THE BIBLE AND BABYLON VI — EVIDENCE FOR THE WORLDWIDE FLOOD IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

FROM A SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW — WHAT CAN BE USED AS HISTORICAL EVIDENCE?

What is the difference between evidence and proof? Below is a discussion of this issue:

The Oxford dictionary defines evidence as “the facts, signs, or objects that make you believe something is true.” The word evidence is commonly used in law, court, or criminal investigations. In these settings, evidence refers to the various facts in a case that point to guilt. One piece of evidence alone is not usually enough to prove guilt. You must have enough evidence to determine if someone is guilty…

Science also uses the term evidence to prove theories. These are the facts that suggest a scientific hypothesis is true. In science, evidence comes from observations and experiments…When all the evidence points to a concrete conclusion, you have proof. Proof is something that establishes certainty. In other words, proof is what proves something is true beyond a reasonable doubt.[1]

If we analyze these definitions, we may rid ourselves of what I call “modern superstitions.” We often hear the claim: “This is scientifically proven.” And by this, the person means that this is the final truth which it is impossible to contradict. However, the definitions above show that this view is untenable. Evidence is “the facts, signs, or objects that make you believe something is true.” In a court case, for example, when all the pieces of evidence point in the same direction, the jury may conclude that there is proof that the accused one is guilty. But please note the last clause in the definition above: “proof is what proves something is true beyond a reasonable doubt.” Proof is not the final truth that cannot be contradicted, as G. Hardin wrote:

There is a widespread belief among the public that the statements of science are provable. Scientists and philosophers now agree this is wrong. No scientific statement is ever fully proved. Science is made up of statements that may be proved false but that have not, in fact, been proved false by the most rigorous tests.[2]

There is also a difference between the natural sciences and the historical sciences. The definitions above observe correctly that in the natural sciences, evidence “comes from observations and experiments.” In order to find out what happened several thousand years ago, experiments cannot be made, but observations can be used. This accords with the words of Paul in Romans 1:19. 20:

¹⁹ because what may be known about God is manifest among them, for God made it manifest to them. ²⁰ For his invisible [qualities] are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.

These words accord with the definition of evidence and proof given above. In fact, they go a little further. Even in connection with evidence that turns into proof, there will always be some doubt, as Hardin shows. But the proof should be beyond reasonable doubt. The complexity of nature shows, according to Paul, God’s invisible qualities, and the evidence consists of so many thousands of pieces pointing to the Creator that there can absolutely be no doubt.

We can follow the reasoning of Paul in our quest for the worldwide flood. But there is a difference. The thousands of pieces of evidence in favor of the existence of the Creator are before our eyes, and we can examine the pieces that we want to examine. But because the flood is said to have occurred less than 4,400 years ago, we have to look for pieces of indirect evidence that together can prove that the flood has occurred without any reasonable doubt.

This means that you who read this article, or the more exhaustive discussion in my book, serve as a part of a jury. Your task is to consider whether all the pieces of evidence that is presented, point in the same direction, to a worldwide flood less than 4,400 years ago beyond reasonable doubt. The difficulty for the jury is that this article only presents a small part of the evidence. However, this evidence should be enough to make a verdict. But an exhaustive presentation of the evidence exists in the mentioned book

One important point that we can draw from the definitions of evidence and proof, and from the words of Hardin, is that when people say that on the basis of scientific findings, a worldwide flood a few thousand years ago is impossible, we can ignore these sayings. People who say such things are like persons outside the court where we are the jury, who claim that it is impossible that the accused person is guilty. As a jury, we ignore such sayings. Our task is to consider the evidence presented by the prosecutor that the person is guilty against the evidence presented by the counselor that he is innocent.

In this article, I will serve as the prosecutor and present pieces of evidence of which I say can only have been caused by an enormous flood. As the jurors, your task is to consider whether these arguments are conclusive and whether it is possible to explain these pieces of evidence as caused by other instruments than an enormous flood.

[1]. https://prowritingaid.com/proof-vs-evidence.

