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the flood
When you begin to ponder the terrible judgement of the Flood waters that God used to completely destroy the first world, then immediately a number of perplexing problems present themselves. For example:
- How can we explain the coming together of all the animals and birds from all parts of the world at one time?
- How was it possible for eight people to feed and provide drink for all the different animals in the Ark for over a year? How was it possible for them to clean the Ark?
- Where did all the water come from? Is there actually enough water on our planet to cover the entire earth?
- How could the Ark accommodate the natural increase of the animals?
Is the alleged discovery of the remains of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat by a Russian aviator a true account?
- What became of all the water when the Flood subsided?
- Did the Flood waters rise to an elevation to cover such lofty heights as Pike's Peak, Mount Everest, Mount McKinley?
- When did the Flood begin? How long did it last?
- Where did Noah acquire the 'know-how' for building such a spacious and durable Ark?
- How can we account for the rapid progress of the nations following the Flood?
- What was the population?
To all these troublesome questions -- and many more -- the author submits satisfactory solutions. From archeaology, excavations, honest historical research, Dr. Rehwinkel proves the inspired Word of God to be an absolute reliable source book -- also in dealing with natural phenomena and scientific facts.
- How can we explain the coming together of all the animals and birds from all parts of the world at one time?
- How was it possible for eight people to feed and provide drink for all the different animals in the Ark for over a year? How was it possible for them to clean the Ark?
- Where did all the water come from? Is there actually enough water on our planet to cover the entire earth?
- How could the Ark accommodate the natural increase of the animals?
Is the alleged discovery of the remains of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat by a Russian aviator a true account?
- What became of all the water when the Flood subsided?
- Did the Flood waters rise to an elevation to cover such lofty heights as Pike's Peak, Mount Everest, Mount McKinley?
- When did the Flood begin? How long did it last?
- Where did Noah acquire the 'know-how' for building such a spacious and durable Ark?
- How can we account for the rapid progress of the nations following the Flood?
- What was the population?
To all these troublesome questions -- and many more -- the author submits satisfactory solutions. From archeaology, excavations, honest historical research, Dr. Rehwinkel proves the inspired Word of God to be an absolute reliable source book -- also in dealing with natural phenomena and scientific facts.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1951
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February 24, 2025
A 1951 DEFENSE OF A ‘GLOBAL FLOOD’ AND A ‘YOUNG EARTH’
Seminary theology professor Alfred Rehwinkel (1887-1979) wrote in the Preface to this 1951 book (which was ‘slightly revised’ in 1957), “The material presented here in book form was originally delivered in a series of lectures before District church conventions [he was Lutheran], pastors’ institutes, laymen’s seminars, teachers’ meetings … in many parts of the United States and Canada… the original lectures were revised considerably in preparation for publication, but the popular style has been retained… It was… not always possible, when the revision was made, to indicate at all times the sources that had been consulted… The author … wishes to acknowledge particularly his debt to Dr. George McCready Price, a noted geologist and author…”
He adds in the Introduction, “Why a book on the Flood in the days of Noah?... There are four reasons why this study was made… Next to Creation, the Flood of Noah’s time is the greatest event in the history of our earth. Nothing comparable with it ... will happen until the final destruction of this universe in the fire of Judgment Day… The second reason … is the fact that the Flood occupies a most prominent place in our Bible… Every student of the Bible and of geology knows there exists today a seemingly irreconcilable conflict between Genesis and geology. This conflict… had its origin in the rise of evolutionary geology…. The shock received by the inexperienced young student is therefore overwhelming when he enters the classroom of such teachers… To help these students and others like them… is the chief reason for this study and its publication… The final reason … is to remind the Christian reader that the Flood was a prototype of the Final Judgment, which will make a sudden and fearful end of the second world.” (Pg. xv-xix)
He explains, “It must be remembered … that the duration of the first world covered a long period of time… We have an exact chronology … in Genesis 5, and that chronology is confirmed in Chronicles 1 and Luke 3. According to this chronology the Flood occurred in the year 1656 after Creation… It was long enough for the human race to increase and expand and take possession of the earth as God had commanded.” (Pg. 24-25)
He argues, “if man, with … his age limit reduced to a mere fraction of that of the antediluvian, can reproduce … to the extent of ten to fourteen and more in one family, it is certainly reasonable to assume that the human race in the primeval world was capable of reproducing at a much higher rate… it would not be unreasonable to assume that an average family in that age might have consisted of at least eighteen to twenty living and marriageable children.” (Pg. 27-28)
He explains, “The ark was built of gopher wood and caulked with pitch within and without. The word ‘gopher’ as used here is merely a transliteration of the Hebrew word. Its exact meaning is not known.” (Pg. 58)
He suggests, “Not every variety of [a] large group need to have been in the ark. A representative was significant to supply the great numbers of varieties of forms found on the earth today… [This] can also be shown from the example of the human race. The entire human race as now existing … has descended from Noah and his three sons. Yet we know that mankind is now divided into a great variety of distinct colors and races. We speak of the Caucasian race, the Mongolian race, the Ethiopian race, the red and the brown race. All have come from the same stock, Noah, and yet what a difference … [W]hen this change came or what caused the change has remained an anthropological mystery.” (Pg. 70-71)
