Evidence for a Global Catastrophe

God really did create the earth.
God really did judge the whole earth in the flood.
Only 8 people were saved from the flood.
He really did confuse the language of the world into many languages.
He really is going to judge the world again.

So is there evidence to support any of what is written in the Bible?

Evidence of Global Catastrophe (Flood and Tower of Babel account)

1. Evidence of Linguistics

After the flood, the all people had one language.
Evidence for that?

Philology says that all languages trace themselves back to one "mother tongue".
Max Mueller (secular researcher) says in The Science of Language "We have examined all possible forms which language can assume and we now ask can we reconcile the admission of one common origin of human speech. I answer decidedly, "Yes".
Dr. Harold Stigers, "Though there are countless languages and dialects , approximately 3000 currently known, continued studies have revealed that there must be a common ancestor."
Dutch scholar Gerhard Aalders said, "A famous Assyriologist made the amazing discovery that there is a clear relationship between the languages of the native peoples of Central and South America and some of the islands and the ancient Sumarians [the oldest known language] and the Egyptian languages. this scholar who formerly considered the account of Genesis 11:1-9 to be no more than a myth, came to the conclusion that the Biblical narrative was much more credible than had previously been supposed."
Modern day scientists who use computers to study linguistics said this, "Maybe the Bible is right and there really was a Tower of Babel. Or at least maybe there was once a single human language, before we were all cursed with a confusion of tongues."

Written Chinese language dates back to about 2500 BC, the time after the flood

Chinese word for boat is depicted by eight mouths (people) inside a container.
Chinese word for total is 8 people united, who join hands over the earth.
Chinese character for devil is made up of three other characters: man garden and private.
The Chinese word for cave is made up of empty and work. Cave is depicted by 8 people under one roof. Some would say this shows when Noah and his family first left the ark, they lived in a cave for shelter, hence 8 people under one roof. Then they left the cave every day to empty the ark.
The Chinese words for rebellion and confusion link the words for tongue and walking.

2. Evidence of Lineage

If the account in Genesis is true, we should find one common origin of man around Babylon from when man spread out across the earth.
...Peleg (decendant of Noah) is when the earth was divided
2349-2348 BC biblical timing of flood
Peleg about 2247 BC
Historical evidence shows that it was precisely this time that we see the nations of the earth not only "springing" forth from a single source but they also begin spreading out from a single source, just like the Bible says.
Based on the historical records of the Chaldeans , the nation of Babylon, which is right next to where the tower of Babel was, was founded in 2234 BC, or about 13 years after the birth of Peleg.
From another piece of hstorical evidence we find that Egypt, a little further down south, was founded in the year 2188 BC, or about 60 years after the birth of Peleg.
According to the historian Eusebius, Greece was founded in the year 2089 BC, even further away to the west, about 160 years after the birth of Peleg.
Notice that the 3 nations are formed in close proximity and time, yet their languages are different. And notice that Babylon was founded first, closest to the point of origin (tower of Babel), then Egypt was second, a little farther away from the point of origin, and finally Greece was third, even further away from the point of origin, exaclty like the Bible said, in the days of a guy named Peleg.

3. Biological Evidence

If the Biblical account of the flood is true, we should find not only a single point of origin but a single parent of origin. According to the Bible, millions of people were reduced to just 8 people. We should expect to find not only a common ancestor, but a recent common ancestor and that's exactly what they've discovered.... They call her "mitochondrial Eve" and it is now known that all of mankind can be traced back to a single woman and might I add, one "recent" woman.

In a recent edition of Nature, a Yale mathematician presented models showing that the most recent person who a direct ancestor of all humans currently alive may have lived only a few thousand years ago, not millions of years ago. In fact, this woman was most likely not the Biblical Eve, but one of the 4 women who survived the flood. As one researcher said, "Maybe she was Shem's wife, but the 'mitochondrial Shem's wife theory' doesn't have the same ring to it."

4. Evidence of Legend

If there really was a global catastrophe, there would be writing about it in various places, not just the Bible.

We find legends of the flood in every culture on the planet. There are about 500 flood accounts from around the world.

