Below is the online edition of In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood,
by Dr. Walt Brown.
Copyright © Center for Scientific Creation. All rights reserved.
Click here to order the hardbound 8th edition (2008) and other material.
What Triggered the Flood?
Man’s sin caused the flood.1 At the end of the creation week, all that God created was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), so the flood was not inevitable at that time. In other words, the earth was not created with a “ticking time bomb”—a bad condition. Nor was the universe created with killer comets, asteroids, or meteoroids aimed at earth. Their presence at the end of the creation week also would not have been “very good.”
Indeed, most natural disasters are a consequence of the flood: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, storms (tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, etc.), lightning strikes, local floods, droughts, landslides, global impacts by comets, asteroids, and meteorites, and mutations and other cellular damage caused by radioactive decay. [Pages 278–333 explain how the flood produced comets, asteroids, and meteorites. Pages 337–383 address the origin of earth’s radioactivity. The index will help you locate other explanations showing the connection of these natural disasters to the flood.]
Because of the depth of man’s sin (Genesis 6:5–6), God destroyed the earth with a flood. We may never know with certainty what physical chain of events initiated the flood, but the Bible gives some intriguing clues.
The hydroplate theory, summarized on pages 110–142, shows how a global flood, corresponding in every detail to the Genesis flood, easily explains 25 otherwise mysterious features of the earth and solar system. This theory requires (1) a large volume of water under the earth’s crust, and (2) pillars that partially supported the crust. The Bible speaks in several places of considerable subterranean water (see page 427), but how and when did the pillars form?
Rock Movement. First, visualize an important feature of the newly created, preflood earth. Imagine the entire earth’s surface covered by a sandwich arrangement in which a horizontal layer of rock (which will become the earth’s crust) has a layer of water above and below it. The rock layer is almost 10 miles thick; each water layer is about 3/4 mile thick.2 The water above this rock layer is surface water; the confined water below is subterranean water. If the rock layer were perfectly uniform in thickness and density, everything would be in balance. Equilibrium would exist.
No doubt variations existed in the rock’s thickness and density. The heavier parts would sag (bend) downward, like an overloaded floor, causing additional surface water to flow into each depression. That added weight would increase each sag. More surface water would flow into the growing depressions, driving each sag even deeper.3
Some sagging rock would also be squeezed downward through the subterranean water, forming protrusions—or “pillars”—pressed against the chamber floor. This is because the pressure within the rock at the base of the rock layer’s thicker, denser portions would exceed the subterranean water’s pressure pushing upward. If that pressure difference exceeded the rock’s shear strength at any point, rock would “flow” downward, deforming like putty. (Compression tests on cylinders of rock subjected to high confining pressures, but larger axial loads, show that the rock cylinders deform like putty.)
Downward protrusions (pillars) would grow like the downward flow in a lava lamp, except that the rock, being a solid instead of a liquid, had internal strength due to atomic bonding. The deeper the pillars went, the greater this pressure difference would become, so rock would “flow” even deeper until all pillars pressed against the chamber floor. Pillars carrying an excessive load would thicken and penetrate slightly into the chamber floor.
Because the confined subterranean water had essentially a fixed volume, the thinner, less-dense portions of the crust would have risen out of the water, forming continents. Therefore, as rock sagged downward and as pillars were squeezed downward, this fixed volume of subterranean water forced the thinner parts of the crust upward.
If, on Day 2 of the creation week, our “sandwich” encircled the earth like the outer three rings of an onion, water would cover the entire earth. In the following hours, the thinner portions of the crust would rise out of the surface water and become dry land. Water would drain into depressions. This seems to be what happened on Day 3 (Genesis 1:9–10). Water covered the entire earth, then “God said, ‘Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear’; and it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas;” [Pages 442–450 further support this interpretation of Day 2.]
Genesis 1:9 says that the waters below the heavens were gathered into one place (i.e., one big ocean). Why, then, in the next verse did God call the collected waters “seas”—plural? Answer: Multiple seas were honeycombed below the crust. The Interpreter’s Bible explains:
“Seas” embraces more than the waters upon the face of the earth; it includes also the (supposed) subterranean waters upon which the earth was believed to rest ... and the circumfluent ocean, upon which the pillars of the firmament stood.4
Psalm 24:2a specifically states that God “founded it [the earth] upon the seas.”
