Shipbuilding Skills and Noah
Due to the prevalence of evolutionary thinking on society, people today tend to think ancient people were stupid. We are modern, so we are smarter. That'll be the day! This criticism has been leveled against Noah, assuming he could not have built that Ark. Humans were intelligent from the beginning of creation.
One area of cultural bias and scientific racism has been the assumption that Neanderthals and other ancient humans were unintelligent. They were actually very intelligent. (An attempt by Darwinists to save face over their bad science is to propose that they went extinct because they were too smart!) If you've watched shows or read novels about the old American West, you could easily wonder how those folks survived. Although they didn't have modern conveniences, they were inventive. Do a search for a show called Wild West Tech that ran for about thirty episodes, you should be able to find the videos online. Fascinating stuff.
"What does this have to do with Noah building the Ark, Cowboy Bob?"
Superb timing, I was just getting to that. Uninformed people as well as secularists and their religious comrades assume that primitive Noah could not possibly have built the Ark — if he even existed. However, atheists and evolutionists, in their great wisdom and mercy, will grant us Noah's existence so they can indulge in prejudicial conjecture and build straw man arguments.
Atheists and evolutionists like to put Christians and creationists on the defensive. While they may challenge us with legitimate questions, we are often given questions and statements loaded with atheistic and evolutionary presuppositions. We do not have to accept their declarations as truth. For some examples of questioning the questioners and turning their attacks around, take a gander at "Hummingbirds Evolving for Combat?", "Extraordinary Claims and Rejecting Evidence", "Dinosaur Extinction and Evolutionary Assumptions", and "Refuting Mountains of Fossil Evidence for Evolution".
For example, Bill Nye the Secular Propaganda Guy debated Ken Ham and presented information about the Wyoming, a large wooden vessel that sank. Last I knew, people who claim to represent science need to do their homework and to honestly present their material. If Nye actually researched the Wyoming, he left out several important details. He also made a fallacious comparison between the Wyoming and Noah's Ark. Nye gave the impression that it sank at the get-go. Quite the contrary! Nye didn't bother to mention other ships of antiquity.
I'll allow that we are not given many details about how Noah built the Ark, but we can utilize some informed, reasonable speculations without having to resort to "It's a miracle". Perhaps God gave Noah detailed instructions of which we are unaware. Noah could have already been a skilled shipbuilder. He could have hired unbelievers to work on the project (what, you've never worked for someone you disrespect?), and other possibilities. Remember, the ancients were not stupid.
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| Ark Encounter, Pixabay / Michael Wysmiersk |
"What does this have to do with Noah building the Ark, Cowboy Bob?"
Superb timing, I was just getting to that. Uninformed people as well as secularists and their religious comrades assume that primitive Noah could not possibly have built the Ark — if he even existed. However, atheists and evolutionists, in their great wisdom and mercy, will grant us Noah's existence so they can indulge in prejudicial conjecture and build straw man arguments.
Atheists and evolutionists like to put Christians and creationists on the defensive. While they may challenge us with legitimate questions, we are often given questions and statements loaded with atheistic and evolutionary presuppositions. We do not have to accept their declarations as truth. For some examples of questioning the questioners and turning their attacks around, take a gander at "Hummingbirds Evolving for Combat?", "Extraordinary Claims and Rejecting Evidence", "Dinosaur Extinction and Evolutionary Assumptions", and "Refuting Mountains of Fossil Evidence for Evolution".
For example, Bill Nye the Secular Propaganda Guy debated Ken Ham and presented information about the Wyoming, a large wooden vessel that sank. Last I knew, people who claim to represent science need to do their homework and to honestly present their material. If Nye actually researched the Wyoming, he left out several important details. He also made a fallacious comparison between the Wyoming and Noah's Ark. Nye gave the impression that it sank at the get-go. Quite the contrary! Nye didn't bother to mention other ships of antiquity.
I'll allow that we are not given many details about how Noah built the Ark, but we can utilize some informed, reasonable speculations without having to resort to "It's a miracle". Perhaps God gave Noah detailed instructions of which we are unaware. Noah could have already been a skilled shipbuilder. He could have hired unbelievers to work on the project (what, you've never worked for someone you disrespect?), and other possibilities. Remember, the ancients were not stupid.
Before examining the many challenges that large wooden ships must overcome, we need to be careful not to fall into the trap of accepting Nye’s unprovable assumptions. He claimed that the Ark’s eight builders were unskilled. Far too often, Christians go along with skeptical arguments instead of exposing the false premises on which they are constructed. For example, many Christians repeat Nye’s assertion when they happily state, “The Titanic was built by experts, and the Ark was built by amateurs.” But where does the Bible ever tell us that Noah was an amateur or that only eight people worked on the Ark?To read this highly informative article in its entirety or download the audio version, click on "How Could Noah’s Ark Survive the Storm?"
We know from Scripture and our own experiences that when the Lord calls a person to a specific task, he will make sure the person has the capabilities and resources to complete the work. Does it make any sense to think God would have called Noah to such a vital purpose if he were inexperienced or incompetent? Noah may have been a highly skilled shipbuilder or he may have hired people who were.