Old Earth? The Great Flood

***I was hesitant to post this message based on the fact that Durham and Jules are currently sharing what I believe to be much more important messages than this one. However, I decided to go ahead and post anyway with this warning to skip this message and read their messages below first if you have not already. ***

I have compiled here a list of many references from many different peoples, tribes, and cultures that all have one common theme in their writings... A Great Worldwide Flood. Now of course each legend and story has different explanations for such an event but don't let that distract you from the point that they all view a global flood as an actual event that occurred during the history of the earth. Why is this important? Because a global flood throws "Old Earth" theories upside down. A global flood would completely nullify the idea that the geology of earth took millions and billions of years to take formation. Instead, one huge catastrophic event such as a global flood would transform earth's geology in a extremely brief time frame. However, that is a point we can discuss later because the purpose of this message is just to prove that there once was a great worldwide flood. So check these out:

In the ancient Chinese’s "Book of All Knowledge", because of man’s sin, “the earth fell to pieces and the water in its bosom rushed upwards with violence and overflowed the earth.”

The Teutonic tribes of Scandinavia remember this cataclysm through their folklore: “Flames spurted from fissures in the rocks; everywhere there was the hissing of steam. All living things, all plant life were blotted out. . . . And now all the rivers, all the seas rose and overflowed. From every side waves lashed against waves. They swelled and boiled and slowly covered all things. The earth sank beneath the sea…Then slowly the earth emerged from the waves. Mountains rose anew . . . Men also reappeared. Enclosed in the wood itself of the tree Yggdrasil…the ancestors of a future race of men had escaped death.”

The Michoacan tribe of Mexico has a similar flood legend: “When the floodwaters began to rise, a man named Tezpi entered into a great vessel, taking with him his wife and children and diverse seeds and animals. When the waters abated, the man sent out a vulture, but the bird found plenty of corpses to eat and didn’t return. Other birds also flew away and didn’t return. Finally, he sent out a hummingbird, which returned with a green bough in its beak.”

One legend is very common among the tribes, like this one from New Guinea: “Once a great flood came which covered the whole earth and wiped out everyone on earth except for the ancestors of the Biami people. Those ancestors climbed up into the Gobia Tree, the bark of which they make into string for their string bags. They took up into the tree their planting materials for crops, all their animals, their dogs and their pigs and every-thing else necessary for life. As the floodwaters rose up on the face of the earth the people climbed further up the tree. They were safe in the branches of this tree because the tree grew up above the waters as the waters rose up. When the waters went down from the surface of the whole earth, the people were able to climb down the tree. The ground was very muddy, but eventually they planted their crops and their animals began to reproduce. They moved away from the tree and began to repopulate the earth. Those who had climbed down out of the tree were the ancestors of the Samos, the Kubos, the Gobasis, and the Etoro.”

Over 270 tribes have been documented to be proponents of the notion that the whole world was once inundated by water. Here is one from the Greenlander tribe of Canada: “The world once overturned. Some people were turned into fiery spirits, all the rest drowned but one. Afterwards, the survivor smote the ground with his stick, a woman sprung out, and the two of them repopulated the world. Proof of the flood is found in the form of sea fossils on high mountains.”

The ancient Assyrians knew of this flood: “The gods, led by Enlil, agreed to cleanse the earth of an overpopulated humanity, but Utnapishtim was warned by the god Ea in a dream. He and some craftsmen built a large boat (one acre in area, seven decks) in a week. He then loaded it with his family, the craftsmen, and ‘the seed of all living creatures’. The waters of the abyss rose up, and it stormed for six days. Even the gods were frightened by the flood’s fury. Upon seeing all the people killed, the gods repented and wept. The waters covered everything but the top of the mountain Nisur, where the boat landed. Seven days later, Utnapishtim released a dove, but it returned finding nowhere else to land. He next returned a sparrow, which also returned, and then a raven, which did not return. Thus he knew the waters had receded enough for the people to emerge. Utnapishtim made a sacrifice to the gods.”

In Africa, the Pygmies (Central Africa), the Kikuyu (Kenya), the Yoruba (southwest Nigeria), the Mandingo (Ivory Coast) and the Kwaya (near Lake Victoria), among others, have ancestral knowledge of the Great Flood.

In North America, the Eskimos and the Innuit (Alaska), the Yakima (Washington state), the Chippewa (Great Lakes), and the Choctaw (southeast U.S.), among others, have generational awareness of a global flood.

In Asia, the Kamchadale (Siberia), the Bahnar (Cochin China) and the Miatso (southern China), the Chingpa (Burma), and the Andaman (Bay of Bengal), among others, know by oral tradition of a cataclysmic flood event.

In Europe; the early Greeks, Germans, Celtics, Vikings, and Welsh, among others, noted the Flood in their lore.

In Central and South America, the Yaqui (northern Mexico), the Nahua (central Mexico), the Maya (Guatemala), the Ipurina (upper Amazon), and the Coroado (southern Brazil), among others, speak of a worldwide deluge in their ancient histories.

In the Pacific Islands and Australia, the Kabadi (New Guinea), the Maori (New Zealand), the Mangaia (Cook Islands), the Gumaidj (northern Australia), and the Polynesian Hawaiians, among others, know the Big Flood.

In the Middle East, the Zoroastrians (Iran), the Egyptians, the ancient Babylonians (Iraq), the ancient Hittites (Turkey), and the Hebrews (Israel), among others, have recollections of an historical catastrophic flood.

The Havasupai Indians of the Grand Canyon recall the formation of this canyon in the aftermath of the Great Flood in one of their legends: “Before there were any people on earth there were two gods. Tochapa of goodness and Hokomata of evil. Tochapa had a daughter named Pu-keh-eh, whom he hoped would become the mother of all living. Hokomata the evil was determined that no such thing should take place, and he covered the world with a great flood. Tochopa the good felled a great tree and hollowed out the trunk. He placed Pu-keh-eh in the hollowed trunk and when the water rose and flooded the earth she was secure in her improvised boat. Finally the flood waters fell and mountain peaks emerged. Rivers were created; and one of them cut the great gushing fissure which became the Grand Canyon. Pu-keh-eh in her log came to rest on the new earth. She stepped forth and beheld an empty world.”

And last but certainly not the least of these is the Biblical account in Genesis: "Now the flood was on the earth forty days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and greatly increased on the earth, and the ark moved about on the surface of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly on the earth, and all the high hills under the whole heaven were covered. The waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth: birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. And the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifty days."

So obviously, a global flood was never the thing that should be questioned. The only questions that could be raised from all of these references is which one is fact and which ones are myth? That is for the reader to decide but the one thing that every reader should with no doubt agree on is the fact that there was at one time in Earth's history a huge catastrophic worldwide flood.

- Terry

*** Note: CS Lewis offers great encouragement when discovering parallels between historical mythologies and the truth of the Bible. He says, "We must not be ashamed of the mythical radiance resting on our theology. We must not be nervous about 'parallels': they ought to be there - it would be a stumbling block if they weren't."