Interestingly, Day 2 was the only creation day in which the Bible does not expressly say God saw that day’s work was “good.” Certainly, nothing bad was done on the second day, because at the end of the creation week, God saw that all He had made was “very good.” Apparently, the second day’s activity—the creation of the earth’s crust (the raqia) with liquid water above and below, the lifting of continents, and the establishment of pillars—was not completed until Day 3.
Now we can see why. On Day 2, immediately after the crust was created with liquid water above and below it, the crust had to deform. Heavier portions sagged and squeezed down pillars, while lighter portions rose out of the water. On Day 3, after the pillar structure had been established (the foundations of the earth were laid), God stated in Genesis 1:10 that “it was good.” Later on Day 3, after vegetation was created, God made a similar statement. Thus, Day 3 was the only creation day in which two “it was good” pronouncements were made.
Psalm 104:3, in describing Day 2,5 states (with my interpretations in brackets), “He lays the beams [pillars] of His upper chambers [the crust] in the [subterranean] waters.” By Day 3, surface water had drained into depressions, forming dry land—a “good” condition (Genesis 1:10) necessary for the life God would create next.
Peter also seems to describe these events in II Peter 3:3–6. He states that in the latter days mockers will not understand that, “the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.”
This is consistent with the following interpretation: On Day 2, a nearly horizontal crust, or “expanse,” was formed in the midst of the liquid water covering the earth (Genesis 1:2,6,7,9). On Day 3, lighter portions of the crust rose out of the water, causing water above the rising crust to flow into depressions (Genesis 1:10). In other words, the earth (its crust) was formed out of (rose out of) surface water and was formed by pressure from subterranean water. Some might incorrectly think “forming the earth out of water” implies alchemy; that is, water (H2O) was changed into SiO2, (Mg,Fe)2SiO4, and a host of other minerals that comprise rock. (Even if alchemy occurred, one would not say rock formed by water.) Actually, “out of” is used in a spatial sense. The King James Version clearly conveys this idea of the land rising out of water: “... the earth standing out of the water ... .”
An ancient writing, ascribed to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus (A.D. 80–118), vividly described these events as follows:
Until the third day of creation, the earth was level as a plain and water covered the whole earth. When God said [Genesis 1:9], “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered,” the mountains and hills arose and other parts became depressions. The waters filled these depressions and they were called seas.
With remarkable insight a few lines later, he states that “the earth is spread upon the water just like a ship which floats in the midst of the sea.”6
About 2,000 years later,7 the water below the crust burst forth as “the fountains of the great deep,” combined with the surface water, and, as Peter wrote, flooded and destroyed earth in a global cataclysm. The Greek word katakluzo, from which we get our word “cataclysm,” is translated as “flooded” in II Peter 3:6. In describing Noah’s flood, the Bible never uses the normal Greek or Hebrew words for flood. Noah’s flood was much more; it was an unparalleled, global cataclysm—earth’s defining geological event.
The complex Hebrew word raqia is usually translated in modern times as “expanse” or “firmament.” Pages 442–450 explain why raqia is sometimes identified with “heavens” but in other contexts refers to earth’s preflood crust.
Rock Pillars. Pressure from the compressed subterranean water supported most of the crust’s weight; pillars supported the rest. Every 12 hours, tidal effects, caused primarily by the Moon’s gravity, lifted the subsurface water (and, therefore, the earth’s crust), just as tides lift ocean surfaces today. At low tides, the crust settled. The pressure each pillar exerted on the chamber floor increased and decreased twice daily. These loose, or flexible, contacts could be described as “sockets.” Smaller tides also occur in the solid earth. [See Endnote 5 on page 498.]
The Bible says the earth was founded on pillars. Psalm 75:3b says, “It is I [God] Who have firmly set its [the earth’s] pillars.” In Job 38, God demonstrates His authority by giving Job the most difficult science examination of all time. In verses 4–6, God asks Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, ... On what were its bases sunk?” This word, “bases,” is translated in all 54 other places in the Bible as “pedestals” or “sockets” which held pillars.
