How Stress and Diet Cause Heart Attacks

LiveScience for June 13, 2008 reported on the effect of stress and diet on heart attacks.

Heart attacks occur when a clogged artery blocks blood flow to a part of the heart, starving it of oxygen and causing part of the muscle to die and beat irregularly. Arteries don't clog overnight. Rather, plaque accumulates in them over years as a result, in part, of a diet high in cholesterol. High cholesterol foods include all animal products, including meat and dairy. Part two of the process happens when the plaque in arteries cracks or tears (due to stress), and the body's platelets rally to the location to repair it. That can cause a clot that ironically finishes blocking the artery, causing the heart attack.

Did a Tsunami Wipe Out a Cradle of Western Civilization?

Discover, for January 4, 2008, reported on destruction that "brought down the Minoans, the remarkable Bronze Age civilization that played a central role in the development of Western culture?"

The terrifying scale of the Thera eruption, followed by the devastating force of the giant tsunami it created, may have led to a gradual unraveling of the values and beliefs that had sustained this brilliant civilization for so long.

The Truth Behind Noah's Flood

A report at pbs.org of Bob Ballard's attempts to determine if an ancient flood that is believed to have occurred in the Black Sea was observed by human inhabitants of the area. I couldn't find a date for the report, but it was written after the year 2000. There is a link to online video about the report.

Inspired by Ryan and Pitman's work, Bob Ballard and an international team of specialized scientists and engineers took a small fleet of ships and remotely operated vehicles (ROV's) into the Black Sea seeking evidence of human habitation before the flood.

Here is the National Geographic story on Ballard's expedition.

Noah's Flood Hypothesis May Not Hold Water

As reported in Science News for June 17, 2002, one researcher believes flooding in the Black Sea occurred gradually and was not a great deluge.

Abrajano cites evidence of a much more gradual rising of the Black Sea that began to occur 10,000 years ago and continued for 2,000 years.

“Noah’s Flood” Spread Farming, Researchers Say

Under a date of November 19, 2007, World Science reported that a flood in the Black Sea that is believed to have occurred about 7,500 years ago may have caused mass migrations of people throughout Europe, causing the farming skills of the people to spread into areas of Europe that were primarily occupied by hunter-gathers.

“Ar­chae­o­log­i­cal ev­i­dence shows that com­mun­i­ties in south­east Eu­rope were al­ready prac­tis­ing early farm­ing tech­niques and pot­tery pro­duc­tion be­fore the Flood. With the cat­a­stroph­ic rise in wa­ter lev­els it ap­pears they moved west, tak­ing their cul­ture in­to ar­eas in­hab­it­ed by hunter-gatherer com­mun­i­ties” across Eu­rope.

Two Contemporary Articles About the Flood

Noah's Flood: Modern Scholarship And Mormon Traditions, Duane E. Jeffery, a professor of integrative biology at Brigham Young University.

On Balancing Faith in Mormonism with Traditional Biblical Stories: The Noachian Flood Story, Clayton M. White and Mark D. Thomas, as linked in Dave's Mormon Inquery blog for October 10. Dave gives links to discussions and rebuttals of the article.

Parallel: The Great Flood

The parallels between the Biblical story of the flood and cultural stories of floods are interesting, as are the attempts of scientists to find a natural explanation for the flood.

In this post, I will discuss the scriptural verses that concern the flood to see if those verses teach a planet-wide flood. I will then give my reasons for thinking the flood was either a great miracle or was a local flood.

The scriptures do not teach a planet-wide flood

The verses in Genesis do not say the flood covered the whole planet. It is the destruction that is described as being planet-wide. For example, consider the following.

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and everything that is in the earth shall die. (Genesis 6:17)

That verse states that (a) God would create a flood, and (b) all flesh on the earth would die. Some people, who believe in a world-wide flood, say the flood caused the destruction of all life. Other people, who believe in a local flood, say the flood didn't cause the destruction, but the process used by God to cause the flood also caused the destruction. I'm in this latter group. As explained below, I'm posting information about the impact of large asteroids, because scientists say that such impacts could cause a local flood and also destroy all life on the earth.

Genesis 7:19 does state that "the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.", but I believe that verse does not imply a planet-wide flood, only that the hills in the vicinity of the flood were covered. The phrase "that were under the whole heaven" is like the phrase in the scriptures about "the four corners of the earth". Both phrases are not accurate descriptions of the physical world. They are symbolic phrases. The phrase about all the high hills, that were "under the whole heaven" refers to all the hills that were in the area of the flood. There are a few other verses of scripture that refer to the flood, but those verses just refer to a flood with nothing implied about the extent of the flood.