[2]. Hardin, “‘Scientific Creationism’—Marketing Deception as Truth,” 162.

A SKETCH OF THE WORLDWIDE FLOOD BASED ON THE BIBLE AND GEOLOGICAL DATA 

The presentations of the past given by geologists are based on the assumption that living creatures on earth were not created by God but have evolved during 500 million years or more. The ages of the sedimentary rocks are based on the theory of evolution. If this theory is wrong, the very high age estimates fall apart. My assumption is that the theory of evolution is wrong, and what the Bible says about the flood is correct. This means that I do not accept the presentation of the geologists of the past. But I will try to paint a picture on the basis of the data that we have.

When the reader understand that I question what geologists say about the past, I ask the reader to consider the words of Hardin that are quoted above, whether statements of science are provable or not. And, I ask the reader to consider the data I present apart from different theories as a good juror. As already mentioned, I do not make detailed analyses of geological data and of the words of the Bible, but I present a small part of the data. For those who want to dig deeper, I refer to my Can We Trust the Bible? book.

 We read about the flood in Genesis 7:11-12, 17-20:

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on this day all the springs of the vast watery deep were broken open and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. ¹² And the downpour upon the earth went on for forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On this very day Noah went in, and Shem and Ham and Jaʹpheth, Noah’s sons,+ and the wife of Noah and the three wives of his sons with him, into the ark.

¹⁷ And the deluge went on for forty days upon the earth, and the waters kept increasing and began carrying the ark and it was floating high above the earth. ¹⁸ And the waters became overwhelming and kept increasing greatly upon the earth, but the ark kept going on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹ And the waters overwhelmed the earth so greatly that all the tall mountains that were under the whole heavens came to be covered. ²⁰ Up to fifteen cubits the waters overwhelmed them and the mountains became covered.

The basic information in the text above is:

1. The water fell down on the earth during a period of 40 days.
2. The water covered the highest mountain with 15 cubits (8 meters).
3. Only those who were in the ark survived.

Based on the information in the Bible and geological data, I present the following points that are discussed in detail in my book:

1. The unconsolidated material on the top of the earth, usually ascribed to the Ice Age, represents remnants of the flood. In a few instances, unconsolidated material interpreted as belonging to one of the periods in the geologic column may represent the flood.
2. Evidence of several Ice Ages with interglacial periods in between is lacking.
3. Immediately after the flood, ice developed in a part of the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. After some time, most of this ice melted. The ice in the Arctic, Antarctic, and Greenland has accumulated after the flood.
4. Much of the material interpreted as remnants of the Ice Age that is supposed to have ended between 12,000 and 10,000 years ago are remnants of the flood.
5. The most important evidence of the flood are erratic boulders, assemblages of rounded stones, and sand. These remnants are usually interpreted as remnants of the Ice Age. But these remnants occur all over the earth, including the tropics and subtropics where there never have been glaciers, except in the highest mountains.
6. In areas with high mountains, stones, and gravel may fall down on the top of moving glaciers, and this material will be transported a short distance by the glaciers. The transport of material at the bottom of a moving glacier is very limited.
7. Big stones, gravel, and sand have been transported hundreds of kilometers. This transport is impossible by glaciers, and only enormous amounts of water with a high velocity can make such transportation.
8. Millions upon millions of erratic boulders are found on the top of mountains all over the world, including in the tropics and the subtropics. A great number of these erratic boulders have been elevated from areas 1,000, 2,000, and even 6,000 meters below the mountain tops. Glaciers cannot raise small or huge stones hundreds or thousands of meters upward. This fact shows that the mountains have been lowlands to which this material was transported. And after the erratic boulders were deposited, the mountains were elevated to their present height.
9. The time erratic boulders on the top of particular mountains have been exposed to cosmic rays is in the ballpark of 10,000 years. This suggests that the mountains were elevated a few thousand years ago and that the worldwide flood, that caused the elevation of the mountains, occurred a few thousand years ago.
10. The mountains were much lower before the flood, so the water may not have been more than a few hundred meters above the ocean to cover all the mountains or hills. The Hebrew word har used in Genesis 7:20 can refer to a mountain or a hill.
11. When huge amounts of water came down, the weight of the water would cause the bottoms of the oceans to subside and the land and hills to be pushed up.
12. According to Genesis 7:11, the water came from above the atmosphere, not as raindrops but as cascades of water. There could not have been a canopy of water immediately above that atmosphere, because that would have caused temperatures so high that life could not exist on the earth. The water must have existed high above the atmosphere.
13. After the flood, the water that fell down poured down from the land masses and into the oceans. And the ocean floors subsided

