The Bible as Science: Global Flood Geology

Science changes its mind fast. New editions replace old editions, and yesterday’s “settled” claims quietly end up in the trash. We take that reality head-on and ask a fair question: if science is always revising, why do people mock the Bible for not changing? From our ongoing Bible as Science series, we make the case that Scripture does not need to be reshaped to survive modern theories, because God’s Word stands on its own and time keeps exposing bad assumptions.

Then we turn to Noah’s flood and treat it like a real event with real consequences. We walk through why geology matters if a worldwide flood happened, since the physical earth should bear marks of catastrophe. We talk through rainfall on a scale people struggle to imagine, the meaning behind “the windows of heaven,” and the “fountains of the great deep” as a picture of massive earth upheaval. We also address confusing rock layers and crust movement, and why field evidence often refuses to cooperate with neat charts and confident dates.

Next comes the question many people dodge: local flood or global flood? We lay out the plain logic of water levels, the problem of mountains, and why a local-only deluge can require more faith than the Genesis record. We also touch the Hebrew terms people raise to shrink the account and explain why the language still points to an earth-covering judgment that includes “everything that had breath.”

We close with a modern disaster story that shows how easy it is to laugh at warnings when the sky looks clear, and we connect it to 2 Peter’s warning of coming judgment. Listen, share this with someone who wrestles with “Bible vs science,” and subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the message. What part of the flood argument do you find hardest to dismiss?

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Transcript

Welcome And Series Purpose

0:07

Welcome to the Preaching the Cross Radio Podcast, featuring the radio ministry of Pastor James W. Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of the Land Florida. Our prayer is that these half-hour Bible study programs bring the lost to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and enable the saved to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior. Now here's your host, Pastor James W. Knox. All right, thank you so very much. I'm Brother James. I greet you once again in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And I welcome you to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast. We are in the midst of a series of studies entitled The Bible as Science. This will be lesson number 21. And on these studies we are showing you conclusively from science itself, from actual fact, not educational theory, but from actual fact that the Holy Bible, the Word of God, owes no apology whatsoever to modern science, and that anyone who rejects the Bible by saying it's not scientific is simply declaring a gross ignorance of science, the Bible, or both. Martin

A Poem On God’s Unchanged Power

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Luther wrote these words The God that stopped the sun on high, and sent the manna from the sky, laid flat the walls of Jericho, and put to flight old Israel's foe. Why can't he answer prayer today and drive each stormy cloud away? Who turned the water into wine and healed a helpless cripple's spine, commanded tempests peace be still, and hungry multitudes did fill. So why not labor, watch, and pray? His power is just the same today. He conquered in the lion's den, brought Lazarus back to life again. He heard Elijah's cry for rain, and freed the sufferers from pain. If he could do those wonders then, let's prove our mighty God again. Why can't the God who raised the dead gave little David Goliath's head, cast out the devils with the word, yet sees the fall of one wee bird, work wonderfully again today, in that same good old fashioned way? He can. He's just the same today. Now that's a wonderful poem, wonderful tribute to our God. But you

Why Science Keeps Getting Rewritten

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know something that's also a slap in the face at science? There wouldn't be a scientist in this world that would have the nerve to stand up and declare what scientists declared 100 years ago and say, Thank God we're just the same today. There wouldn't be a scientist who would dare enter a college classroom with a textbook from 200 years ago in any field of science and teach that boldly to his students and say, Thank God we're just the same today. If science has all the answers, if science is the great answer, why is it that the science books are continually being revised and rewritten, and the science books of a decade or two ago are being thrown in the trash heap because they've been proven to be a great big pack of lies. Now that's never happened with the Bible. We still got the same old King James Bible that our forefathers brought over here in the 1600s. We haven't had to revise one word of it. We haven't had to buy an updated modern version because it didn't say what we wanted it to say. We haven't had to correct or amend one verse, one page, one passage, one word of the Bible. No matter what science has discovered, no matter what modern theories of science have come off the press, we haven't had to change the Bible one time yet to make it suit the demands of modern science. We just hold on to our Bible and stand on the Word of God and wait for modern science to apologize for last year's statements on the basis of this year's findings. Science changes often and frequently because it's often and frequently proven to be an error. God never changes. God's word never changes, and the faith, the faith of the Bible-believing Christian, never changes because it's founded upon the absolute truth of the Word of God. Now we've