In the Book of Mormon, there is a reference to the flood that needs explanation. Ether 13:2 states "that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands". To understand that verse, we need to understand that Latter-day Saints believe that Adam and Eve lived on the North American continent not in the Mediterranean area. This implies that Noah also lived in the American continents. The phrase in Ether 13:2 "after the waters had receded from off the face of this land" refers to the American continents, the same land where Noah lived. Thus, the statement in Ether 13:2 does not, I believe, imply a planet-wide flood that reached from the Mediterranean area to the American continent.

An awfully lot of water would be needed to cover the whole planet

A simple model of the amount of water needed to cover the planet can be obtained if we assume the earth is a sphere with a radius of 4,000 miles. We can calculate the volume of that sphere. Then we can calculate the volume of a new sphere with a radius of 4,00x miles, where x is the elevation of the ark after it came to rest. The difference of the two volumes will give us the amount of water needed. The highest peak on the earth is Mt. Everest at an elevation of 29,035 feet. That elevation is not quite 6 miles. To simplify my calculations I assumed the water was 6 miles deep.

After performing the calculations described above, I learned that over a billion cubic miles of water would be needed to cover the planet to a depth of 6 miles. Because Everest is slightly less than 6 miles high, I'm using a figure of one billion cubic miles of water, a simple number that is easy to use in discussions. That is a lot of water. That is a lot more water than is contained in all the earth's oceans. It is hard for me to believe that that amount of water could accumulate in a storm lasting only 40 days. That accumulation of water would have to average 725 feet per day over the 40 days. That is 725 feet per day everywhere, not just in a canyon where runoff might accumulate. In addition, Genesis 8:3 states that the water was abated after 150 days, and that about 5 or 6 months later, Noah and his family left the ark. It is hard for me to believe that water almost 6 miles deep could evaporate or soak into the earth that fast. To me, the story of a literal flood covering the whole earth is very implausible. Because of that, I believe the flood was a local flood.

If the flood were planet-wide, the flood would have left great scars all over the planet. Some people say the Grand Canyon was caused by the flood. However, scientific dating of the Grand Canyon places the erosion that caused the canyon at a much earlier time than the time of Noah. In addition, if the flood were responsible for the erosion, there should be Grand Canyons all over the planet. The fact that there is only one Grand Canyon indicates that the forces that caused the erosion were not planet-wide.

The ark was too small to hold mating pairs of all the animals and birds

Now, let's look at size of the ark. To the people living in Noah's time, the ark probably seemed very large, but to us the ark was a small ship. For example, the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier is 1,092 feet long compared to the ark's length of approximately 450 feet. Unless God performed a great miracle, there is no way that a small ship such as the ark could hold mating pairs of all the animals and birds that were alive on the planet at the time of Noah. In addition, the ark would have to hold all of the food needed by Noah's family and the animals and birds.

I believe that God could perform a miracle, such as miniaturizing the animals and birds and putting them all in a state of hibernation for almost a year, but the Bible gives no hint that such a miracle was part of the flood-story, and I know of no pronouncement by a Church President that the flood was a miracle that superseded natural laws. I believe a regional flood is a better interpretation of the flood story. Until the President of the Church declares that the flood was a miracle, I will continue to believe the flood was local but the destruction was universal.

The impact of a large asteroid could satisfy the scriptural requirements for the flood

My post just before this post gave evidence that an impact by an asteroid 3 miles across could cause sufficient damage to destroy most of humanity (see my previous post about an asteroid). Thus the impact of a larger asteroid could destroy all of the people. If that impact were in water, a large flood, albeit a local flood, would be created. Thus, such an impact would satisfy the requirements of the story of the flood: a flood and destruction of all the people.

How did Noah get from the American continents to the Mediterranean area?

The hypothesis that I am presenting in this post stipulates that Noah lived in the American continents and that the flood was a regional flood. That flood could have been sufficient to float the ark to the Atlantic ocean and then to the Mediterranean area. But, some will say, "People in that early era did not travel by boat, and it is unlikely Noah's ark would have made it to the mid-east." Not so, according to the web site of the University of Calgary. Some scholars claim that early people came to America via ship, and other scholars say it was via a combination of seagoing and land-based travel. This was 25,000 to 15,000 years ago. It thus seems feasible that transoceanic voyages were used in the time of Noah.

How about our General Authorities who teach a planet-wide flood?

