How can we believe the Bible when the Bible describes events like Noah’s Flood?

The Bible says: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”

Then God said to Noah, “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 

Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.

And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.” (Genesis 6: 5-6, 14-17, 19-20)

Are there any evidences of a global Flood that destroyed all mankind? What should we think of claims like this from the Bible?

Fossils show rapid burial

There is in fact evidence of a global Flood in the fossil record. Fossils show signs of rapid burial. There are fossils of fish eating other fish. There are fossils of animals in the act of giving birth. There are polystrate fossils, such as tree trunks, buried upright and across multiple geological layers. If geological layers are thought to form over millions of years, how can it be that these fossils straddle across them?

Take a look at the following articles and videos.

Fossils and the Flood (3 min video)

Dinosaurs, Fossil Proteins, and the Bible (26 min video)

Warped earth and folded rocks

There are many places all over the globe with warped earth and folded rocks, which show how a global Flood of waters carved out many of the canyons we see today.

In fact, it can be seen how canyons can form in a short period of time today. It took only three days in 2002 (not millions of years) for a canyon to form in Texas that is 80 feet deep and 1.5 miles long.

Animals on the ark

People might assume that since there are millions of species today, Noah needed to take millions of animals into the ark and they wouldn’t fit. However, God said to bring two of every kind of land animals and birds into the ark. The biblical kind is different from the term species we know today. If two animals can interbreed (e.g. tigers and lions), then they are likely in the same kind. According to research, kind is almost at the same level as the classification of family we know today.

It is estimated that there were only about 1400 kinds of animals taken into the ark. From these kinds, speciation followed.

To learn more, see Animals on the Ark and Variety within Created Kinds.

Global flood stories

There are legends all over the world about a flood that once destroyed mankind because their god was angry with them. In fact, there are over two hundred such legends from ancient Babylon and many other nations. If there was no such thing as a global flood, why are there so many stories about it?

See the article Significance of a World of Stories Based on Truth.

What did the ark look like?

Noah's ark replica
Noah’s Ark Model at the Ark Encounter (Kaleeb18, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

The proportions of the ark allowed it to be a sea-worthy vessel that was strong, stable, and comfortable enough to ride in. The ark was about 510 feet (155 m) long, 85 feet (26 m) wide, and 51 feet (15.5 m) high.

To learn more, see this in-depth article Was there really a Noah’s ark & Flood?

What did Jesus say?

Jesus referred to Noah and the ark when He talked about His coming again to judge the earth.

He said, “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17: 24-27).

Obviously, Jesus referred to the flood as a historical event. And He used it as a warning to people who think that everything will carry on just like yesterday, and don’t realize God will one day judge the heavens and the earth.

When all is said and done, you may still think the flood seems like a myth. But if God created the heavens and the earth, why is a global flood hard to believe? But oftentimes, we can be easily influenced by what others think. If the majority of the people do not believe this, should we follow the majority? Is truth a vote?

But Jesus says, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” (Luke 18:17). What do you think it means?

Children believe what their parents teach them. Should we not also accept what God the Father teaches us?


Read about the flood in Genesis 6 to Genesis 9.

See Why I believe.