Flood Evidence From Peoples And Records

4:50

been discussing on the last two broadcasts the scientific proof for the flood. There isn't any way we can cover this in three 30-minute programs. I've got in my library books running six and seven hundred pages devoted to the scientific proof of a worldwide flood in the days of Noah. We are just giving you the basic arguments that ethnology we have shown bears scientific proof to the fact of a flood. Every race of people on the face of this earth has in their history the record of a universal flood in which a few men were saved, along with the animals, in an ark to repopulate the earth. The science of archaeology also supports the Genesis account. There are fifteen particulars regarding the flood of Noah's day recorded in the book of Genesis. Archaeologists have unearthed proof from the historical records of the past for every one of these fifteen particulars. And

Geology As A Witness In Stone

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now on the broadcast today, we're going to look at the science of geology. The science of geology and how it adds its amen to the Bible record of the flood. So the third science whose testimony we would introduce is geology. The testimony of geology will be of great value, for geology is the science which deals with the physical earth. If there was a great flood, then the earth will bear record of that fact. And never doubt, never doubt that the earth does. There is harmony of opinion among geologists that characterizes the other scientists, uh other sciences, but most of them admit a world catastrophe, which was probably the deluge. One authority claims that this was the cause of the glacial age, and builds a convincing and ingenious theory on the weight of water and its effect on the climate of the earth. Several others, equally authoritative, disagree, and say the flood came as a result of the collapse of a giant ring of ice that once encircled this globe like a tremendous lens. Others claim that the deluge was only local, and the merry battle goes on. Science, as I said, always agreeing in their opinions, while criticizing Christians and saying, Well, if the Bible's true, how come there's so many denominations? Well, if science is true, how come you can't ever find scientists that agree with each other? Anyway, whatever theory geologists may hold, they almost all agree there was a flood. Geology textbooks uh are continually coming out with their great statements, but one after another they have to deal with this evidence for a flood. There were undoubtedly two causes for the flood, according to science, scientists and their textbooks.

Rain, Ice Canopy, And Forty Days

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The first was precipitation. It rained, according to the Bible, for forty days and forty nights. The significance of this is seen when we remember that up to that time there had apparently been no rain upon the earth. The Bible says a mist arose and watered the land. How utterly incomprehensible must Noah's warning have sounded to the antediluvians when he said flee from the flood, the heavens will rain water. But they never saw it rain. They had absolutely no conception of it. So men today. They won't heed the warning of Peter when he says under the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit that the earth is reserved for a day of judgment by fire that will destroy all flesh. It never had rain. According to Vale's theory, around the globe there was a protecting lens of ice that made the whole world an Eden of tropical splendor. It was a firmament indeed, and rain could not come through it. The rays of the sun that caused decay were strained out, and long life was the rule. These rays also caused fermentation, and Noah, who was accustomed to drinking the juice of the grape in the days before the flood, was amazed when the fermented juice made him drunk. In that wondrous atmosphere, life was so easily sustained that men ate no meat, but a vegetable diet was the rule. Then the catastrophe came. The great ring melted and descended in a torrent of water and ice. In some sections it fell as water, and a flood was the result. In other sections it collapsed as ice, and a condition of glaciation was a result. The whole matter is set forth in these simple words, so filled with great depths of meaning. The Bible simply says, and the windows of heaven were opened. For forty days and nights the waters fell, and this was one cause of the flood. It rained. We saw it rain twenty two minutes one time. Hundreds of thousands of dollars damage resulted in a downpour like that. I have seen it rain right here, right here on our little farm out in the country. I've seen it rain. This is no exaggeration. I have seen it rain four inches in 20 minutes. I've seen four inches of rain come down in 20 minutes. Can you imagine? Take that 20 minutes, multiply it by three. That'd be uh what, twelve inches of rain in an hour? 12, 24 hours in a day, you'd have 288 inches of rain in one day, it rained for 40 days and forty nights. That rainwater sent by God. Now, men said it was a cloud burst when it rained those uh that 20-minute uh swamping, if you will, that fell on our property out here. In Noah's day it rained forty days and forty nights. The

Fountains Of The Deep And Upheaval

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second cause of the flood was geological. There have been many upheavals of the earth's surface and slippages of its crust, and here was one of them. The level of the land actually sank, and the bottom of the sea was raised. This is implied in the statement the fountains of the great deep were broken up, the deep above of the firmament as well as the deep below the ocean, and the waters prevailed on the face of the earth. The highest mountains were covered to a depth of fifteen cubits, and death was of course the result. Now it's evident at once that this upheaval or slipping of the earth's crust was a main cause of the flood. Noah began to build his ark in the valley near the mouth of the river, and when the waters had carried it to its final resting place it was up in the Armenian mountains in the Ararat range. It is thus evident the drift was from the sea to the land, and this current would nominally be caused by the influx of seawater. The common laws of nature were here directed, as always, to serve the will of God. When the waters had prevailed a hundred and fifty days, God's thought turned again to Noah, and the flood was stopped. First, a wind swept out across the waters. Thus the rate of evaporation was greatly increased, and some waters lifted. Then the windows of heaven were stopped, which provision kept the evaporated waters from precipitating again. And finally the fountains of the deep were stopped. Now that can mean the land level was shifted again, so that the sea went back to its former place or nearly so.

