts a vicious enemy [Israel/Jews] which acts in a way similar to Nazism, making no differentiation between man and woman, between children and old people - such a society is entitled to this Islamic spirit… In their Nazi treatment, the Jews made no exception for women or children. They deal with people as if they were the worst war criminals. Deportation from the homeland is a kind of murder.  [20]

We should not forget to remind every Moslem that when the Jews conquered the Holy City in 1967, they stood on the threshold of the Aqsa Mosque and proclaimed that "Mohammed is dead, and his descendants are all women."  [27, this claim cannot be confirmed]

 

⦿ The land belongs to Muslims and Israel is an illegitimate state.

The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day.  [11]

Nothing in nationalism is more significant or deeper than in the case when an enemy should tread Moslem land. [12]

Palestine is an Islamic land which has the first of the two kiblahs (direction to which Moslems turn in praying), the third of the holy (Islamic) sanctuaries, and the point of departure for Mohamed's midnight journey to the seven heavens (i.e. Jerusalem).  [14]

 

⦿ Hamas will not negotiate for a two-state solution.  Israel must be destroyed.

Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement…There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. [13]

“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" (The Martyr, Imam Hassan al-Banna, of blessed memory). [Intro]

 

⦿ Muslims everywhere are obligated to engage in holy war, jihad, in order to return Palestine to Muslim rule.

It is necessary to instill in the minds of the Moslem generations that the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis.  [15]

It [Hamas] strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned. [6, Muslim countries in the Middle East restrict and even persecute other religions]

Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes. [8]

"I swear by the holder of Mohammed's soul that I would like to invade and be killed for the sake of Allah, then invade and be killed, and then invade again and be killed." (As related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).  [15]

 

⦿ The slaughter of the Jews, foretold by Muhammad, is part of the great apocalyptic battle.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said:  "The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree, (evidently a certain kind of tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews." (related by al-Bukhari and Moslem).  [7]

Feeling Good About Yourself Has Become the Supreme Virtue

The sudden contagion of gender fluidity is not about physiological changes or deformed genitalia. It’s about  feelings, which are often transient, that are stirred up and promoted by educational activists. As Theresa Thorn says in her book, “You might feel like your gender changes from day to day or from year to year.”

The highest good, according to modern education, is self-fulfillment. Striving to be yourself, or to be “authentic,” has displaced the ancient struggle to achieve virtues like courage, honor, humility, respect, responsibility, and self-control.

The Western classical and Christian notion of virtue begins with the assumption that there are universal ideals which are woven into the fabric of the universe. Living out these virtues is not instinctual for humans. In fact, our broken and sinful disposition vehemently resists them. Sexual purity, patience, kindness, and loving one’s enemies, do not come naturally. Even Christians must struggle spiritually in order to attain them.

Modern education has turned virtue upside-down. The virtuous life is not a struggle against our fallen human nature, but submission to our natural impulses, especially when those impulses relate to sex and gender.  

Progressive culture largely denies the fallenness of human nature. Sin is bound up primarily in unjust social structures, rather than the human heart. The enemy is without, not within.  So, desires which Christians regard as sinful (e.g., sex outside of marriage, pornography, homoeroticism, gender fluidity, etc.) are now deemed “natural” and “healthy.”

The ultimate sin, in modern culture, is to struggle against your natural inclinations. Battling your instincts produces psychological distress, and distress is the antithesis of well-being. “Being yourself,” on the other hand, feels good. This feeling of well-being is said to be the culmination of mental health and self-esteem.

But, the human mind has an almost infinite capacity for self-deception. Feeling good about yourself, “being yourself,” often involves surrendering to urges which will, over time, prove self-destructive to both body and soul. Feeling good has become the opium of modern education to inoculate society against the consequences of morally destructive behaviors. We are creating a society full of narcissistic people who seek, above all else, to validate their unhindered inclinations.

In traditional Christianity, the distress produced by struggling against our fallen human nature is not the antithesis of well-being, but the path toward personal and societal virtue. The struggle may be long and slow, but it produces a fulfillment that is deeper and more enduring than self-satisfaction and good feelings. No athlete ever attained excellence without rigorous and even painful effort. The purpose of education is to guide students in this epic struggle, leading them from darkness to light.

What Does it Mean to be a Christian?

For the Orthodox Christian, the meaning of the Christian life, as I understand it, is embodied by three terms:  Theosis, Mission, and Worship. The first looks inward, the second looks outward, the third looks forward.

THEOSIS is the Eastern Orthodox belief that Christians are called to become more like God through His grace. The word is sometimes translated, “deification.” But this conveys the erroneous belief that humans can be like God in His nature. Rather, Theosis is the process of salvation and sanctification. As Peter says in his second epistle, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness … so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:3-4).

Theosis restores, the image of God which was marred when Adam sinned. Christ, who assumed our human nature, renewed that fallen image so that those who are joined to Him through faith, enter into a process of re-creation, becoming “partakers of the divine nature.”

The path to renewal is found by ‘following hard after God’ (Ps. 63:8) through observing the spiritual disciplines. These include prayer, reading and meditating on Scripture, fasting, charity, helping others, church attendance, and watchfulness (1 Peter 5:8). In Theosis we seek to manifest virtue and the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives, while crucifying “the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:19-24). In the Orthodox tradition, humility is called the “mother of all virtues,” and pride is regarded as “the cause of all sin.”

Theosis is an upward ladder, as St. John Climacus observed, which represents the striving of the soul to fulfill its heavenly calling (see Paul in Phil. 3:14 and 1 Cor. 9:24-27). It is a process in which the soul becomes more interpenetrated with the ‘energies’ (grace) of God by being joined to Christ in both body and soul.

MISSION is the work of the church in the world to which each Christian is called to participate. Christ sent us into the world to spread the good news of His salvation (Mt. 28:19-20) and, following his example, to relieve suffering as we are able.

Our mission is one of compassion, not condemnation. “[H]ave mercy on those who doubt,” says Jude, “save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear” (22-23). Yet, as followers of Christ, we must acknowledge the work of evil in the world and call it by name, “hating even the clothing stained by the flesh” (23). Shining a light in dark places invites persecution—it always has. Christ was not crucified for being merciful, but for opposing and exposing evil.

WORSHIP is the eschatological destiny of the church. The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse into the worship of heaven, where angelic beings worship God day and night, without ceasing, as they chant the Trisagion before the heavenly throne (Rev. 4). To borrow the words of the Westminster Catechism, this is “the chief end of man…to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

But the work of worship, the liturgy (from the Greek, leitourgia, “work of the people”), does not belong only to the future. Heavenly worship, like the eschaton itself, impinges upon the present. As the writer of Hebrews says, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven…” (12:22-23). The future is realized in the present, and the powers of the world to come are now manifested on earth. In other words, our worship is intended to be the ‘earthly heaven,’ a foretaste of our eternal destiny.

Theosis (godliness), Mission (evangelism), and Worship (heaven), are the three pillars of the Christian life.