Creation vs Evolution - Lesson #9
The Flood, Part 3 - The Canopy Theory
-Introduction
-Last week, we answered the question, “Were dinosaurs on the ark?” The answer: yes.
-Evidence shows that dinosaurs existed before and after the flood. Therefore, they
had to be on the ark.
-We then considered some interesting information regarding the size and capacity of
the ark (with a 17.5” cubit): 95,700 sq ft; 1,396,000 cubic feet; 13,960 gross tonnage.
-We also noted some important bits of information: 1. Two of every kind rather than
two of every species; 2. God brought the animals to Noah therefore He selected which
animals (age, size, health, genetics, temperament, etc.); 3. God’s presence was on the ark
Noah wasn’t on His own; 4. There are a number of things God could have done with the
animals - i.e. hibernation. We’re just not provided with the details.
-Toward the end of the lesson, I made a comment about the devastation that Noah and his
family must have seen when they came off the ark. Undoubtedly, the earth they saw when
they exited the ark was very different than the one they left when they entered the ark.
-What caused that devastation and destruction? - sin
-This morning, I want to consider some possibilities regarding the changes the flood brought
upon this earth - far more significant changes than perhaps we realize.
-We’ll look within the scriptures first and then we’ll close with a few of references to
evidence outside of the scriptures.
-Interesting Pieces of Information
1. Creation Account - Genesis 1:6, 8
-vs 6 - “firmament” (KJV); “expanse” (NASB, ESV, NIV) - The ESV has a footnote which
says “or a canopy”.
-vs 8 - “Heaven” (KJV, ESV); “heaven” (NASB); “sky” (NIV) - The ESV has a footnote
which says “or Sky.”
-Obviously, the word translated as “heaven” or “sky” can refer to different things: vs 14-
17 - space; vs 20 - sky. [2 Cor 12:2 - “third heaven” - 1st (sky); 2nd (space); 3rd
(dwelling place of God)
-Note for now: separating of waters above and below the firmament.
2. The Rainbow - Genesis 9:8-17
-Was this new covenant being attached to something that Noah and his family had previously
seen (rainbows)? Or, was this a new covenant being attached to something that Noah and
his family had never before witnessed (rainbows)? Could this have been the 1st rainbow?
-Is it possible that it had not yet rained upon the earth? Compare Gen. 2:5-6 and Gen. 7:4.
3. Cold and Heat, Summer and Winter - Genesis 8:22
-In this verse, we find the first reference to “cold and heat” and “summer and winter.”
-This seems to indicate a distinct change in the post-flood world.
-The Canopy Theory
-There is a possibility that the earth was originally surrounded by a canopy of water.
-“Such a canopy likely would have produced a ‘greenhouse’ effect on the Earth, ensuring a
warm, uniform climate worldwide—due, in large part, to the trapping of the Sun’s incoming
radiant energy” (Thompson, pg 26).
-It is possible that the “waters...above the firmament” (Gen 1:7) is a description of this
canopy. “...[T]he windows of heaven were opened” (Gen 7:11) could be a reference to the
collapse of this canopy. Hence, no mention of rain upon the earth but a mist instead. Hence,
no mention of “cold and heat, and summer and winter” until after the flood. Hence, the
appearance of the rainbow following the flood.
-If in fact a canopy of water existed around this earth, the collapse of it would have brought
severe consequences - sudden and severe changes in temperature, climate, weather patterns,
etc. If the canopy theory is accurate, following the flood, Noah and his family would have
encountered an earth that was drastically changed and forever would be. No longer would it
have a greenhouse effect. No longer would it contain more of a uniform, tropical climate.
From then on, it would contain shifting weather patterns, storms, areas of ice wasteland,
areas of desert wasteland and other unfavorable consequences.
-Side note: Perhaps this had a direct bearing on the life spans of the patriarchs. The
flood marks a clear point in time when the expected life-span started its decline.
-Outside Evidence
-Even though the canopy theory isn’t explicitly stated within the scriptures, we can see that
its possibility fits within God’s inspired word. But, is there any outside evidence?
-“Interestingly, even evolutionists speak conclusively of a universally mild climate
characterizing the Earth at one time” (Thompson, pg 25).
-“This concept certainly fits the picture provided by the flora and fauna of the past world.
Naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, a scientific contemporary of Charles Darwin, commented:
There is but one climate known to the ancient fossil world as revealed by the plants and
animals entombed in the rocks, and the climate was a mantle of springlike loveliness which
seems to have prevailed continuously over the whole globe. Just how the world could have
been this warm all over may be a matter of conjecture; that it was so warmed effectively
and continuously is a matter of fact (1876, 1:277)” (Thompson, pg 26 with reference to
Wallace, Alfred Russel (1876), The Geographical Distribution of Animals (New York:
Harper & Brothers).
