The Days Before The Flood

Over fifty years ago Henry Morris and John Whitcomb joined together to write a controversial book that sparked dialogue and debate on Darwin and Jesus, science and the Bible, evolution and creation -- culminating in what would later be called the birth of the modern creation science movement. Now, fifty years, forty-nine printings, and 300,000 copies after the initial publication of The Genesis Flood, P & R Publishing has produced a fiftieth anniversary edition of this modern classic. - Back cover.

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The great Biblical flood so described in Genesis has long been a subject of fascination and speculation. In the 19th century the English archbishop James Ussher established it as having happened in the year 2348 B.C., calculating what was then taken as the age of the earth and working backward through the entire series of Biblical "begats." Proof of the flood, which is an element of so many creation myths, began in earnest when archaeology started connecting physical evidence with Biblical story. The dream of proving the Bible as literal truth has proven irresistible, producing both spurious claims and serious scholarship. As best-selling historian Ian Wilson reveals in this fascinating new book, evidence of a catastrophic event has been building steadily, culminating in the work of William Ryan and Walter Pitman. Several years ago Ryan and Pitman had posited that around 5600 BC there had an inundation in the Black Sea of such proportions that it turned the freshwater lake into a saltwater lake by connecting it to the Mediterranean. Were that true, they estimated that there would be signs of civilization 300 feet below the surface of the Black Sea. In September 2000, using his famous underwater equipment, Robert Ballard (of SS Titanic fame) explored parts of the Black Sea near the Turkish shore and found the remains of wood houses. There had been a flood, and whether God's wrath or not it had destroyed everything around it for hundreds of miles, killing tens of thousands of people. Exploring all the archeological evidence, Wilson explains how the Black Sea flood and the Biblical flood have to be connected. In particular, Wilson argues, learnedly and persuasively, that the center of the civilized world was further to the West than previously thought-not in Egypt or Mesopotamia but in what is today Northern Turkey. The earliest, antediluvian civilizations may have migrated east into those places we have come to call the cradles of civilization, forced by the Black Sea flood to create new settlements. Scrupulous in its details and compelling in its sweep, Before the Flood is narrative detective history at its most provocative, contributing a vital new chapter to the debate about the Bible and origins of the modern world.

In the tradition of Silent Spring, a modern parable of the American experience and our paradoxical relationship with the natural world. Though it seems a part of the "natural" landscape of New England today, the Swift River Valley reservoir, dam, dike, and nature area was a triumph of civil engineering. It combined forward-looking environmental stewardship and social policy, yet the “little people”—and the four towns in which they lived—got lost along the way. Elisabeth Rosenberg has crafted Before the Flood to be both a modern and a universal story in a time when managed retreat will one day be a reality. Meticulously researched, Before the Flood, is the first narrative book on the incredible history of the Swift River Valley and the origins Quabbin Reservoir. Rosenberg dive into the socioeconomic and psychological aspects of the Swift River Valley’s destruction in order to supply drinking water for the growing populations of Boston and wider Massachusetts. It is as much a human story as the story of water and landscape, and Before the Flood movingly reveals both the stories and the science of the key players and the four flooded towns that were washed forever away.

Understand this highly debated flash point for scientific debate, academic criticism, and common confusion with this unique presentation. Delve into the technical aspects of the chronology, historicity, and significance of understanding this landmark event, including what we can learn from the Hebrew words used to describe it. Examine the numerous geological, geophysical, and paleontological indications pointing to the reality and global scope of the Flood. Learn how and why the authors' exhaustive research began, putting forth objectives, criticisms they would address, and identifying obstacles to be resolved. The Flood as described in the Book of Genesis not only shaped the global landscape, it is an event that literally forms our understanding of early biblical history. Now an experienced team of scientists and theologians has written a definitive account of the Genesis Flood with detailed research into the original biblical text and evidences unlocked by modern science and study. Often recounted and discounted as just a myth or children's story, what we find with deeper study is instead a cataclysmic event, one that truly wiped out life on our planet with the exception of those preserved through God's plan. The devastation the Genesis Flood wreaked upon a rebellious world remains an important part of the biblical narrative we should understand for what it was - a divine act of judgment on a sin-immersed world.

