“Evan Almighty” was a funny film, thanks to the talent of Steve Carrell, et al. If you have never seen it, the film depicts a “what if” scenario where God asks Evan to build an ark. The premise is funny in part due to the modern day setting and also the reluctance of Evan who has just made a career change from weatherman to congressman.
For many, Noah’s ark is a story that we learned in Sunday school as children. It’s for some a myth that explains the existence of rainbows and assures us of God’s love. For others it is a story so far removed from us that we have not given it much thought as to the significance of it in human history.
The Ark Encounter accomplishes several tasks that are vital to a Biblical worldview.
First, it establishes the feasibility of the whole ark concept. In doing so, it reveals to many their evolutionary conditioning of the mind. By that I mean it exposes the fact that we who believe the Biblical narrative may have bought into the idea that mankind’s brain capacity has developed drastically over time. We tend to think that thousands of years ago people were not capable of engineering challenges that we are capable of today.
After walking through a tunnel this week under Megiddo, I was reminded of just how capable people have always been to solve complex problems. This massive tunnel through solid rock precisely connects the center of the fortress to a spring on the outside. It’s hard to imagine accomplishing such a feat without modern tools.
So housing, feeding, and caring for loads of animals on a 510 foot boat is feasible today and also thousands of years ago. The application of logic with research into historic methods of doing things made for a very believable ark depiction.
Second, it demonstrates the significance of a global flood event relative to the history of the world. One can make a clear and compelling argument from science that a global flood explains the way our planet looks today. The Ark Encounter does not do this exhaustively but provides enough positive scientific perspective to make one think twice about previously held views.
Where do these two points lead me? The veracity of the Bible is what’s at stake when we don’t take the flood narrative seriously. If the Bible is wrong on that, then what do I make of the Holy Land, and why visit the places that were part of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection?
There is more I want to share about the Ark at some point in the future but I must focus my mind on Israel which will be the subject of the next several posts.
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