THE MISSOULA FLOOD AND THE POWER OF HUGE AMOUNTS OF WATER WITH A HIGH VELOCITY 

There are a lot of questions that can be asked that are not covered by my points above. However, many points are discussed in my Can We Trust the Bible? book. In this article, I will focus on the best evidence for a worldwide flood, namely erratic boulders that have been transported over great distances and have been elevated thousands of meters to the tops of mountains. As a background for this discussion, I will demonstrate the enormous transporting power of huge amounts of water with a high velocity. The best example is the Misssoula flood in the United States which occurred 3,000 years or more ago.

A part of Canada and Northern America was covered with ice after the flood. The ice started to melt, and the meltwater made a great lake with mountains around the lake and a barrier of thick ice on its western side, The lake covered an area of 7,800 km² (3,011 miles²), a little larger than the state of Delaware. When the water reached a depth of 600 m (1,968 ft), the ice barrier burst and caused a cataclysmic flood. It has been estimated that 11 million cubic meters (386 million cubic feet) of water flowed every second. This is ten times as much as the combined flow of all the rivers of the world. The water swept across the states of Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington and reached the Pacific Ocean. This is called the Missoula flood.

The water swept away the surface sediments, and today there is only a thin soil in the scoured area. The sand, gravel, and stones that were carried by the water functioned as a great saw that cut deep gorges or coulees down to more than 100 meters in hard basalt stone. In the picture, we see  Grand Coulee in the State of Washington which was carved out by the flood.

Picture 1.1 The Grand Coulee

The flood eroded hard rock and took away the surface sediments, but in some areas the sediments in suspension were trapped and deposited. In the Portland Delta, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, the bar of gravel and sand is 1,300 km² (501 mi²) and 110 m (350 ft) deep. Sediment was also carried along the sea floor of the Pacific Ocean, deposing a bed of gravel 60 m (190 ft) thick with a magnitude of 84 km³ (20 miles³) 1,100 km (700 mi) from the coast. This means that the Missoula flood transported sediment over a distance of more than 1,800 km (1,118 mi).

The water did not only transport gravel and sand but also huge rocks over great distances. The Bellevue erratic in Villamette Valley in Oregon weights 90 ton, and it was transported 800 km (500 mi) from Northern Rocky Mountains. In the Ephrata Fan below Soap Lake in the State of Washington, there are numerous huge rocks that have been transported from different places; the biggest one weights 1,500 tons.

 The Missoula flood is an example of the enormous power of huge amounts of water with a high velocity.[1]

[1]. If you  search for “Missoula flood erratics” or “Ephrata Fan,” you will find pictures of what the flood did.

THE SPRINGS OF THE GREAT DEEP BURST, AND FLOODGATES WERE OPENED IN HEAVEN  

In order to see that the worldwide flood was not caused by rain, I quote Genesis 7:11 NIV (above), 7:4 (middle) and 7:17 (below):

¹¹ on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

⁴ For in just seven days more I am making it rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will wipe every existing thing that I have made off the surface of the ground.”

¹⁷ And the deluge (mabbul) went on for forty days upon the earth, and the waters kept increasing and began carrying the ark and it was floating high above the earth.

