From:    Steven H. Schimmrich                   
To:      All                                    Msg #132, Feb-22-93 07:50AM
Subject: Re: NOAH'S ARK ON TV

Organization: Department of Geological Sciences, SUNY at Albany
From: ss6349@tyr.albany.edu (Steven H. Schimmrich)
Message-ID: <1993Feb22.155010.11483@sarah.albany.edu>
Followup-To: talk.origins
Newsgroups: talk.origins


In article <1993Feb22.021554.61123@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu>, jsg1@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu
(JONATHAN SCOTT GIBSON) writes:

> All of you who are staunch supporters of evolution, did any of you see the
> program on television on Saturday the 21 of February on Noah's Ark?  If not,
> well, you missed a great show.  If you did, I am anxious to hear what you all
> have to say after they proved scientifically that there actually was a flood
> and that there is an ark on Mt. Ararat somewhere.  The whole proof of Noah's
> Ark also proves that the Bible is a bit more than a book full of ancient
> myths.  Please respond as to what opinions, if any, you have on this program
> and what you think this does to the reliability of the Bible.

I only saw part of it but I thought it was trash.  There was an amazing
similarity between people who have claimed to see the ark and people who
have claimed to see bigfoot or UFO's or the Loch Ness monster.  Blurry
photographs of something that could be anything, a piece of old wood which
could have come from anywhere, people who claim to have had photographs but
there was a terrible accident and the film was lost, tales of "Well I saw
what looked like a boat on Ararat" by true believers (why else would they be
looking if they didn't already believe it was there), etc.  If you accept
that as proof (and calling it "proved scientifically" shows your complete
ignorance of science), then you must also believe in ESP and flying saucers
and dinosaurs living in the Congo.

As to what you say about a flood having been proved scientifically, you are
completely mistaken.  I am a geologist, I've worked and corresponded with 
geologists all over the US and I've yet to meet one who believed in a
worldwide flood as outlined in Genesis.  A TV show produced by creationists
is unlikely to change their minds.  I only saw part of the explanation
on the show as to how a flood occurred and if you ever learn anything about
geology and tectonics (or even general physics), you'll see that the
explanation was totally ridiculous.

I do agree with you that the Bible is more than a book of old myths.  I am a
Christian and I have a strong belief in God.  But I also believe that while
there is a lot of truth in the Bible, there are also some myths in there as
well -- especially in the first 11 chapters of Genesis.  I also believe that
myths are not bad, there can be a lot of truth in them as well (myths are
often developed to teach people).


--
Steven H. Schimmrich     Department of Geological Sciences         "Non semper
ss6349@csc.albany.edu    State University of New York at Albany   ea sunt quae
ss6349@albnyvms.bitnet   Albany, New York 12222  (518) 442-4466   videntur."