Pretty awesome, huh? That's really big. Yeah, that's amazing. Wow.
This is beautiful too. Just the form of it. Wonder what the people were thinking when Noah was building this.
They have this model up here that is really fascinating. It kind of gives you a picture of the whole boat.
I think it's like one to forty eight or something. Whoa, look at all those like cages.
Yeah you can see what's inside. A lot of cages, right? Yeah, lots of cages. Because that's what it was for
basically, right? To save life and get it to start again.
I think they have about 1,300 or 1,400 kinds that they have cages for
which they think were all the kinds that were alive at that time.
So you can see, when you look at the size of the
timbers that they have here, gives you a sense of just how massive this is.
(Needs to support a lot of weight)
And how much work it took to put this together. Pretty cool. This, I love this
part of the ship because it really it just gives you the the picture of just
how massive this thing is. And to think that this was the reality of what Noah had
to do, you know, and what God had asked Noah to do.
The issue of a global flood is a big issue. What do you guys see on campus or maybe it's not
even talked about but what do you see on campus in terms of people thinking about this?
These questions are being asked by everyone it's not just like a personal
"I'm struggling through this." It is something that I think society struggles with.
Right. I didn't realize how big of an issue this was before coming to Wheaton,
because I grew up as a young earth creationist
and so that's all I was ever taught and I didn't realize that there were so many
people out there who were questioning whether that was true or not.
I actually started a club with Isabel and Abby on campus. It's called the Creation Society.
and yeah we've got cool wristbands that glow-in-the-dark right
Yeah, you want one? Merry Christmas. All right - is that for me?
Yeah, honestly. Well thank you. Yeah so first I just I kind of grew up young earth, and then I came to
my Christian College, and I was like, there was just kind of like I was pushed
in class like "Hey, have you thought about other views?
Like theistic evolution or old Earth Creationism?"
and just like, no I haven't, but I'm willing to learn. So I studied a lot and learned them.
We sat down for a conversation one day, and
he was kind of questioning things and I could tell he was struggling with things.
and I just encouraged him. I was like hey Alex, it's good
to question things, because we need to know where our faith is at, and
we shouldn't have blind faith. We should be searching for the evidence and
the truths within biblical texts and throughout science
So then I texted all my friends, mostly in the sciences, and we got a really big email list,
there was a lot of interest on campus. It didn't matter what your view is,
there's a lot of passion. This is a big issue.
It's not a Salvation issue, but it does define how you view God and his power also
because I feel like if he wrote in the Bible that he created the world in six
days, and he's fully capable of doing that.
It does affect the way you read the Bible, and it affects the way you view God's character.
This is where you first get to see the cages that they built.
Yeah, I think every kind that they had, that they thought, you know, would have been on the on the ark
they've made these replicas of each of the animals. And they're really, they've done
a marvelous job but it's obviously one of we would call the dinosaur kind.
What's that clay pot over there?
That's the water for the animals. So they fill that up, and then it -
well, you know like you can buy these things for cats?
You have cats don't you? I do have cats. You buy these things for cats or dogs and as they drink it
then you know it comes out. So that's probably what they had.
So this is the horse kind. I like this because I love horses, but remember the horse kind
is just that genetic pool that when they repopulate the earth had the genetic
capability to create all the different horses. The same is true for the giraffe.
So this doesn't look like a giraffe, but it's a giraffe kind.
See the walkways that they have there? And then you've got showing somebody taking food and
then those little funnels at the top where they could dump food,
and it would go down into each of the pins. They must have stored all the food.
Right yeah, so that's food or water or oil. I think they're just trying to show
that there was plenty of space to have that kind of storage.
Alex, why are you a young earth creationist? Is it just because you grew up that way?
No, no, it's because like, that's where I started but then I just
realized, was really pushed to look at the evidence and see
what's on both sides, and like our sin in Genesis 3 that
changed everything, like all this corruption and evil,
like that's where it came from, and it wasn't like God said, "I created, and
the earth was very good," and if that's in the original
blueprint or design? For me that kind of like doubts the goodness of God.
And also, the issue of death was a big part for me.
Having death before the fall, that doesn't line up with God's character and his justice and love.
I think, actually if you talk - it's the character of God that
really is at question here. Because if for example if evolution is true, then
God has created a whole universe and system in which death and the survival
of the strong destroying the weak is a part of God's plan. That doesn't seem
to match what we read in the scripture about a God who is not only
compassionate but he commands us to be compassionate, to care for the weak, to care for the needy.
And going along with that, I think even when you have you know
the new creation and what that's gonna be like it's supposed to mirror
creation in the beginning, when there was no sin and if we have that death when
God created the earth, if you have that view, I think if the new creation is
supposed to mirror that, then it doesn't line up for me
when I view it that way and I really do think God had that specific plan in mind
and he created it in six days and how great it's gonna be when we see
that with the new creation. it's exciting.
That's a great point, Isabel. It really is. It's hard to imagine the picture of the lion laying down with
the lamb (like Isaiah 11) is the same as the millions of years of evolution of
destruction of animals and creatures and so forth so that's a great point.
This is the living quarters. Because they had to live somewhere right?
It's a really nice room.
Japheth - doesn't it look like the Japheth you've always thought Japheth looked like?
So this is Shem. Looks like he's reading without a light
I mean this really happened, and they had to have food prepared.
The way they portrayed it is that Noah, because he was a righteous man, no doubt was
probably still a vegetarian, which would have made cooking a lot easier, right?
If you're not cooking meat and... You know, spoons and bowls and all the things they
would have needed. Baskets, places to eat...
So Abby, why are you a young earth creationist? I was taught that looking at the Bible
first and reading it as a historical narrative, I believe, is the way that
it was written, intended to be read, and so if you look at it that way, and look at
the scientific evidence without the paradigms that you were talking about,
I think it points to a young earth. I just have stuck to that view even though
there's lots of good evidence on the other side as well. But I believe that
there's stronger evidence for young earth.
The Bible is God's form of communication to us. If we read that first and then we
see how science is parallel to what has occurred throughout the Bible, it's
just it's so neat to see that and I mean today
just seeing the Ark has been so cool. Yeah, it's just really solidifying this is real.
Yeah, it really puts a reality into the text doesn't it? I mean, we read it,
and we believe it's historical narrative. When you see it having been
built according to those specifications, it just makes it more real doesn't it?
Glad you guys could come.
Thank you for hosting this. It was a pleasure. Very fun.