The water came down from heaven during a period of 40 days. Verse 4 uses the Hebrew word for “rain.” But the words in 7:11 show that Moses was not writing about drops of rain. The “deep” refers to the water that was above the atmosphere, and the words “springs” in the great deep “burst” and holes (floodgates) of heaven were opened, suggesting that cascades of water that caused tidal waves were falling to the earth during the period of 40 days. We note that the Hebrew word ’aruba (“hole”) does not refer to small holes. Kohlenberger and Mounce Lexicon has the meaning “floodgate; window; nest,” and many translations use “floodgate” as a translation of the word. The Hebrew word mabbul is used with the meaning “flood,” and Genesis 7:17 shows that water flooded down on the earth during the period of 40 days.

ERRATIC BOULDERS TRANSPORTED OVER LONG DISTANCES IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS 

Picture 1.2 The transport of erratic boulders

The two pictures show transport routes of erratic boulders. The picture on the top uses the Oslo and Larvik area as a point of departure where the erratic boulders have their origin. The arrows show where the boulders have been transported: 1,200 km to the United Kingdom, 1,100 km to the Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, 500 km. to Denmark, and 1,400 km to Steigen in the northern part of Norway. And there are millions upon millions of erratic boulders that have been transported.

In the picture below I take the island Åland between Sweden and Finland.as my point of departure. Boulders are transported to the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. Boulders from Åland and Estonia have been transported to southern Norway and in the opposite direction to Finland. Boulders from Sweden have also been transported to Finland and in the opposite direction to Norway. But this is marked on another map. Bounders have also been transported from Finland to Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Belarus, and Russia. These are just two maps of the transport of erratic boulders.

The geological explanation for this transport is moving glaciers. But even a non-geologist can see that this explanation is completely untenable. Glaciers need tilted planes to move, and there are no tilted planes the 1,400 km to Northern Norway or the 1,200 km to the United Kingdom. Moreover, there are millions upon millions of boulders that have been transported. If moving glaciers were the cause of transport, one glacier must have moved in each direction of the arrows. And boulders have been transported in the opposite directions. From the Oslo and Larvik area, boulders have been transported to southeast, to the south, to the southwest, to the west, and to the north. From the Åland area, boulders have been transported to the east, southeast, south, southwest, and west. And again, glaciers do not move in opposite directions.

Many of the transported erratic boulders are round or rounded, and they have percussion marks. These are crescent-shaped scars that suggest transport by a turbulent flow of water where the rocks were hitting each other, rather than a slow transport by glaciers. I have studied pictures of 1,200 glaciers from different parts of the earth that partially have melted. Very few stones are seen in the areas where the ice has melted, and those that are seen have no percussion marks. (Pictures are found in my book.) The ability of a glacier to transport stones and material at its base is very low.

There are two keys to the explanation of what caused the transport of the erratic boulders, and they are found in Genesis 7:11 and 17.

¹¹all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

¹⁷ And the deluge went on for forty days upon the earth, and the waters kept increasing

I will compare the situation with the Missoula flood. This flood may have lasted for some days if the ice barrier was broken in stages. But the bulk of the water would have reached the Pacific Ocean 1,100 miles away in a few hours. If there had been one enormous amount of water above the atmosphere, because of gravity, it would have fallen down in a few hours. But the water kept increasing during a period of 40 days. In view of the facts on the ground, the most natural explanation for the millions upon millions of erratic boulders all over the world is that the water fell down and caused a number of tidal waves of the same size as the Missoula flood. And the water that came down, flooded in different directions and transported stones, gravel, and sand in different directions. This is the only plausible explanation I can see that can account for all the transported erratic boulders.

An addition: At Mysen, in southeast Norway, there is an assemblage of 200 million tons of pure sand. This is the same amount of sand that was taken from Long Island to build the city of New York. The only mechanism that can sort sand is water, and assembling this sand at the mentioned place, must have been caused by a number of huge tidal waves.

THE TRANSPORT OF HUGE ERRATIC BOULDERS 

As I have shown in the discussion of the Missoula flood, the water transported millions of tons of stones, gravel, and sand, some as far as 1,700 km. In my book, there are pictures of many huge stones that were transported, the biggest one being 1,500 tons.