According to the Babylonian accounts, the pre-flood people were giants who became impious and depraved, except one of them who reverenced the gods and was wise and prudent. His name was Noa and his sons were Sem, Japet, Chem and their wives Tidea, Pandora, Noela and Noegla. Noa forsaw the disaster and began building an ark and 78 years later the oceans, inland seas, and rivers burst forth from below along with many days of violent rain. The waters overflowed all the mountains and the human race was drowned except for Noa and his family who survived on his ship. The ship came to rest at last on the top of a mountain.

Acient Chinese writing refer to a violent catastrophe which happened to the earth, one Chinese classic called Hihking, tells the story of Fuhi, whom the Chinese consider to be the father of their civilization. this history record that Fuhi, his wife and three daughters escaped the great flood. He and his family were the only people left alive on the earth. And after the great flood they repopulated the world. In fact, in an acient temple in China, there is a wall painting that shows Fuhi's boat. And the picture shows the boat in raging waters with dolphins swimming around it and a dove with an olive branch in its beak flying back toward the boat.

Ancient records in India say that a long time ago there lived a man called Manu. Manu was warned that a great flood would soon come and destroy everything on the earth. He was instructed to build a large ship since the flood was going to happen very soon. The rains started and the waters rose until the entire earth was covered by water. When the waters started subsiding, Manu's ship was on a mountaintop.

Flood Legend of Greece: According to their writings, al long time ago, humans became proud. This bothered the gods as humans kept getting worse. Finally they decided they would destroy all humans. Before they did this, they warned a man and his wife and placed them in a large wooden chest The rains started and lasted until the whole world was flooded. The wooden chest came to rest on a mountain. The man and his wife got out and saw that everything was flooded, so they lived on their provisions from the chest until the waters subsided.

A Hawaiian legend says that long after the death of the first man, the world became a wicked and terrible place to live, there was one good man left, his name was Nu-u. He made a great canoe with a house on it and filled it with animals. The water came up over all the earth and killed all the people. Only Nu-u and his family were saved.

Flood legend of Mexico: Discovered in the history of the Toltec Indians of ancient Mexico is the story of the first world which they say lasted for 1716 years and was destroyed by a great flood that covered even the highest mountains. Their story tells about a man named Tapi who was a very pious man. The creator told Tapi to build a boat that hewould live in to escape the destruction. He was told to take his wife , a pair of every animal that was alive into his boat. Then the rain started and the flood came. The men and the animals tried to climb the mountains but the mountains became flooded as well. Finally the rain ended. Tapi decided that the waters had dried up when he let loose a dove. Following the great flood, people began to multiply and built a very great high tower to provide a safe place in case the world was destroyed again. However, everyone started to speak different languages and the people became confused so different language groups wandered to different parts of the world. The Toltecs claim they started as a family of seven friends and their wives who spoke the same language. They crossed great waters lived in caves and wandered 104 years until they came to Southern Mexico. The story that this was 520 years after the great flood.

Flood Legend of Americas: One survey of 120 tribal groups in North, Central and South America revealed that flood traditions were among every one of them. Here's what the accounts included:

* There was a general wickedness among men.
* God saw that a flood was necessary.
* One family of 8 members was protected.
* A giant boat was contructed.
* The family, along with annimals and bird, went into the boat.
* The flood overwhelmed everyone living on the earth.
* The deluge covered the whole earth for a time.
* The boat landed in a high mountainous area.
* Two or three birds were sent out first.
* The people left the boat with all the animals.
* The survivors worshipped God for sparing them.
* A promise of divine favor was given that there would never be another worldwide flood of waters.

In fact so overwhelming is this evidence that it led one researchers to state this, "There are many descriptions of the remarkable event called the Genesis flood. Some have come from Greek historians, some from Babylonian records, others from the cunneiform tablets of Mesopotania, and still others from mythology and traditions of different nations, so that we may say that no event has occurred in ancient or modern times about which there are more numerous records and better evidence than this one. "

These are notes from Billy Crone's presentation on the Days of Noah, Part 1, A Global Catastrophe. The video is available for free on his website:
http://www.getalifemedia.com/video/apologetics/judged.shtml

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