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Flood Legends: Global Clues of a Common Event
The story of the Deluge - or the Global Flood of Noah - permeates nearly every culture in the world in some way, shape, or form. While details vary between the different cultures, the same basic elements, occur in all versions. In "Flood Legends" you will Despite the striking similarities of these accounts, some mythologists have looked at the minor differences in the stories and "This never happened!" There is another alternative - to accept that the different versions all refer to the same event - passed on from generation to generation, through various developing cultures. Through these legends, this epic event has remained woven into the tapestry of cultural history - sharing not just the story of survival, but the power of obedience, and the fulfillment of God's enduring promise.
157 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 24, 2024
Martin compares and contrasts flood legends from cultures around the world to analyze whether there's coherent ideas of a worldwide flood to assume that it may be historical. He uses the Bible, an Indian account and a South American account for his primary manuscripts but adds others from time to time. Well thought out and interesting.
October 23, 2017
Two for thought provoking content; -3 for poor theology. Though this isn't a book on theology, Mr. Martin does present some good arguments and information.
December 17, 2024
5 stars just because the author apparently translated Sanskrit for this.
This book looks at a few different flood legends from vastly separated people groups and compares them. There are strikingly similar details in each story. The book focuses primarily on three versions: Hebrew, Hindu, and a south American people group (Karina). There are also some other flood stories considered, maybe ~10 others.
I have to say, I was hoping for a different book. I am more interested in a mega survey of flood legends, something like a table comparing different aspects of the stories. To be fair, some of the references do seem to be books like this, and I'm sure I could find such a table mainly because I vaguely remember seeing one before.
So, the audience of the book is not me. The book seems to be written for an extreme skeptic. Someone who is a liberal Christian who doesn't take genesis as more than moral poetry, or an extreme materialist Christian who has trouble believing in any of the spiritual, or someone who is an outright atheist. They would have to be intellectually honest enough to actually read the book though.
So because I am not the audience, I found a lot of the reasoning in the book unnecessarily convoluted. At points I even felt sorry for the author. Upon reading the section where he draws lines between facts and opinions, I was thinking, who are these woolly brained people you're associating with, bro?
Some of the theology was a bit suss e.g. righteous at heart vs. actions. I don't think that's the way to think of it lol, they were righteous including in their actions, they fell and did evil, they repented, they were righteous in their actions. Not gonna hark on because it's a tiny part of the book.
Overall, it makes a good case. The claim that the flood myths are local stories evolving separately from eg ice age flooding does not stand up to scrutiny.
"Perhaps, then, we choose not to believe because we have difficulty believing in anything pertaining to the supernatural."
Miscellany:
One thing I like is how they chose the three major versions, and discussed the source and translation. This is clearly done for the extreme skeptic, the intended audience of the book, so that he can't say, well you've made it up or mistranslated it to match the bible.
I do think the book could have focused a bit more on this, because one of the arguments I've seen used is that (apparently hundreds of times according to these people) Christian missionaries told the natives the flood story and then the natives repeated it back, OR the missionaries straight up lied.
I'm confused by the ilium coin thing. How is that proving the location of Troy? I couldn't find any information about this. Is it not just a coin from later ancient tourists? I think the location of Troy is a bit more debatable than claimed.
The seeds thing is so interesting. Who knows, maybe God also instructed Noah to gather seeds to save them similarly to that seed vault in Europe, and the bible just leaves it out because Moses was a shepherd who was uninterested in horticulture.
I didn't really follow the author's reasoning here. Just because they Karina don't explicitly say they use the seeds for replanting doesn't mean that they didn't.
The Gilgamesh flood legend from Babylon is absolutely wild. It has so many of the same elements of the bible story, but they are completely inverted into a lie. Not just a lie, but a blasphemous one. The sacrifice to the false gods and not the high god, the rainbow being a reminder of the horrible events and not the promise, the wicked hero who lies to his neighbours rather than warning them, the devil figure (god of wisdom and subtlety) telling off the high god for the flood.
The 200 railway car thing doesn't seem to match the figures elsewhere (?). Might be an error.
I think the flood myth is not the only myth which extends across many cultures:
Dispersion/babel
Flood
Succession myths
Tollgates, Hades (wasn't aware this was widespread until Graham Hitchcock talked about it in an interview)
Reincarnation, oneness of reality (now I don't think these are true, but it's clearly a very old lie that must be defended against)
Ghosts & demons
Giants
Dragons
It would be nice if someone did an overview.
This book looks at a few different flood legends from vastly separated people groups and compares them. There are strikingly similar details in each story. The book focuses primarily on three versions: Hebrew, Hindu, and a south American people group (Karina). There are also some other flood stories considered, maybe ~10 others.
I have to say, I was hoping for a different book. I am more interested in a mega survey of flood legends, something like a table comparing different aspects of the stories. To be fair, some of the references do seem to be books like this, and I'm sure I could find such a table mainly because I vaguely remember seeing one before.
