Buster Dobb's Ark Theory

Dave Gaban drrod@slip.net
Mon, 01 Feb 1999 20:03:07 -0800 (00917949787, 36B678FB.20D4@slip.net)


Ralph Nielsen wrote:

>
> >> Joe Alward:
> >> Buster Dobbs said all this happened "supernaturally". Zebras from Africa,
> >> kangaroos from Australia, polar bears from the North Pole, snakes from
> >>Mexico,
> >> microscopic organisms from the far reaches of the globe, were magically
> >> transported--all at the same time, of course, to the ark. God is
> >>omnipotent.
> >
> >BAKKE
> >Needless to say, this begs a much larger question. To wit, if God is
> >omnipotent and could magically transport a plethora of creatures, why
> >did he need a 600-year-old man to build an ark to protect those same
> >creatures from the flood? For that matter, why did he need the flood to
> >wipe out all the doomed creatures? Seems to me that he could have
> >eliminated them "supernaturally" as well.
> >
> NIELSEN
> Most inerrantists forget that not only was Noah to take all those birds and
> animals into the ark, but God also commanded, "Also take with you every
> kind of food that is eaten and store it up; and it shall serve for food for
> you and them. Noah did this; and he did all that God commanded hom" (Gen.
> 6:21-22).
Dave G. The requirement to bring food with them for all the animals is a significant problem to deal with. For example, 2 African elephants (and for the sake of the apologists who insist they were not adults) at least one year from breeding age would normally eat approximately 400 lbs + or - each of plant material a day. If we put them on a concentration camp diet of only 100 lbs a day (each), that comes to 36,500 lbs each or 73,000 lbs of plant material for both. This doesn't even take into account the Asian elephants (requiring approximately the same amount), rhinos (several species), giraffes, and many other large herbivorous animals. The apologist speculation of god placing the animals in a form of aestivation or hibernation, cannot be supported by the account in Genesis. It seems to me that would have been an important detail to include in the myth. The Ark wasn't large enough for the food required, much less the animals.