Volcanoes, Hawaii, and the Genesis Flood

Biblical creationists freely admit that the Genesis Flood was a miraculous event, but we still want to know not only the theology, but the science involved. Like their secular counterparts, creationary scientists have disagreements and put forward various models of the events. (An early idea that creationists promoted was the Canopy Theory. I taught this in the early 1990s. It has been largely abandoned by most creationists today.) Even so, the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii had itself an eruption in 2018, and the result fits creationary ideas.

Volcanic plume at the summit of Kilauea on May 13, 2018
Image Credit: NASA astronaut Drew Feustel from the space station
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Creationists have examined the effects of volcanic activity on the air and water, since there was a tremendous amount of volcanic activity during the Flood. Water heats up, steam rises, and rain is produced. Extrapolate this to the global catastrophic event of the Flood.

It is often difficult to wrap our minds around the catastrophism of a flood covering the whole earth. The scale of such a flood is vastly beyond any human experience, compared to observing a river or flash flood or being caught in a downpour from a thunderstorm. But sometimes nature gives us a glimpse at the possibilities during the flood. Such a glimpse was provided by a recent ice storm on the mountains of Hawaii (Reardon, 2018; Sounds, 2018).

The Mechanism of the Flood

The biblical mechanisms of the flood were “the fountains of the great deep” that burst open and the “windows of the heavens” opening (Genesis 7:11). The precise meaning of these two mechanisms has been controversial (Boyd and Snelling 2014; Morris 1976). Either the “windows of heaven” refer to the 40 days and nights of heavy rain, or the rain is the result of the two mechanisms combined. Regardless, the “fountains of the great deep” busting open implies the earth’s crust opening in some way. When this happens, one would expect a huge amount of volcanism.

To read the rest, click on "Very Rare June Ice Storm on Hawaiian Mountains Provides Insight into the Flood". For additional information, you may want to see "Volcanoes and the Genesis Flood".