-“Fossils of plants and manmade tools show that at one time the African desert was covered with
luxuriant vegetation and was inhabited by man. Similar remains have been discovered in the Gobi
Desert of China and in numerous other desert areas around the globe. The Arctic regions testify
forcefully to the warm temperatures that apparently were found there in the distant past. The Arctic
Islands, north of Siberia, are packed quite densely with the remains of elephants and other mammals,
along with dense tangles of fossil trees and assorted plants. The great coal beds at both poles speak
of the warm conditions that must have prevailed at one time throughout the world. Whitcomb
(quoting from National Geographic, February 1963, pp. 288,296) has commented concerning the
coal beds of Antarctica: “The frozen and forbidden shoreline of the South Polar continent challenges
our imagination as to its former condition. The fact that it was once warm and humid and had
abundant vegetation is shown by ‘wide-spread discoveries of coal and petrified wood’”
(1973, p. 82; see also National Geographic, November 1971, p. 653). The stratified
rocks of Antarctica have yielded fossils of such plants as ferns, oaks, magnolias, ginkoes and
breadfruits (the latter usually growing only in India and South China). Many of the plants buried in
the frozen strata can grow only in climates entirely different from those where their remains are
found. Additionally, Whitcomb and Morris (and others) have called attention to the “large numbers
of fossil mammals, apparently trapped and in some cases partially frozen before the soft parts had
decayed” (1961, p. 288). These facts, and others like them far too numerous to discuss here, tend
to support the contention that “the world of Adam and his immediate descendants contained
proportionately more habitable land than the world today. There were no enormous waste areas,
such as the great deserts of Africa, Asia, America and Australia” (Rehwinkel, 1951, p. 2)”
(Thompson, pgs 27-28).
-In his article “The Woolly Mammoth and the Ice Age” (Aug. 4, 2004, www.christiancourier.
com/articles/read/the_woolly_mammoth_and_the_ice_age), Wayne Jackson stated the
following:
“The evidence for widespread mammoth deaths involves vast regions of the polar-area of
the northern hemisphere. One news article states:
“All over the frozen northern parts of Siberia and Canada we find the frozen
carcasses of hundreds of thousands of large mammal species. These are mainly
mammoths, but also [there are] wooly rhinos and other creatures of this kind.”
In some areas the tusks of the mammoths protruded (like tombstones) so profusely from
the frozen tundra that it generated trade in fossil ivory for centuries, extending all the way
to China... The freeze occurred so rapidly that the bodies of these huge beasts did not
have time to decompose. There have been numerous cases where the flesh of mammoths
was so well-preserved that the meat was still edible by bears and wolves.
In 1901 a mammoth carcass was found so well-preserved that there were food fragments,
as yet unswallowed, in its mouth. Moreover, there was more than twenty pounds of vegetation
still in the stomach cavity – some of which was not yet decayed. The animal had died and
been frozen in virtually a matter of hours...Another amazing revelation amidst these discoveries
is the fact that the stomach content of some of these creatures indicated they had been grazing
on vegetation that grows only in warm regions, yet they were quite near the north pole.”
-Yes, evidence from outside the scriptures supports the fact that this world has undergone
some drastic changes. Where ice or sand dominates the landscape in our world today, there
was once a warm, pleasant climate and vast tropical-like vegetation.
-Summary and Invitation
-One more quick note: What happened to the water? With water covering the highest hills by 15
cubits, where could it all have gone?
-Some would have eventually made its way back within the earth’s crust - into the underground water
system. Some would be absorbed into the atmosphere. But, what about the rest of the water?
-Ps 104:1,7-9 - “The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for
them…” (vs 8, ESV)
-The physical characteristics of this planet were changed - higher mountains and lower valleys.
When we look at a map/globe today, can we not see that it is set up in such a fashion to drain
water from the land and funnel it to the oceans?
-The pre-flood world probably had a greater land mass and not as much water upon the surface
of the earth.
-Over and over and over again, the accuracy and integrity of the scriptures is verified.
-We must put our trust in God’s word, study it, learn it, apply it and submit to it.
-1 Pet 3:15 - Do you have that hope?
-If you haven’t obeyed the Gospel, you don’t. Believe (John 3:16, 8:24), Confess (Matt 10:32,
Rom 10:9-10), Repent (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 17:30), Be Baptized (Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38),
Live faithfully (Rom 6:4, Eph 4:22-24)
-If you have obeyed the Gospel but have strayed from faithfulness, confess your shortcomings,
repent and seek God’s forgiveness through prayer (1 John 1:7-9, Acts 8:22-24).