My focus is one statement within Stephen E. Jones’ What I Believe About Creation. He describes himself as “an Australian Christian old-Earth creationist biologist who accepts universal common ancestry (but not evolution).”
“The purpose of the flood was to blot out the wicked civilization of Mesopotamia … the entire record must be interpreted phenomenally. If the flood is local though spoken of in universal terms, so the destruction of man is local though spoken of in universal terms. The record neither affirms nor denies that man existed beyond the Mesopotamian valley. Noah certainly was not a preacher of righteousness to the peoples of Africa, of India, of China or of America-places where there is evidence for the existence of man many thousands of years before the flood (10,000 to 15,000 years in America). The emphasis in Genesis is upon that group of cultures from which Abraham eventually came.” (Ramm, B.L., 1954, ” The Christian View of Science and Scripture,” Paternoster: Exeter UK, Reprinted, 1960, p.163).
There is conclusive Biblical evidence that the Flood was not global, in that the Nephilim existed both before the Flood:
Gn 6:4. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days-and also afterward-when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
and after the Flood:
Num 13:33. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”
Well, of course, this centers around timelines as that is the issue he is addressing as an old Earth creationist.
So, the claim is that “there is evidence for the existence of man many thousands of years before the flood” specifically “10,000 to 15,000 years” pre-flood “in America.” Yet, of course, this is based on various dating methods based on archeological theories, etc.
The issue is that it is claimed that “Noah certainly was not a preacher of righteousness to the peoples of Africa, of India, of China or of America-places” and yet, the Bible elucidates that the reason that Noah was a preacher of righteousness to all peoples is that from the three sons of Noah “was the whole earth” eventually “overspread” (Genesis 9). I inserted the word eventually due to the fact this is implied by the greater context, “unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided” (Genesis 10) although what is meant by when the “earth divided” is unclear: if there was such a thing as Pangaea perhaps it broke up then, perhaps it refers to people dividing into groups, as we shall see.
We are also told, “the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood” (Genesis 10) and “the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech” they said, “let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” and “the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth…from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11).
Now to the claimed “conclusive Biblical evidence that the Flood was not global” for the specific reason that “the Nephilim existed both before the Flood…and after the Flood.”
The issue is that it is not as simple as Stephen E. Jones makes it out to be as I will show by inserting his implied interpretation into the text he quoted, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those [pre-flood] days-and also afterward [post-flood]-when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
However, the texts states just what it does just as how it was quoted, “those days-and also afterward” which results in the question: when were those days and when was afterward. To claim that the bifurcation is the flood is to read that into the text. Now, that would not be altogether outlandish as the text’s greater context is the flood. However, I am always weary of conclusions that appear to be reached on the basis of, “Well, what else could it be?” since the answer may be a lack of discerning other options.
In an upcoming book I will iron all of this out in some detail thus, I will simply note that before and after refer to when the sons of God first married and produced offspring with the daughters of men.
Some would deny this based on the Numbers text which Jones tells us prove that “the Nephilim existed…after the Flood.” Well, unless they hitched a ride on the Ark then they all drowned so how do they show up post-flood?
Some claim that the sons of God once again married and produced offspring with the daughters of men after the flood—for how else could the Nephilim show up again? Sounds like another instance of “Well, what else could it be?”
Well, the issue is that the Bible does not solely state that which Jones quotes. Again, I will elucidate this in a book but I have already written on this specific issue. Succinctly stated: The spies are sent to reconnoiter the land and Caleb is one of them. They return with a report about how amazing the land is but report that “the people be strong” and that “we saw the children of Anak.”
Caleb basically states get’er’done since God had told them to conquer the land.
It is only at this point that the other spies claim, “we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants [Nephilim].” In other words, they took it up a notch in order to reinforce their fear mongering. They are said to have brought an evil or bad report.
Lastly, when Caleb relates this event later in his life, he Caleb himself affirms the presence of the Anakim in the land during the reconnoitering but says nothing of the Nephilim, the Anakim being related to the Nephilim, etc. (Joshua 14).
For details, see Did Caleb and the spies see Nephilim giants in the land?
Thus, one cannot argue from the Nephilim to a merely local flood—besides which there are very many other problems with claiming a local flood regardless of your view on the Earth’s age.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A plea: I have to pay for server usage and have made all content on this website free and always will. I support my family on one income and do research, writing, videos, etc. as a hobby. If you can even spare $1.00 as a donation, please do so: it may not seem like much but if each person reading this would do so, even every now and then, it would add up and really, really help. Here is my donate/paypal page.
Due to robo-spaming, I had to close the comment sections. However, you can comment on my Facebook page and/or on my Google+ page. You can also use the “Share / Save” button below this post.