Rock Layers That Defy The Chart

13:06

Can this shifting of land levels be seen in the science of geology? Indeed it can. The unbelieving and materialistic scientist is hard pressed to understand this strange condition. There are mountains and cliffs that have been literally stood on their heads. The geologist claims that he knows the rock formations from the earliest to the latest and classifies them according to age. The oldest rocks they say are on the bottom, of course, and the youngest rocks are on the top. So we read the geological account like a calendar. But this, of course, is an entirely gratuitous arrangement, and it's caused a tremendous amount of confusion and trouble. What can any man know about the age of undated things? He claims were made a hundred million years before there was a man to keep the record. The whole idea is flawed from the start. The confusion grows worse when we leave the textbooks and get out into field research, for then we see that the rocks with stubborn ignorance refuse to follow the chart laid down by the World Congress of Geology in their office buildings. In many places, rocks which geologists say are a hundred million years old are laid down on top of rocks they say are only one million years old. This according to the geologists' own way of reckoning. How did this happen? How could it happen? Why the only possible way was for the Earth's crust to slip and turn over. In some of our California formations, notably the Eocene period, the strata of rock runs straight up and down instead of across the mountain. Now I ask you, Mr. Scientist, when did this tremendous shift take place? Dr. Price said, uh Dr. McCready Price, who wrote an outstanding textbook for colleges on geology back in the 40s, he said it was at the time of the flood. He said, while we're not advancing that as a dogmatic statement, we can at least contend that the earth shows that there was not only one upheaval, such as Genesis sets forth, but two at least. Well, we knew that, having read 2 Peter. Now, here's the next argument that comes up, and we get we get as much opposition from those that profess to be Christians as we do from the world. There's no there's no question about that. The the professing Christians of this Laodicean age have done more harm to the cause of Christ than all the agnostics and infidels combined. But we've got to deal with this thing.

Local Flood Objections And Plain Logic

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Was the flood universal in its extent? That seems to be the big theme in the minds of all who are confused and are after some peg upon which to hang the faith. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever. There is no evidence whatsoever that this flood was local and not worldwide. The deluge was as universal as the human race. That's absolutely certain. You could argue and say if man was limited to the Euphrates Valley, then the purpose of the flood would be accomplished in a deluge limited to that area. The object of the flood was judgment and death on the world of mankind, and the flood was as far reaching as human habitation. That much is certain. Now I want to ask you something. You Christians that are always trying to work your Bible around so that you don't have to take a stand against modern science, I want to ask you something. Would you explain to me, please, maybe you can help me out. Would you explain to me how water in the Euphrates Valley can rise to a height fifteen cubits above the mountains of Ararat and not flood the surrounding regions? I want you to listen, if if the flood was local, you've got a greater miracle than any miracle in all the Bible. You've got a harder time explaining a local flood than you do a universal flood. I want you to explain to me how water stacks up twenty thousand feet high in the Euphrates Valley and does not spill over into the surrounding regions. I want you to explain to me the miracle that caused all of that water to pile up on top of itself and not and not seek a the lowest possible level. I want you to explain that to me. A local flood requires more faith than a universal flood. There's no question about that. You can look at philology if you want to. Study the Hebrew text. It won't help you one way or the other.

Hebrew Words And The Flood’s Extent

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There's three Hebrew words. First is eret, C-R-E-T-S. 2,282 times in the Bible. Translated Land 1356, Earth 686, Country 140, Ground 96, and World four times. The use of the world's country, land, and ground are sometimes limited in extent and local in application, as the land of Palestine or country of the Jews, but the words earth and world are universal in their meaning. This word appears in Genesis often. It's used in the world God created thirty times. It's given to the extent of the flood forty-six times. So if you're going to go to the Hebrew, you know what you come out with? The world that God created, the earth that God created, is what God flooded in Noah's day. Maybe God just made a local earth. Maybe just God just created the Mesopotamian Valley and then he made the rest later, if you know what I mean. Well, you could look at the word Adama, A-D-A-M-A-H. Occurs in the Bible 223 times. Translated earth 53 times, ground 43 times, land 125 times, farmer one time, country one time. This word is used nine times to denote the world, the deluge destroyed. It's the ground, it's the earth, it's the land. Wherever you had land, it was underwater. The word Tabel, T-E-B-E-L, appears in Hebrew Scripture 36 times. It's translated world 35 times and habitation once. It's a reference to the habitable world. Now, an argument based on the Hebrew for a local flood won't help you either. It's enough to know that the flood was as widespread as the race of man, they perished because of sin, the judgment of God, wherever there was a man, and not only that, see you got a problem. Genesis said everything that had breath. You can't limit that flood to just where you think men were living. Why do you think God had to have two of every kind of animal on the ark? Because they got breath in their nostrils and everywhere something was living and breathing, God sent the flood. It's an amazing thing. How how Christians Professing Christians will join with professing scientists to try and defend the Word of God by attacking the Word of God. Isn't that an amazing thing?