Perhaps the most important book written in the 21st century, "The Awesome Potential of Man" reveals the "Bible"'s greatest truth, one hidden from almost everyone. Theologians are unable to explain why man exists. 2,000 years ago Christ came as a newscaster explaining the gospel-the good news-of a coming world-ruling supergovernment. Understand how this involves you. While many have a vague idea that Christians are "sons of God," none ever consider "when [Christ] shall appear, we shall be "like Him"" (I John 3:2)-or that God "shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body" (Phil. 3:21). Even King David knew he would "awake with [God's] likeness" (Psa. 17:15). Comprehend this staggering knowledge! You could one day have the very likeness of Jesus Christ. But this is only the beginning Prepare to be shocked-and inspired!-as David C. Pack answers directly from the "Bible" the most important questions confronting mankind. Learn why you were born and discover your incredible human potential!

According to the authors, the doctrine of inerrancy has been standard, accepted teaching for more than 1,000 years. In 1978, the famous "Chicago Statement" on inerrancy was adopted by the Evangelical Theological Society, and for decades it has been the accepted conservative evangelical doctrine of the Scriptures. However, in recent years, some prominent evangelical authors have challenged this statement in their writings. Now eminent apologist and bestselling author Norman L. Geisler, who was one of the original drafters of the "Chicago Statement," and his coauthor, William C. Roach, present a defense of the traditional understanding of inerrancy for a new generation of Christians who are being assaulted with challenges to the nature of God, truth, and language. Pastors, students, and armchair theologians will appreciate this clear, reasoned response to the current crisis.

The apostle Peter warned us that in the last days before the end times, there would be a new philosophy that would deny that there ever was a worldwide flood. They would deny that God created the world, the existence of God, and the coming end time judgment by fire. Today we see this taking place exactly as Peter had predicted. This book provides proof of a Biblical worldwide flood and backs it up with geological data. The information in this book offers evidence of creation by an omnipotent God and a global flood as God’s judgment of a sinful world. It provides evidence as to what the earth was like before the flood. It was a world, which after creation God had declared very good. Even after the fall of man, it was still paradise compared with the world we know today. The effects of catastrophic worldwide flood changed this planet drastically. This book also offers extensive proof that disproves the theory of evolution. New scientific discoveries are showing that evolution is impossible. Also contained in this book is considerable scientific evidence, showing that the earth is only a few thousand years old. This book may go against much of the popular scientific views of today, but it does so with the evidence to back it. The Bible gave us the history as well as the future of this world. The scientific and geological data that is available today fits well within that Biblical framework. In fact, it fits within the Biblical framework much better than any theories the evolutionary community has come up with, as this book will show.

The recent translation of a Babylonian tablet launches a groundbreaking investigation into one of the most famous stories in the world, challenging the way we look at ancient history. Since the Victorian period, it has been understood that the story of Noah, iconic in the Book of Genesis, and a central motif in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, derives from a much older story that existed centuries before in ancient Babylon. But the relationship between the Babylonian and biblical traditions was shrouded in mystery. Then, in 2009, Irving Finkel, a curator at the British Museum and a world authority on ancient Mesopotamia, found himself playing detective when a member of the public arrived at the museum with an intriguing cuneiform tablet from a family collection. Not only did the tablet reveal a new version of the Babylonian Flood Story; the ancient poet described the size and completely unexpected shape of the ark, and gave detailed boat building specifications. Decoding this ancient message wedge by cuneiform wedge, Dr. Finkel discovered where the Babylonians believed the ark came to rest and developed a new explanation of how the old story ultimately found its way into the Bible. In The Ark Before Noah, Dr. Finkel takes us on an adventurous voyage of discovery, opening the door to an enthralling world of ancient voices and new meanings.