There are lot of people who take a literal interpretation of Bible, especially the first book, Genesis. I have seen lot of educated people believing in creation legends as literal truth, word for word. There are lot of refutations on this subject available on the Internet. But here I am presenting a wager that "If you take Noah's story literally, then you must believe in evolution"
First, to give an overview, there are more than 3,500 species of mosquito, more than 6,000 species of lizards and more than 43,000 species of spiders. After the level of species, we have sub-species in many animals/insects and at last, we have lot of breeds. For example, there are around 400 breeds of dogs and nearly 100 breeds of cat.
According to science, formation of one species from another takes millions of years, let us assume, at least ten thousand years. But the problem with ark advocates is, they claim that the ark is just 4,500 years old. So for example, if we consider Noah took one pair of spider with him, then each year, there should be 10 new species of spider evolving to match the number of species identified today. If some one claims that Noah took a pair of all the 43,000+ species with him, then there should be 86,000+ spiders alone on the ark, which will result in lack of space when we extrapolate this to all animals.
The ark will have space and "float" only if the argument is one of each "kind", not one of each species. If ark advocates are to say that it is only one of each "kind", then, there are other problems like how polar bears and grisly bears came in to existence as polar bears can't live in temperate climate and grisly bears can't live in polar climate. So, the only logical solution for the arkeologists is to accept either Noah's ark is practically impossible or there was evolution of species after the flood.
There are some religions and sects which try to escape arguments say that the flood is local. But then we have to laugh at them that, why God didn't advise Noah and his family to move to some other safe place instead of ordering him to build a ship/ark? So this argument is nothing but a lame face saver for their interpretation of religious texts.
Noah's story can be a good bed time story or a theme for Sunday school skit. But not as a hard fact historical lesson! Finally, my intention is not to hurt sentiments of any religious group or individual. My intention is to tell others what I understand and encourage critical thinking. So, instead of believing literally what religious texts say, it is better to use God given common sense to understand things properly. God is not glorified by blind faith, but by good understanding.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. -Proverbs 4:6-7 (Holy Bible)
Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion. -Saint Augustine (A.D. 354-430)
First, to give an overview, there are more than 3,500 species of mosquito, more than 6,000 species of lizards and more than 43,000 species of spiders. After the level of species, we have sub-species in many animals/insects and at last, we have lot of breeds. For example, there are around 400 breeds of dogs and nearly 100 breeds of cat.
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| There are 6,000+ lizard species identified as of now |
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| Feeding 86,000+ spiders needs another 100,000 insects at least! |
There are some religions and sects which try to escape arguments say that the flood is local. But then we have to laugh at them that, why God didn't advise Noah and his family to move to some other safe place instead of ordering him to build a ship/ark? So this argument is nothing but a lame face saver for their interpretation of religious texts.
Noah's story can be a good bed time story or a theme for Sunday school skit. But not as a hard fact historical lesson! Finally, my intention is not to hurt sentiments of any religious group or individual. My intention is to tell others what I understand and encourage critical thinking. So, instead of believing literally what religious texts say, it is better to use God given common sense to understand things properly. God is not glorified by blind faith, but by good understanding.
Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. -Proverbs 4:6-7 (Holy Bible)
Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion. -Saint Augustine (A.D. 354-430)
