I'm afraid I must disagree, my friend.
First, if the days in Genesis are cosmological/evolutionary epochs, then plants developed before the Sun, and birds developed before land animals. That doesn't fit with the evolutionary timeline, or any one that could resonably be constructed.
Second, there's a whole list of problems with Noah's flood as a local event...in fact I can probably find said list and post a link. But just for an example, if the flood was strictly local, God could have led Noah and the animals of the Mesopotamian region over some mountains and the problem would be solved.
Gidday, Mr Silverback!
Fair enough for you to disagree, my FRiend. Let me (for the moment) set aside the epochs and address the question of Noah first, if that’s OK. You write:
> Second, there’s a whole list of problems with Noah’s flood as a local event...in fact I can probably find said list and post a link. But just for an example, if the flood was strictly local, God could have led Noah and the animals of the Mesopotamian region over some mountains and the problem would be solved.
OK, so let’s accept for the moment a universal flood that completely covered the Earth’s surface.
That would be to a depth of at least 29,029 feet (height of Mt Everest). Anything less deep would not be a “universal” flood, and presumably people and animals could climb to the top of any mountains not completely covered.
That’s alot of water!
OK, let’s allow that it only to the height of Mt Ararat (e know that was covered) That’s still 16,946 feet — worldwide.
Water, as you know, respects Gravity. It settles uniformly on a surface. So to have a Universal flood covering the entire surface of the earth you are talking about alot of water: indeed, more water than is presently on the surface of the earth AND suspended in the air above it.
Right, so either alot of water somehow “disappeared” or the flood was localized and not Universal. And not as deep as 29,029 feet. Or even 16,946 feet
But let’s allow, for the moment, a Universal flood (even tho’ it’s impossible). There is another problem.
How big a motor did Noah have on the Ark? Because somehow during the duration of the flood (40 days and 40 nights, plus some time for the waters to settle) he needed to drive all the way to New Zealand (about halfway across the world) an drop off Kiwis, Moas, Tuatara, Wetas, the Haast Eagle, Keas, Tuis, Kahikiteas and a whole bunch more fauna that is only found in New Zealand. Then he had to scoot over to Australia and drop off Koalas, Platypus, Kangaroos, Wallabies, brown snakes, dugites, funnelweb spiders, taipans, fierce snakes, yellow-bellied black snakes, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, and a whole host of other fauna only found in Australia, then somehow get back to Turkey in time to run aground on Mt Ararat...
...what, no motors? What about sails? No sails? What about oars? No???
Then there is the whole question of the Tuatara and its link to Dinosaurs. I know Dinosaurs existed: I have been to Drumheller Alberta and seen and touched the bones. Or what were once bones: they are so antient they had turned to rock There is no way they are only 6,000 years old! No way in Texas...
...anyrate. The Tuatara is a reptile but not a lizard. It has three eyes, and is only found in New Zealand. Two of its eyes look like normal eyes. The third eye is between the two eyes, and it senses “stuff” — nobody knows exactly how or what. An amazing creature. (Yes, I did say “creature” — these things are too clever to happen at random). Very hard to find, extremely hard to catch. I’m surprised Noah had the time and patience to do either, far less to drop it off in New Zealand where there are fossils of Tuatara that purport to be many hundreds of thousands or millions of years old...
...and speaking of hundreds of thousand of years old, what about the swamp kauri? These are trees that are preserved in NZ peat bogs. Hundreds of thousands of years old, perfectly preserved. You can buy souvenirs made of swamp kauri wood 200,000 years old. How is it that these amazing trees can pre-date creation?
OK, that’s a few things for my opening salvo. Over to you...