He asserts, “There were no arctics and no deserts in that world, no high mountain barriers to separate one region from another, and this uniform climate also made possible a more uniform distribution of animals over the entire face of the earth. It is therefore not at all necessary to assume that the lumbering polar bear was called from his arctic habitat to … Mesopotamia… nor was it necessary to transport the animal denizens from Australia or South America… There is every reason to believe that all of these animals were distributed over the face of the earth and therefore were found in the regions near or adjacent to the place where the ark was built… The animals of the postdiluvian world found a changed world with respect to both climate and food supplies, but as these animals multiplied and spread to reoccupy the earth, they adapted themselves to the changed conditions, and differences developed which did not exist before. The animals which did not make this adaptation perished… as, for example, the many varieties of prehistoric reptiles… It must be recalled that God gave the Flood [population] 120 years for repentance… and the instinct which God implanted in the animals by which they were brought to Noah might have been operative for many generations.” (Pg. 74-75)
He acknowledges, “There still remain other problems concerning the ark and the animals in the ark… such as the food supply necessary to feed for a whole year all that were in the ark… [Some] have suggested that the animals hibernated during the greater part of the time while they were in the ark. This would solve many or all of the problems mentioned, but it… implies a miraculous interference with the mode of life of most of the animals. But.. some such solution is at least conceivable… The Biblical account of the Flood is so brief, and our knowledge of the world before the Flood… is so limited that … many questions must remain unanswered.” (Pg. 75-76)
He continues, “If the Flood was of such long duration… how was it possible for plant life to survive? No positive or completely satisfactory answer can be given to that question. We know that Noah took all kinds of foods into the ark… and this would imply seeds of the various plants… But it is not likely that the plant life of the earth was preserved in that manner… it is not unreasonable to assume that in God’s providence some areas of the earth remained relatively undisturbed and there plant life… survived… In His wisdom He found ways and means to preserve the animals in the ark and plant life in some other miraculous manner, about which no further details are revealed in the Bible.” (Pg. 76)
He is doubtful of reports that the Ark has been ‘found,’ such as the report of converted Russian aviator Vladimir Roskivisky. He states, “I should like to call attention to the following facts: [1]… it is very easy in a case like this for the wish to become the father of the belief. [2] The report claims that a great number of men… saw the ark on Mount Ararat but, strangely enough… there is only one known eyewitness… [3] It is claimed that the ark was discovered at an elevation of 14,000 feet… If the ark actually came to rest at that elevation, how could the animals in the ark have descended from so high a mountain down its steep, icy and impassable slopes[?]… The Bible says that the ark rested on Mount Ararat, but this does not mean that it necessarily rested on one of the very highest peaks of this rugged mountain chain.” (Pg. 82-83)
He notes, "Some have argued that a universal Flood cannot be meant because of the difficulties involved, but that the words of the Jewish writer must be interpreted in the sense of what he meant by the whole world. To the Jew, when Genesis was written, the world was very small… But in reply to this … it is not a question of what the Jews knew about the world … but that the sacred writer clearly states that the whole earth…. was destroyed by the Flood and that the entire human race was wiped off the face of the earth… It is God’s own infallible record, and therefore no other interpretation is possible.” (Pg. 90)
He admits, “How could the clouds form fast enough and continue to form and to produce those quantities of water required for a rain as described in Gen 7:12?... This is another of those questions for which we have no completely satisfactory answer, simply because we have no way of knowing the exact conditions of the … antediluvian world… The best we can do is guess at a possible … answer.” (Pg. 98-99)
He states, “During the days, weeks, and months of the Flood… there were probably ten thousand and more Krakatoas… and Vesuviuses shaking and tearing at the foundation of the earth… This is not a fantastic assumption of a mere figment of the imagination. The very foundation rocks of our earth bear evidence that these things happened.” (Pg. 120)
He concludes, “the problems of sedimentary rocks, secondary minerals, the great gorges, the age of the earth, and the many other phenomena of our earth are difficult indeed and … we have no complete or altogether satisfactory answers for them. The solutions for these problems commonly found in the textbooks of our schools today are not demonstrated science, but mere theories and hypotheses. They are an attempt on the part of groping men to find an answer. There is no fault in proposing a hypothesis as a point from which to start… but the fault in this case lies in the fact that these hypotheses and theories are presented as assured facts… No, the answer to these difficult questions is not found in these theories. The most reasonable solution to all these problems is still to be found in God’s own revelation concerning the origin of the universe and in His account of the destruction of the first world in the great, universal flood.” (Pg. 297)
Henry Morris, in his 'History of Modern Creationism,’ said that Rehwinkel’s books “were excellent contributions to the creationist cause and of great interest and help to me in particular.” (Pg. 95) Some modern ‘young earth’ creationists may also find this book of interest.
