Claim CH511:
Insects and other invertebrates were not taken aboard the ark during Noah's flood. They survived on vegetation mats.Source:
Woodmorappe, John, 1996. Noah's Ark: A Feasibility Study, ICR, Santee,
CA, p. 3.
Whitcomb, John C. Jr. and Henry M. Morris, 1961. The Genesis Flood. Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., p. 69.
Whitcomb, John C. Jr. and Henry M. Morris, 1961. The Genesis Flood. Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., p. 69.
Response:
- Many insects could not survive for a year on vegetation mats. Most
insects are specialized at least somewhat for their food or
environment. Some of the requirements of various insects include
- living vegetation or flowers to feed on
- dry wood
- soil
- dung
- animal corpses
- shallow streams
- A global flood would cause the extinction of millions of species of
insects and other invertebrates simply as a result of the reduced
quantity of habitat. Insect species are going extinct today simply
from the cutting down of sections of forests. A global flood would be
many orders of magnitude more devastating. Given the fact that insects
are alive today, if there was a flood, Noah must have gathered them and
saved them with the rest of the animals.
- The Bible says that Noah took "every creeping thing on the ground" and that these were distinct from animals (Gen. 6:20, 7:8,14). It further says that all life that was not aboard the ark was killed, including creeping and swarming things (Gen. 7:21-23). There is not the slightest bit of biblical support for anything living on vegetation mats and a great deal of biblical contradiction of the idea. Obviously, the only reason to put insects on mats is so the ark apologists do not have to worry about them.
created 2003-5-15