Two verses later, in Job 38:8–11, God seems to speak of a confined sea of water that burst forth. Then a dark cloud of water vapor apparently enveloped the exploding sea.
Or who enclosed the sea with doors, when, bursting forth, it went out from the womb, when I made a cloud its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band, and I placed boundaries on it, and set a bolt and doors, and I said, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop.
Ancient extrabiblical writings, although not having the authority of biblical passages, also describe this pillar structure within the subterranean water. As one example, the British Museum’s The Book of the Cave of Treasures, dated at about A.D. 300–599, states:
And on the Third Day God commanded the waters that were below the firmament to be gathered together in one place, and the dry land to appear. And when the covering of water had been rolled up from the face of the earth, the earth showed itself to be in an unsettled and unstable state, that is to say, it was of a damp or moist and yielding nature. And the waters were gathered together into seas that were under the earth and within it, and upon it. And God made the earth from below, corridors and shafts, and channels for the passage of the waters; ... Now, as for the earth, the lower part of it is like unto a thick sponge, for it resteth on the waters.8 [emphasis added]
The Bible often speaks of “the foundation(s) of the earth.” On Day 3, the earth’s crust was literally established, or set (using pillars), on its foundation. Had this not happened, the crust would have continually tottered (or undulated, like the surface of an earth-size water bed). Perhaps this is why the psalmist wrote, “He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter forever and ever.” (Psalm 104:5) Only by understanding some basic physics and the role of subterranean water, will these matters—and the global flood—be clear.
“On the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open.” (Genesis 7:11) On one day, the crust ruptured and the flood began. Water from the fountains fell as rain. Subterranean water flowed with unimaginable force horizontally through the subterranean chambers and up through the globe-encircling rupture. Pillars were crushed by the increasing crustal loads they carried. Each pillar’s collapse produced huge waves in the surface water and pressure pulses in the subterranean water. Rock fragments from the crushed pillars, accelerated into space by astounding energy sources in the fountains of the great deep, became meteoroids.9 Thus, the pillars, or foundations of the world, collapsed. This may be what Psalm 18:15 refers to when it says, “Then the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare.”
Rupture Mechanism: Tidal Pumping. But why did the pressure in the subterranean water increase enough to rupture the crust? Tides and heat. Each tidal cycle, driven by the Sun’s and Moon’s gravity, stretched and compressed the pillars.10 This cyclic compression—tidal pumping—twice a day for almost 2,000 years, heated and expanded the pillars and subterranean water, steadily increasing the pressure in the chamber. [See page 120 and pages 506–507.]
As temperatures rose throughout the chamber, the water became supercritical water (see page 120), and the pillars and the crust weakened. Failure of the first few pillars increased the load on the remaining pillars, so all pillars soon collapsed, much like a falling house of cards. Consequently, pressures within the chamber fluctuated wildly.
How hot might the high-pressure water have become? Question 5 on page 314 explains why some meteorites reached temperatures of at least 1,300°F. Some minerals in other meteorites were even hotter,11 a fact that perplexes meteorite experts, because meteorites came from supercold outer space, where temperatures are almost absolute zero (-460°F). This heating was not due to impacts or falling through earth’s atmosphere, because the heating occurred not just on meteorite surfaces, but throughout meteorites. Because meteorites came from pillars, as explained on pages 312–333, pillars and the subterranean water exceeded 1,300°F.
Sinking Continents. Since the lighter (and higher) portions of the crust were supported entirely by subterranean water, primarily the continents and preflood mountains sank as the supercritical water escaped during the flood phase. Therefore, the flooded earth resulted as much from sinking continents as from rising water.