Seminary theology professor Alfred Rehwinkel (1887-1979) wrote in the Preface to this 1951 book (which was ‘slightly revised’ in 1957), “The material presented here in book form was originally delivered in a series of lectures before District church conventions [he was Lutheran], pastors’ institutes, laymen’s seminars, teachers’ meetings … in many parts of the United States and Canada… the original lectures were revised considerably in preparation for publication, but the popular style has been retained… It was… not always possible, when the revision was made, to indicate at all times the sources that had been consulted… The author … wishes to acknowledge particularly his debt to Dr. George McCready Price, a noted geologist and author…”
He adds in the Introduction, “Why a book on the Flood in the days of Noah?... There are four reasons why this study was made… Next to Creation, the Flood of Noah’s time is the greatest event in the history of our earth. Nothing comparable with it ... will happen until the final destruction of this universe in the fire of Judgment Day… The second reason … is the fact that the Flood occupies a most prominent place in our Bible… Every student of the Bible and of geology knows there exists today a seemingly irreconcilable conflict between Genesis and geology. This conflict… had its origin in the rise of evolutionary geology…. The shock received by the inexperienced young student is therefore overwhelming when he enters the classroom of such teachers… To help these students and others like them… is the chief reason for this study and its publication… The final reason … is to remind the Christian reader that the Flood was a prototype of the Final Judgment, which will make a sudden and fearful end of the second world.” (Pg. xv-xix)
He explains, “It must be remembered … that the duration of the first world covered a long period of time… We have an exact chronology … in Genesis 5, and that chronology is confirmed in Chronicles 1 and Luke 3. According to this chronology the Flood occurred in the year 1656 after Creation… It was long enough for the human race to increase and expand and take possession of the earth as God had commanded.” (Pg. 24-25)
He argues, “if man, with … his age limit reduced to a mere fraction of that of the antediluvian, can reproduce … to the extent of ten to fourteen and more in one family, it is certainly reasonable to assume that the human race in the primeval world was capable of reproducing at a much higher rate… it would not be unreasonable to assume that an average family in that age might have consisted of at least eighteen to twenty living and marriageable children.” (Pg. 27-28)
He explains, “The ark was built of gopher wood and caulked with pitch within and without. The word ‘gopher’ as used here is merely a transliteration of the Hebrew word. Its exact meaning is not known.” (Pg. 58)
He suggests, “Not every variety of [a] large group need to have been in the ark. A representative was significant to supply the great numbers of varieties of forms found on the earth today… [This] can also be shown from the example of the human race. The entire human race as now existing … has descended from Noah and his three sons. Yet we know that mankind is now divided into a great variety of distinct colors and races. We speak of the Caucasian race, the Mongolian race, the Ethiopian race, the red and the brown race. All have come from the same stock, Noah, and yet what a difference … [W]hen this change came or what caused the change has remained an anthropological mystery.” (Pg. 70-71)
He asserts, “There were no arctics and no deserts in that world, no high mountain barriers to separate one region from another, and this uniform climate also made possible a more uniform distribution of animals over the entire face of the earth. It is therefore not at all necessary to assume that the lumbering polar bear was called from his arctic habitat to … Mesopotamia… nor was it necessary to transport the animal denizens from Australia or South America… There is every reason to believe that all of these animals were distributed over the face of the earth and therefore were found in the regions near or adjacent to the place where the ark was built… The animals of the postdiluvian world found a changed world with respect to both climate and food supplies, but as these animals multiplied and spread to reoccupy the earth, they adapted themselves to the changed conditions, and differences developed which did not exist before. The animals which did not make this adaptation perished… as, for example, the many varieties of prehistoric reptiles… It must be recalled that God gave the Flood [population] 120 years for repentance… and the instinct which God implanted in the animals by which they were brought to Noah might have been operative for many generations.” (Pg. 74-75)
