Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 66:262 (Apr 1909)
Article: The Glacial Epoch And The Noachian Deluge
Author: Herbert William Magoun

BSac 66:262 (April 1909) p. 217

The Glacial Epoch And The Noachian Deluge

Herbert William Magoun

I.

The nineteenth century was an era of remarkable progress; but it was also an era of doubt. Developments along many lines contributed to these ends. Near its beginning comparative methods of study were introduced, and scientific research was placed on a solid foundation. Inventions of divers sorts and kinds, all tending to revolutionize established methods of living, appeared one after another in civilized communities; and a spirit of unrest took possession of many people. Questions concerning things supposedly settled began to arise, and among them was that relating to the character and extent of the Biblical flood.

Up to the year 1830, no one, provided he believed in the flood at all, appears to have questioned its universality; and no one who accepted the Bible as the word of God, in any sense, seems to have doubted the authenticity of the account as it stands in Genesis. After the appearance of Lyell’s “Principles of Geology,” a change began to take place in the attitude of both scholars and laymen toward this particular story, and by degrees it was assumed that the experiences attributed to Noah, though having some sort of a foundation, were in reality much less important than had been supposed, since the Bible account was now regarded as probably nothing more

BSac 66:262 (April 1909) p. 218

than an exaggerated description of some local disturbance. This assumption gradually gathered strength, until it came to be generally accepted by “progressive” thinkers.

If any such supposition is true, however, it must be admitted that the narrative displays some remarkable features. Exaggeration, indeed, seems hardly an appropriate term to employ in the premises. It is entirely too mild. To begin with, the ark is represented as landing upon the mountains of Ararat, which are located in Armenia, although Noah is supposed to have done his shipbuilding in the lower Euphrates valley,1 the belief that he did so being strongly supported by the Babylonian version of the legend. Now, as has already been shown by Dr. Wright, this involves the conclusion that the ark floated up-stream.2 Here is a genuine difficulty, but it is only one of several. The Bible story not only involves a journey inland and up-stream but, according to the generally accepted view, it also involves a journey of not far from five hundred miles to the northward and a journey that did not end until the vessel was stranded on the top of Mount Ararat, which is approximately three and a quarter miles above sea-level. This peak is the highest mountain ...