Larvikite is a rock that is found in the Larvik area and a few other places. Below is a picture of Mørupstenen in Herning in Denmark. This rock consists of Larvikite, it weighs 500 tons, and it has been transported 330 km (205 mi) from Larvik to its resting place. The area between Larvik and Herning is rather flat but this stone and other stones had to cross the Norwegian trench which is up to 600 meters deep and more than 50 km wide. Ice could not have transported this stone, and the only alternative is huge amounts of water with a high velocity. In Denmark, there are several huge stones that have been transported from Norway and Sweden, the biggest one weighing 1,000 tons.

I have mentioned the transport of huge stones by the Missoula flood, but I will add one example from Iceland. In 1918, the volcano Katla erupted, and the ice on the vulcano melted. This resulted in a great flood of water, much less than the Missoula flood. But the water transported a stone weighing 1,000 tons 15 km.  This again shows how huge amounts of water can transport huge stones.

GREAT NUMBERS OF ERRATIC BOULDERS IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE WORLD SUGGEST A RECENT ELEVATION OF THE MOUNTAINS

Because modern geology is based on the assumption of organic evolution over 600 million years or more, the ages given to different rock masses also are millions of years. The age of the earth may be 4,5 billion years or more, and the material in eruptive rocks and sedimentary rocks may be millions of years as well. However, below is a picture of an erratic boulder in the Norwegian mountains, and the age of the material in this rock does not tell us when it was placed in the position it has in the picture.

Picture 1.4 An erratic boulder in the Norwegian mountains

In the mountains of Norway and in the mountains all over the world, there are millions upon millions of boulders whose origin is hundreds or thousands of meters below their resting places. The most extreme example is erratic boulders in the height of 5,500 m (16.076 ft) in the Balchadura in the Tibetan Kumaon Himalayas.

Some mountains in southern Norway where erratic boulders are found are Skålla at a height of 1,384 m (4,540 ft), Blåhø at 1,617 m (5,305 ft), and Elgåhogna at 1,461 m (4,793 ft). On the mountain Heidalsmuen (height 1,745 m), erratic boulders are found on the top of the mountain, and boulders 1.5 m in diameter are found up to a height of 1,600 m (5,249 ft). The fact that the erratic boulders are found much higher than their places of origin in most of the mountains where they occur, is evidence in favor of a recent uplift of these mountains—not during the last millions of years but rather during the last few thousand years when the erratic boulders were moved.

In the mountains in the USA, there are millions upon millions of erratic boulders. Below I print a table from the geologist R.F. Flint, Glacial and Quarternary Geology, page 180, showing the transported distance and elevation of erratic boulders and gravel in some mountains in the USA:

Table 1.1 Vertical lift of glacial drift.

I have already mentioned that percussion marks indicate that the erratic boulders were rounded and received percussion marks in the transport by water with a high velocity. A great number of erratic boulders in the mountains of the USA have percussion marks.  Below is a picture of one boulder weighing 200 kg (440 pounds) at a height of 2,500 meters (8200 ft) in Lookout Mountain in the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon. The percussion marks are visible on the top of the rock.

Picture 1.5 An erratic boulder with percussion marks at a height of 2,500 m

The erratic boulders were transported by huge amounts of water with a high velocity. And this phenomenon could not occur on the top of the mountains. This means that the only explanation for the existence of all these millions of erratic boulders is that they were deposited when the mountains were small hills before these hills were elevated to mountains.

On the basis of this, the following important question can be asked: When were the hills raised to become mountains? The first point we can make is that the mountains were elevated after the erratic boulders were deposited on the hills that became mountains. This means that the time when the erratic boulders were deposited on their resting places can tell us when the hills were elevated to mountains. So, the question is how long the erratic boulders have been lying in their present positions.

