Up the creek without a boat

Noah’s Ark has been found…again.  According to recent news reports, “a group of Chinese and Turkish evangelical explorers say wooden remains they have discovered on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey are the remains of Noah’s Ark.”

Not surprisingly, it is already being called a hoax.

My question is, why are people even looking for the ark in the first place?  If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that they search for the ark in the belief that when it’s found, this would put the last nail in the coffin for modern skepticism and evolution.  This is certainly a noble cause, but one that is also naïve.  It’s based on the assumption that evolutionists deny the account of the Flood and Noah’s Ark.  However, this simply isn’t the case with many evolutionists.  A belief in a flood of epic proportions is mentioned in many various traditions other than the Bible, most notably of which is the Epic of Gilgamesh.  Further, finding a large boat would give veracity to the Biblical account of the flood, but it would not even come close to settling the disputes between whether or not the flood was global or local, or whether the flood caused each and every instance of fossilization.  Simply put, skeptics would simply say, “Congratulations, you’ve found a boat.”

I would argue that finding the ark is very highly improbable.  Not impossible, but as close to it as you can get.  People who want the ark found make one huge glaring assumption.  They assume that the ark is still there, wherever “there” is.

Imagine that you and your family have just ridden out the worst flood in history.  Every inch of land, rocks and trees was covered with who knows how much water.  The boat finally comes to rest and eventually everybody gets off to what is now a desolate earth.  Now it’s time to start over, to start working the earth, to rebuild your lives – and your houses.  Remember, every tree for miles is probably ruined and useless for building a house. But fortunately, you have a source for good, strong, wood – your boat.  Imagine how much wood a three-story tall 450’ x 75’ boat would have!  How much wood would a…oh, never mind.

Too often, we get a picture of Noah and his family coming off the ark to a somewhat water-logged, but otherwise okay world, complete with trees ready to be used. Those who are looking for the ark forget that Noah and/or his descendants lived in the nearby area and would need what the ark had in abundance – building material.  The ark that had saved them from the waters would now help to shelter them as they began life again.   The ark will never be found because it no longer exists in one piece.