So, the audience of the book is not me. The book seems to be written for an extreme skeptic. Someone who is a liberal Christian who doesn't take genesis as more than moral poetry, or an extreme materialist Christian who has trouble believing in any of the spiritual, or someone who is an outright atheist. They would have to be intellectually honest enough to actually read the book though.
So because I am not the audience, I found a lot of the reasoning in the book unnecessarily convoluted. At points I even felt sorry for the author. Upon reading the section where he draws lines between facts and opinions, I was thinking, who are these woolly brained people you're associating with, bro?
Some of the theology was a bit suss e.g. righteous at heart vs. actions. I don't think that's the way to think of it lol, they were righteous including in their actions, they fell and did evil, they repented, they were righteous in their actions. Not gonna hark on because it's a tiny part of the book.
Overall, it makes a good case. The claim that the flood myths are local stories evolving separately from eg ice age flooding does not stand up to scrutiny.
"Perhaps, then, we choose not to believe because we have difficulty believing in anything pertaining to the supernatural."
Miscellany:
One thing I like is how they chose the three major versions, and discussed the source and translation. This is clearly done for the extreme skeptic, the intended audience of the book, so that he can't say, well you've made it up or mistranslated it to match the bible.
I do think the book could have focused a bit more on this, because one of the arguments I've seen used is that (apparently hundreds of times according to these people) Christian missionaries told the natives the flood story and then the natives repeated it back, OR the missionaries straight up lied.
I'm confused by the ilium coin thing. How is that proving the location of Troy? I couldn't find any information about this. Is it not just a coin from later ancient tourists? I think the location of Troy is a bit more debatable than claimed.
The seeds thing is so interesting. Who knows, maybe God also instructed Noah to gather seeds to save them similarly to that seed vault in Europe, and the bible just leaves it out because Moses was a shepherd who was uninterested in horticulture.
I didn't really follow the author's reasoning here. Just because they Karina don't explicitly say they use the seeds for replanting doesn't mean that they didn't.
The Gilgamesh flood legend from Babylon is absolutely wild. It has so many of the same elements of the bible story, but they are completely inverted into a lie. Not just a lie, but a blasphemous one. The sacrifice to the false gods and not the high god, the rainbow being a reminder of the horrible events and not the promise, the wicked hero who lies to his neighbours rather than warning them, the devil figure (god of wisdom and subtlety) telling off the high god for the flood.
The 200 railway car thing doesn't seem to match the figures elsewhere (?). Might be an error.
I think the flood myth is not the only myth which extends across many cultures:
Dispersion/babel
Flood
Succession myths
Tollgates, Hades (wasn't aware this was widespread until Graham Hitchcock talked about it in an interview)
Reincarnation, oneness of reality (now I don't think these are true, but it's clearly a very old lie that must be defended against)
Ghosts & demons
Giants
Dragons
It would be nice if someone did an overview.
July 17, 2025
Highly recommended! Worth pushing through to the end.
3/4 of this book reads like a postgraduate thesis, exploring academically that which should be an exciting and very real historic event.
Martin lays out his case well and adds some important insight along the way, especially explaining variations in the story as it expands across continents.
The book I expected to be reading started near the end—the author’s adaptation of global flood myths.
It was here that the book really took off for me! The retellings are exciting, written in language that allows the imagination to see the story as it plays out and understand the real world and mythological parallels to other versions along the way.
I bought this book for this last section only and would’ve not been disappointed if it was the only thing included.
That said, in retrospect, the thesis portion leading up to this truly allowed me to read through the source material with informed eyes and made that a far more rewarding experience!
3/4 of this book reads like a postgraduate thesis, exploring academically that which should be an exciting and very real historic event.
Martin lays out his case well and adds some important insight along the way, especially explaining variations in the story as it expands across continents.
The book I expected to be reading started near the end—the author’s adaptation of global flood myths.
It was here that the book really took off for me! The retellings are exciting, written in language that allows the imagination to see the story as it plays out and understand the real world and mythological parallels to other versions along the way.
I bought this book for this last section only and would’ve not been disappointed if it was the only thing included.
That said, in retrospect, the thesis portion leading up to this truly allowed me to read through the source material with informed eyes and made that a far more rewarding experience!
October 19, 2024
A Comparison of Flood Legends
The story of the Flood permeates nearly every culture of the world in some way, shape, or form. Some of the details may vary between the cultures, but the same basic plotline occurs in all of them: a god becomes angry and destroys the earth with a flood but preserves humanity by selecting a certain number of people to survive. In his very thorough and well-researched book, Flood Legends, Charles Martin examines those Flood stories. He believes, as do I, that the stories have their origins in the truth of Noah’s Flood as detailed in Genesis. He uses the children’s game “telephone” to illustrate how these legends spread from the truth. Martin clearly and effectively communicates his argument. If you want to learn more about Noah’s Flood and have your faith strengthened, Flood Legends is the book for you.