All methods of age determination have many errors. But several age estimates that give about the same result may give the approximate age of an object. One method of determining how long erratic boulders have been lying on the mountain tops used by Norwegian (and other) geologists is to consider how long the stones have been exposed to cosmic rays. Measuring the content of Beryllium 10 is one of the methods that is used.  The general agreement among Norwegian geologists is that many erratic boulders in the Norwegian mountains have been exposed to cosmic rays since the end of the Ice Age between 12,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Norwegian geologists believe that ice has placed the erratic boulders in the Norwegian mountain tops. This is, of course, impossible because ice cannot lift up rocks hundreds or thousands of meters. From my point of view, the age estimates of 12,000 to 10,000 years are interesting because they are in the same order of magnitude as 4,392 years ago when the flood occurred according to the chronology of the Bible.  So, the evidence suggests that the mountains of the world on whose tops there are millions upon millions of erratic boulders, were elevated a few thousand years ago. And this also corroborates the occurrence of the worldwide flood a few thousand years ago. More detailed analyses are found in my Can We Trust the Bible? book.

WHERE IS THE WATER THAT FELL DOWN ON THE EARTH? 

Because high mountains did not exist on the earth before the worldwide flood, the magnitude of the water that stood 15 cubits (8 meters) above the highest hill, need not have been more than a few hundred meters above the present ocean surface.

Genesis 7:19 says:

¹⁹ And the waters overwhelmed the earth so greatly that all the tall (gāboa) mountains (har) that were under the whole heavens came to be covered.

This text can mislead the reader. When we speak of “tall mountains,” we may think of mountains with a height of 2,000 meters or more. And people in Tibet may think of mountains with a height of several thousand meters. The Hebrew word translated as “mountain” is har, and this word can refer to a mountain or to a hill. The word “Harmageddon” (Armageddon) means Megiddo’s mountain. But the highest point in the Megiddo area is a hill 400 meters above sea level. There are many examples in the Hebrew Scriptures where har refers to a hill. The Hebrew adjective gāboa is translated as “tall.” In Ezekiel 40:42, a table is said to be “one cubit high (gāboa),” and gāboa refers to the height of 45 centimeters. In Amos 2:9, an Amorite man is said to be “tall” (gāboa), and in Deuteronomy 3:5, the walls around different cities are said to be “tall” (gāboa). So, we see that the word gāboa is a relative word. This means that the Hebrew words kol har gāboa in Genesis 7:19 can be translated as “all the tall mountains” or as “all the high hills.”

As I have shown, all the erratic boulders on the tops of the mountains, indicate that the mountains were elevated after the flood. Therefore, I can say that there were no high mountains before the flood, and therefore I chose the translation: “all the high hills.”

The water subsided, and Genesis 8, 4, 14 says:

⁴ And the waters began receding from off the earth, progressively receding; and at the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters were lacking

¹⁴ And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried off.

The account says that after some time the earth became completely dry, and the natural question is: Where did the water go? The answer is obvious. The hills were elevated to mountains, and what caused this elevation was that the ocean floors subsided, and the water that had covered the land masses went to the oceans.

I have now discussed what Genesis says about the flood and the aftermath of the flood when the earth became dry. I will now discuss an interesting account in Psalm 104:5-9 where the flood is discussed in a poetic language:

⁵ He has founded the earth upon its established places; It will not be made to totter to time indefinite, or forever. ⁶ With a watery deep (tehōm) just like a garment you covered it. The waters were standing above the very mountains (har). ⁷ At your rebuke they began to flee; At the sound of your thunder they were sent running in panic— ⁸ Mountains (har) proceeded to ascend (‘ālā), Valley plains (biq‘ā) proceeded to descend (yārad) —To the place that you have founded for them. ⁹ A boundary you set, beyond which they should not pass, That they should not again cover the earth.

Verse 6 says that “the watery deep” (tehōm) covered the earth, expressed by “it.” On two occasions water had covered the earth, on the first creation day (Genesis 1:2, 6) and in the days of Noah. Because verse 6 says that the waters were standing above the mountains (hills), and there were no mountains or hills on creation day one, the account must refer to the worldwide flood in the days of Noah.