A Modern Dam Break As Warning

20:56

Now you're given a war a warning. You're given a warning about a flood. Next time it's going to be a flood of fire. Found in 2 Peter. And you better heed that warning. The city of Los Angeles was builded by Spanish pioneers in a semi-arid region surrounded by veritable deserts. When the city began its phenomenal modern progress, it became necessary to expand vast fortunes for the impounding of water to serve the needs of the populace. One of the great dams which the city engineers constructed was in the San Franquito Canyon. The mouth of this canyon opened up into a fertile and charming valley wherein were some of the loveliest homes and most prosperous farms in Southern California. The dam was a masterpiece of engineering skill and human ingenuity, but it had one unsuspected flaw. The bedrock, to which the dam was anchored, was a type of stone that is pervious to water. As the years rolled by, the water silently operated on the nature of this stone until it softened it like pipe. One night, in the deadest darkness, with no light but the stars to shine upon the scene of tragedy, the dam suddenly let go, all in one piece. With a roar like the trumpets of doom, a wall of water forty feet high went surging down the canyon from wall to wall on the unsuspecting and sleeping populace in the valley below. Fortunately, a watchman on the ridge heard the roar and saw the dam go out. He ran to a telephone and called the operator. With the assistance of the other courageous members of the telephone staff, she alarmed the sleeping farmers and the small hamlets that lay in the path of the oncoming flood. The officers of the law went searching out through the darkness of the night with their sirens shrieking to carry the warning to all those who had no telephones. Now at that time, in Southern California, most of the itinerant labor consisted of the Mexican population, still does. These simple folk, whose wants are few and who are satisfied with almost as little as are the blacks of the South, they gather in temporary camps whenever there was work to be done. One little company of these humble folk had gathered in a depression in the valley to pitch their tents and to work upon the walnut crop. Into their midst in the dead of night the officers of the law came with their alarming clay, flee to the hills, a flood is coming. It happened that most of these Mexicans were not familiar with the English language. The spokesman who might have been called the Hafe Politico, stepped forward to bear the message to his compatriots. He asked for a repetition of the statement. The officer said, Flee to the hills, a flood is coming. Now this chap had a rare sense of humor and was noted for being somewhat witty. He prided himself upon his logic and his reason. He turned his face toward the bright gleaming stars above, and with a quaint gesture held out his hand palm upward. Then he laughed in the face of the deputies and said, You big fool, she no rain and they all went back to bed. Forty minutes later, a wall of water, still twenty feet high, swept over the city where these unhappy carefree unbelievers were sleeping the sleep of doom, and the rescue party found scarcely a body of those who were swept out to sea. So

Flee To Christ Before Judgment

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it is in the day in which we now live. The word of God warns of judgment to come. But Science looks around and says, Why? I see no rain, I see no storm, I see no judgment, you big fool. And little do they know, little do they know. Just as certainly as the ancient world perished in the flood, so this present age is reserved against that time when the fires of judgment shall smite and spare not. Yet, when we today will have the gospel in our keeping, warn men of their danger, they laugh us to scorn, but we say to the lost, flee to the ark that is Jesus Christ, and escape the coming judgment. They lift up their faces to the blue sky of civilization, wherein the twinkle of the beaming lights of science and culture are, and they say, You're a fool. We don't believe there's a judgment coming. My friend, you've been warned. There was a flood in Noah's day, there will be judgment in our last days. And you better enter the ark of salvation before the next disaster comes, when God smites man for his sin and his rebellion. Amen. And amen.

Where To Find More Teaching

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Thanks for tuning in today. Join us every weekday for another episode of the Preaching of the Cross Radio Podcast. For hundreds of hours of in-depth expository Bible teaching, please visit our YouTube channel, James W. Knox Sermons, our sermon audio page, Bible Baptist Land, or our website, Bible Baptisttheland.com. Until next time and throughout eternity, may Jesus Christ be praised.