The story of the Flood permeates nearly every culture of the world in some way, shape, or form. Some of the details may vary between the cultures, but the same basic plotline occurs in all of them: a god becomes angry and destroys the earth with a flood but preserves humanity by selecting a certain number of people to survive. In his very thorough and well-researched book, Flood Legends, Charles Martin examines those Flood stories. He believes, as do I, that the stories have their origins in the truth of Noah’s Flood as detailed in Genesis. He uses the children’s game “telephone” to illustrate how these legends spread from the truth. Martin clearly and effectively communicates his argument. If you want to learn more about Noah’s Flood and have your faith strengthened, Flood Legends is the book for you.
February 3, 2025
I haven't read any of Martin's fiction, but I really enjoyed this fresh way of looking at the Flood. Most creationist books focus on the scientific evidence for a world-wide flood, but this book is more of a literary analysis of the various flood legends across different cultures and how their similarities point to a real event. I really liked his idea of "telephone mythology": that over time and distance, different aspects of a story (even a true one) often change, but the story closest in time/distance to the actual event is most likely to be true. I also liked that the three main stories he chose to focus on were from vastly different cultures.
Although this book most likely will appeal most to readers who already believe in a world-wide flood, hopefully other readers will read this with an open mind.
Although this book most likely will appeal most to readers who already believe in a world-wide flood, hopefully other readers will read this with an open mind.
September 29, 2022
Interesting; a little hard to follow. I enjoyed reading all the different legends at the end.
November 15, 2024
an absolutely fascinating read
May 12, 2017
Certainly gives one much to consider.
December 30, 2023
Martin is a favorite author, but this is my first foray into his nonfiction work. This book is well‐researched and uses a logical progression to argue the veracity of a global flood through the use of various flood stories from around the world. While dry in places (no pun intended), the actual legends themselves are fascinating. I knew there were some flood stories from other cultures, but I had no idea there were so many, nor that they had so many similarities.
February 22, 2017
This was a really thought provoking, interesting read! I enjoyed it.
August 8, 2012
Until reading this wonderfully informative book, I was aware of only a couple of Great Flood legends apart from that of "Noah, from the book of Genesis" in the "Torah". Believing that myths have some elements of truth to their story, I was struck by the similarities between Flood legends throughout the world & the Biblical account of Noah's worldwide deluge.
Basic ingredients to the accounts are that an angry god destroys all life on the earth, saving only a handful of people to enable repopulation. They are saved by a vessel, which carries them through flood waters for the duration of the catastrophe. I was convinced, studying legends from Africa, Australia, Babylon, British Columbia, Burma, China, Europe, Greece, India, Indonesia, New Guinea, North America, South America & the Mideast, that all were based on one actual event.
Having already read the books, "The World That Perished" by John C. Whitcomb & "The Genesis Flood" by John C. Whitcomb Jr., ThD. & Henry M. Morris, PhD., I was drawn to another book that would enlarge on the theme of a global catastrophe as recorded in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament.
Basic ingredients to the accounts are that an angry god destroys all life on the earth, saving only a handful of people to enable repopulation. They are saved by a vessel, which carries them through flood waters for the duration of the catastrophe. I was convinced, studying legends from Africa, Australia, Babylon, British Columbia, Burma, China, Europe, Greece, India, Indonesia, New Guinea, North America, South America & the Mideast, that all were based on one actual event.
Having already read the books, "The World That Perished" by John C. Whitcomb & "The Genesis Flood" by John C. Whitcomb Jr., ThD. & Henry M. Morris, PhD., I was drawn to another book that would enlarge on the theme of a global catastrophe as recorded in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament.
April 10, 2016
This is a short but good review of flood legends around the world. Specifically the author focuses on 3 legends. Eventually he reveals some other myths too. Long story short you start reviewing these stories from all over globe...(American Indians, South American tribes, Mesopotamia, India, China, Austraila ) by unconnected people groups you have to come to the conclusion that a great world wide deluge really happened, and few people survived. These myths and legends have way to much in common to be just a coincidence. Which one could wisely conclude that it was the account we see in Genesis 6-9. If anything this book will wet your appetite to do further research.
April 9, 2015
This was a fascinating look at some of the flood legends from different cultures around the world. While trying to present a more unbiased view, his Christian perspective does come sharply into play at times which made it feel a little imbalanced for what it felt like he was striving to achieve. However, it was quite interesting to see the similarities and differences of the legends and how they very well could be related and come from the same source. While he focused on 3 main texts in the book, in the appendix he included about 10 or so other legends to read through.
January 3, 2011
This book is a quick read, and is a light introduction rather than the detailed and unique analysis that the cover claims to be to the interesting subject of a near universal belief in a massive worldwide flood in distant history. Although the author does come from a clearly Christian background, the facts are allowed to speak for themselves. The most valuable part of this book are the appendices, and you should read them before you read much else in the book.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews