Th e modern creationist theory, called “scientifi c creationism,” propounded by Duane Gish and Henry Morris, accounts for geologic formations and fossils by appealing to the great fl ood of Noah. Th is fl ood allegedly killed numerous mammals, birds, fi sh, and insects, and their carcasses settled in diff erent strata amid the swirling waters, thus producing the fossils. But is it plausible that all the animals that populate the earth today were saved on Noah’s ark?

Th ese would include 25,000 species of birds, 15,000 species of mammals, 2,500 species of amphibians, 6,000 species of reptiles, including dinosaurs, and one million species of insects. How large must the ark have been, in comparison, say, with the Titanic, to house these animals together with sufficient food for a 300-day voyage? Based on the number of human hours it took to build the Titanic (do some research on this), how long do you think it would have taken Noah, his wife, and three sons to build the ark? Assuming the ark was made of wood, approximately how many board feet of lumber would have been needed to build it (include enough wood for walls and fl oors between the animals)? How long would it have taken Noah and his family to collect and load the animals on the ark? How much time would it have taken to provide one meal for the animals? Is scientifi c creationism a plausible theory?