Some people will say, in response to my view, "What about our LDS leaders, whom we believe are Apostles and Prophets of the Lord. Why would these inspired men continue to propagate an incorrect view of the story of the flood?" My response is that the Lord doesn't reveal all knowledge to his prophets. He reveals that which we need to know for our salvation. As one of our General Authorities said (I don't remember who said it), "We focus on salvation and leave science to the scientists" (my wording). Our General Authorities do not claim to be infallible in their knowledge of how God deals with mankind, and I don't believe they are infallible. There are many things about our physical world that our General Authorities do not understand, and they are leaving that paradigm to the scientists. They enter their ministry as apostles and prophets with biases and misconceptions given them by society, and I believe the concept of a universal flood is such a bias.

The real importance of the story of the flood

The important thing about the story of the flood is its message of faith and of obedience to God. It is not important for us to know exactly how the flood occurred. I've brought it up in this blog, since there are parallels between the scriptures and science on this matter. Someday we'll know exactly what happened during the time of Noah, but for now we need to focus on our relationship to God and His Son, Jesus Christ, on having the Holy Ghost with us daily, on keeping God's commandments, and on service to others.

Did a Comet Cause the Great Flood?

The November 2007 issue of Discover has an interesting article giving a hypothesis about the cause of the Biblical flood. The article is titled Did a Comet Cause the Great Flood? and starts on page 66.

The hypothesis is from Bruce Masse, an environmental archaeologist at the Los alamos National Laboratory. Masse believes that a massive comet, 3 miles wide, crashed into the Indian ocean and caused great destruction that wiped out much of the life on earth.

The ensuing cataclysm sent a series of 600-foot-high tsunamis crashing against the world's coastlines and injected plumes of superheated water vapor and aerosol particulates into the atmosphere. Within hours, the infusion of heat and moisture blasted its way into jet streams and spawned super hurricanes that pummeled the other side of the planet. For about a week, material ejected into the atmosphere plunged the world into darkness. All told, up to 80 percent of the world's population may have perished, making it the single most lethal event in history.

Masse believes that myths that exist in many cultures about massive floods may have come from this event. In addition, researchers have identified many "chevrons", large wedge-shapped sandy structures that are caused by massive waves. These chevrons were along the shore lines and inland in Asia and Africa. "The shape and size of these chevrons suggest that they might have been formed by waves emanating from the impact of a comet slamming into the deep ocean off Madagascar." (p.67) Many of the chevrons contained melted microfossels from the ocean floor. It should be mentioned that not all scientists agree with Masse.

The Black Sea Hypothesis

In 1998, two geologists from Columbia University, William Ryan and Walter Pitman, published a book titled, Noah’s Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries about the Event that Changed History, in which they gave evidence that a massive flood of the Black Sea and subsequent dispersion of civilization occurred about 5600 BC. The cause of the flood was water from melting icecaps as the climate became warmer at the end of the ice age. Ryan and Pitman speculated that this flood might have been the basis for the Biblical flood story. Duane E. Jeffery, in his article, Noah's Flood: Modern Scholarship And Mormon Traditions, gives a detailed review of the hypothesis from Ryan and Pitman.

Myths Of a Great Deluge

The Hebrews are not the only culture to have a story about God sending a great flood to destroy civilization. Stories of great floods sent by God have existed in many cultures, including the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Hindus, and the Chinese.

Because of these myths in so many cultures, many scientists consider the Noah story as just a myth from the Hebrews. This article from Wikipedia reviews some of the myths.

Mormon Belief: The Great Flood

The Bible describes a great flood that occurred during the time of Noah. The Lord declared that

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven: and every thing that is in the earth shall die (Genesis 6:17).

Noah was commanded to build an ark that was approximately 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high (Genesis 6:15). Noah was told to bring into the ark all animals and fowls (Genesis 6:19-20, 7:2-3).

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth: and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven were covered.

Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

All in whose nostrils was the breath of life , of all that was in the dry land, died.

And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven: and they were destroyed from the earth and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

And the waters prevailed upon the earth and hundred and fifty days. (Genesis 7:17, 19-24)

The story of Noah and the flood is a basic part of Christianity and thus of Mormonism. It is an interesting story, but a confusing story, and not all Latter-day Saints have the same interpretation of it. Most LDS that I have talked with take the story literally, that the whole planet was covered with a flood, and that Noah literally took mating pairs of all the animals and birds on the planet into the ark. Some LDS accept the story as being real but think the flood was a regional flood and didn't cover the whole earth, and that Noah took mating pairs of the animals and birds that were common to his area. Other LDS think the story is an allegory to teach the moral principles of faith and obedience to God.

The Lord through latter-day revelation, as recorded in the Doctrine & Covenants, refers to Noah as a real person, and I accept him as such. However, I have a problem with accepting the story of the flood literally. My personal belief is that the story as recorded in Genesis was a regional flood rather than a global flood. My reasons for having this belief will be given in my post that draws a parallel between the scriptural story of the flood and cultural and scientific reasoning.