The word “waters” (mayim) is dual and masculine, and therefore, words referring to the “waters” must be plural and masculine. This is the case with the pronoun “they” in verse 7, and this word must refer to the waters. Verse 7 contains a poetic parallelism. The waters began to flee — they were running in panic. The focus of verse 6 is after the water came down from heaven and covered all the hills. After that, God caused the waters to start moving — “they fled, they ran in panic.”

Verse 8 points to the result of the moving waters. The hills (mountains) began to ascend, and the valley plains (biq‘ā) began to descend.  The Hebrew verb bāqā means “to cleave; to split,” and the corresponding noun biq‘ā refers to something that is split, such as a cleft or a valley, something that is lower than the landscape around. The point is that the high parts of the landscape started to ascend and the low parts started to descend.

When all the hills, which must include all the valleys in between, were covered with water, the water could not pour down into the valley plains. But it could pour down to the lowest places, which would be the oceans. The important point of the text is that the hills ascended, and other parts of the earth descended. So, without saying so directly, the text corroborates the view that the water poured into the oceans, and because of this, the bottom of the oceans descended and the hills ascended.

The last part of verse 8 confirms that the water poured into the oceans. The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse is third person masculine plural, and it must refer to the waters, which are masculine dual (plural). Thus, the Psalmist says that the waters were “fleeing” or “running in panic” to “the place” God had “founded for them.” The verb yāsad has the meaning “to lay a foundation; establish; ordain.” (Kohlenberger and Mounce). As we see today, God had established the oceans where the water of the earth should be. So, the place where the waters came where the oceans.

Verse 9 confirms that the words of the Psalmist refer to the worldwide flood because the words that “they” (the waters) will not again cover the earth” are based on Genesis 9:11. Do we have any evidence that the ocean floors subsided and the hills or mountains ascended?

Geologists agree that the floors of the oceans of the world have subsided several hundred meters or more. But they say that this occurred millions of years ago. But as I have mentioned, all these age estimates are based on the theory of evolution. And if this theory is not true, neither are the high age estimates. There is evidence from the whole earth of sea level changes.

One set of evidence is raised shorelines and submerged shorelines. Each of these shorelines shows the ocean level at some time in the past. The average of raised shorelines in the world is between 200 and 220 meters above sea level, and the average of subsided shorelines is between 130 and 150 meters below sea level. This means that the difference in sea level has been between 330 and 370 meters. Some of this difference may have been caused by the water of the worldwide flood that poured down from the land masses to the oceans.

There is also a set of other evidence that speaks of higher differences in sea level. Particularly in the Pacific Ocean, but also in the other oceans, there are thousands of guyots. The guyots are underwater seamounts with flat tops. The flat tops of the guyots have the marks of being wave-leveled platforms that later subsided. Coral reefs near their tops are evidence of this. The tops of the guyots are 600 or 800 meters or more below sea level. The existence of the guyots shows that the sea floor has subsided, or more water has been added to the oceans, or both. I would like to add that geologists today know that the Mediterranean Ocean at some time in the past was dry and free of water, and later the ocean was filled with water. The mentioned data show that the account in Genesis 8:4, 14 that the water of the flood subsided from the earth accords with the facts on the ground.

CONCLUSION

This article and the account of the worldwide flood in my book, Can We Trust the Bible? With Focus on the Creation Account, the Worldwide Flood, and the Prophecies break new land. I am not aware of any other publication where the erratic boulders have been studied and their existence have been used as evidence for the worldwide flood.

This article only discusses a part of the issue, and the book with 710 photographs connected with the worldwide flood gives much more evidence. Some of the subjects discussed in the book are:

The relationship between the worldwide flood and the so-called Ice Age.

Evidence that the Ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctica have accumulated after the worldwide flood.

The origin of the sand in the deserts.

The extinction of the mammoth fauna and the worldwide flood

Erratic boulders and moraine on the mammoth steppe.

The formation of the Island Surtsey as an example of rapid changes in nature.

You can get a free electronic copy of the book if you write to rolf.furuli@sf-nett.no.