Why a Global Flood?

Updated: November 17, 2025

The Bible book of Genesis (chapters 6-9) describes a worldwide flood killing all but eight humans and several “kinds” of land animals all preserved in a giant boat known as Noah’s Ark. There God tells us exactly why He did this horrific thing: the wickedness of mankind. Mankind — the stewards that God had put in charge here – became so corrupt as to become obscenely violent and dull to their Creator’s voice. Their lifestyle diverted humanity such that all nature within his jurisdiction was also thrown beyond its intended trajectory. Out of what may have been millions in his generation, only Noah respected God enough to seek and to respond to Him. It is said that Noah “walked with God,” and this put him in a position to hear about the judgment as well as the way of escape. He is called a “preacher of righteousness,” meaning that he sought to warn others, but ultimately only managed to influence his own family and save them.

How could God kill all those people? After all, wasn’t it God’s fault that they existed in the first place? Yes! Their creation was certainly God’s “fault.” However, their evil was not His fault. Also, it was clear that their behavior was not directly against God, but against each other and against the perfect world they were supposed to protect. Wasn’t it a mercy to all humanity that God stopped the suffering, washing them away along with all other records of their wickedness? God did this kind of thing again and again with other evil cities and nations, and one day He promises to remove all evildoers from us once and for all. God’s judgment is regrettable but absolutely necessary if there is going to be any peace or rest for any of us.

Some say that a global flood never happened, that Noah’s Flood is just another metaphorical story meant only to convey abstract truths. However, when it comes to scientific evidence, maybe the question should be, “Why not a global flood?” The evidence for this just continues to grow, while alternative theories continue to be proven wrong by that same evidence. At this point, it seems that the only reason informed scientists would deny the flood is if they already have a stubborn bias against any possible validation of the Bible.

Consider just some of the evidence that validates a Biblical Creationist paradigm:

• Sudden fossilization. Fossils don’t normally happen, as scavengers and elements normally wipe away all traces of dead things. Fossilization requires sudden burial, and the fossil record shows massive fossilization all over the world within a relatively small range of rock layers (including the “Cambrian Explosion”).
• Worldwide sedimentary layers. Common rock layers exist worldwide, and all agree they were laid at the same time. Marine (that is, water-dwelling) fossils appear all over the world within these layers.
• Polystrate fossils and folds. Alternative theories have no plausible explanation for how layers supposedly laid down over millions of years have fossils that cross over several layers, or how several layers were bent together without fracture. It is much more reasonable to accept that the layers were all formed together, and that the bends occurred when the layers were still wet.
• The 1980 Mt St Helens eruption demonstrated (in microcosm) the kind of forces that the Bible says were present at the Flood, carving deep canyons in solid rock very quickly. Those who say the Grand Canyon’s formation required millions of years were proven simply wrong.
• Worldwide flood myths. Many pre-Christian cultures have stories remarkably similar to the Bible’s account of the Flood. The most striking example is that of the Miautso people of China, whose traditions refer to Noah as “Nuah,” name his 3 sons, talk about the 40-day rain, and the releasing of the dove to find out if the earth was dry – all rough aspects of the Bible’s account.
• We know that coal, oil, and natural gas can actually be created very quickly from vegetation, and does not require millions of years. The vegetation that was buried during the flood would have quickly turned into what we call “fossil fuel.”

The only reason to reject the Bible’s account of a global flood is if one begins with the assumption that the Bible is unreliable, or that Genesis was not meant to be taken literally. (See also other articles here with the Creationism tag)
(Genesis 6:5-9, Genesis 6:11-14, Genesis 7:23, 2 Peter 2:5, Isaiah 65:17)