Genesis 7:20 says that the flood waters covered all preflood mountains by 15 cubits (about 22 1/2 feet). Today, mountain heights vary by thousands of feet, so why did many, if not all, preflood mountains have about the same elevation? (Some commentators, adding words not in the Bible, say that “at least” 15 cubits of water were above all the earth’s mountains. Others say that the text means the Ark, whose height was 30 cubits, must have been only half submerged and did not run into mountain peaks.) The explanation becomes clear if we recognize that: (a) today’s mountains were formed by completely different mechanisms than those on the preflood earth, and (b) the earth was founded on and spread out above liquid water (Psalms 24:2, 104:3, and 136:6). Here’s why the flood waters covered the preflood mountains by 15 cubits:
On Day 3 of the creation week, the higher a continent rose out of the surface water, the more pressure it exerted on the subterranean water directly below. To demonstrate this buoyancy effect, support a large rock under water with one hand. Notice how the pressure on your hand increases as you slowly lift the rock out of the water. Therefore, as the land rose higher, it would have risen more slowly, giving preflood mountains similar heights.
About 2,000 years later, as the flood waters rose and continents sank, this same buoyancy effect caused preflood mountains not yet covered by water to exert greater pressure on the water still under the crust. This reduced their height and lifted lower mountains, further equalizing mountain heights above the rising water—just as Genesis 7:20 states.
As the flood progressed, pillars were increasingly crushed, so more and more of the crust rested on the subterranean chamber floor, slowing the water’s escape. The vertical walls on each side of the rupture were almost 10 miles high. Because the rock’s pressure in the bottom half of each wall exceeded its crushing strength, the unsupported, unconfined walls continually crumbled—for 150 days (Genesis 7:24). During that time, the high-velocity fountains of the great deep removed that rubble, widening the rupture hundreds of miles.
Mass deep in the mantle shifted slowly toward these relatively unloaded portions of the chamber floor. Suddenly, the chamber floor buckled upward beneath the widened rupture, first forming the Mid-Atlantic portion of the Mid-Oceanic Ridge. The crust slid downhill on lubricating water, away from the rising Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Sliding continental plates—hydroplates—eventually crashed and compressed in the “compression event.”
Weaker portions of the hydroplates crushed, thickened, and buckled. In doing so, the new, postflood continents rose out of the flood waters, allowing water to drain into newly opened—and temporarily very deep—ocean basins. Buckled mountains also formed, as shown in Figure 50 on page 113. For each cubic mile of land that rose out of the flood waters, one cubic mile of flood water could drain. (Note: Today, the volume of all land above sea level is only one-tenth of the volume of all water on earth.) Other dramatic consequences in the Pacific, including formation of huge ocean trenches, are discussed on pages 148–180.
Sliding rock-on-rock contacts quickly became molten rock-water mixtures. This is why magma contains a surprising amount of dissolved water, why a thin saltwater layer appears to be under portions of all continents at the depth predicted by the hydroplate theory,12 and why a thick, water-laden layer appears to be under the Tibetan Plateau.13
Conclusions. Sometime after the Fall but before the flood, a chain of physical events began that produced a global flood.1 Although we cannot be sure exactly how it began, that cataclysm had many consequences: layered fossils; coal, oil, and methane deposits; major mountain ranges; the Ice Age; and dozens of other global features. Our challenge is to explain their details in the simplest, most internally consistent way that adheres to the laws of physics. If that explanation happens to conform to the biblical account, that is no reason to reject the explanation. Recognizing that a large volume of water was trapped under earth’s crust and understanding the second creation day clarify the flood considerably and explain many major issues that befuddle evolutionists.
For centuries, hundreds of sincere questions about the flood have been asked; they deserve thoughtful, accurate answers. Without clear explanations, a “vacuum” has existed into which evolutionists have placed faulty theories. If we simply tell others (especially nonbelievers) to believe the Bible, we create unnecessary resentment because the questions remain, faulty explanations continue to be universally taught, and we unnecessarily appear somewhat self-righteous.
Day 2—a key to explaining the flood—has been poorly understood. As Peter wrote, people would not understand that earth’s crust was formed out of water and by water that later flooded the earth. This proposed interpretation of Day 2 helps us appreciate the presence of so much subterranean water, the power of “the fountains of the great deep,” why they all erupted so quickly (on one day), and where the flood waters came from and where they went. Had the flood been better understood before Charles Darwin popularized evolution, that “idea vacuum” would never have formed, and many more people would have recognized that evolutionary explanations are ridiculous. Evolution would not have flourished. Our task, then, is to fill this “vacuum” by explaining to others what we now know about the flood.