He acknowledges, “There still remain other problems concerning the ark and the animals in the ark… such as the food supply necessary to feed for a whole year all that were in the ark… [Some] have suggested that the animals hibernated during the greater part of the time while they were in the ark. This would solve many or all of the problems mentioned, but it… implies a miraculous interference with the mode of life of most of the animals. But.. some such solution is at least conceivable… The Biblical account of the Flood is so brief, and our knowledge of the world before the Flood… is so limited that … many questions must remain unanswered.” (Pg. 75-76)
He continues, “If the Flood was of such long duration… how was it possible for plant life to survive? No positive or completely satisfactory answer can be given to that question. We know that Noah took all kinds of foods into the ark… and this would imply seeds of the various plants… But it is not likely that the plant life of the earth was preserved in that manner… it is not unreasonable to assume that in God’s providence some areas of the earth remained relatively undisturbed and there plant life… survived… In His wisdom He found ways and means to preserve the animals in the ark and plant life in some other miraculous manner, about which no further details are revealed in the Bible.” (Pg. 76)
He is doubtful of reports that the Ark has been ‘found,’ such as the report of converted Russian aviator Vladimir Roskivisky. He states, “I should like to call attention to the following facts: [1]… it is very easy in a case like this for the wish to become the father of the belief. [2] The report claims that a great number of men… saw the ark on Mount Ararat but, strangely enough… there is only one known eyewitness… [3] It is claimed that the ark was discovered at an elevation of 14,000 feet… If the ark actually came to rest at that elevation, how could the animals in the ark have descended from so high a mountain down its steep, icy and impassable slopes[?]… The Bible says that the ark rested on Mount Ararat, but this does not mean that it necessarily rested on one of the very highest peaks of this rugged mountain chain.” (Pg. 82-83)
He notes, "Some have argued that a universal Flood cannot be meant because of the difficulties involved, but that the words of the Jewish writer must be interpreted in the sense of what he meant by the whole world. To the Jew, when Genesis was written, the world was very small… But in reply to this … it is not a question of what the Jews knew about the world … but that the sacred writer clearly states that the whole earth…. was destroyed by the Flood and that the entire human race was wiped off the face of the earth… It is God’s own infallible record, and therefore no other interpretation is possible.” (Pg. 90)
He admits, “How could the clouds form fast enough and continue to form and to produce those quantities of water required for a rain as described in Gen 7:12?... This is another of those questions for which we have no completely satisfactory answer, simply because we have no way of knowing the exact conditions of the … antediluvian world… The best we can do is guess at a possible … answer.” (Pg. 98-99)
He states, “During the days, weeks, and months of the Flood… there were probably ten thousand and more Krakatoas… and Vesuviuses shaking and tearing at the foundation of the earth… This is not a fantastic assumption of a mere figment of the imagination. The very foundation rocks of our earth bear evidence that these things happened.” (Pg. 120)
He concludes, “the problems of sedimentary rocks, secondary minerals, the great gorges, the age of the earth, and the many other phenomena of our earth are difficult indeed and … we have no complete or altogether satisfactory answers for them. The solutions for these problems commonly found in the textbooks of our schools today are not demonstrated science, but mere theories and hypotheses. They are an attempt on the part of groping men to find an answer. There is no fault in proposing a hypothesis as a point from which to start… but the fault in this case lies in the fact that these hypotheses and theories are presented as assured facts… No, the answer to these difficult questions is not found in these theories. The most reasonable solution to all these problems is still to be found in God’s own revelation concerning the origin of the universe and in His account of the destruction of the first world in the great, universal flood.” (Pg. 297)
Henry Morris, in his 'History of Modern Creationism,’ said that Rehwinkel’s books “were excellent contributions to the creationist cause and of great interest and help to me in particular.” (Pg. 95) Some modern ‘young earth’ creationists may also find this book of interest.
August 14, 2017
A great book to read and should be read in schools.
January 14, 2024
I didn't actually read the last 50 pages. This book started out so good, but it became tedious after the first 1/3 or so.
Read
February 19, 2026I really wanted to read this book. I was told it was awesome but it rained for two days and my basement flooded so I couldn't read it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews