1

. Isaac Newton Vail published many pamphlets on his canopy theory, starting with Waters Above the Firmament in 1874. Other titles included The Misread Record (also published under the title The Deluge and Its Cause), Eden’s Flaming Sword, Ring of Truth, The Heavens and Earth of Prehistoric Man, Canopy Skies of Ancient Man, A Glance at Comparative Mythology, Annular World Evolution, and others. Most of these titles have been republished by Donald L. Cyr, Waters above the Firmament (Santa Barbara, California: Stonehenge Viewpoint, 1988). In 1902, Vail also published a 400-page book titled The Earth’s Annular System. However, it was John C. Whitcomb Jr. and Henry M. Morris who popularized the canopy theory in The Genesis Flood (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1961).

2

. Joseph C. Dillow, The Waters Above (Chicago: Moody Press, 1981), p. 170.

3

. Vail claimed that after the canopy collapsed, the earth was no longer shielded from the Sun’s radiation, so life spans decreased. If so, someone, even after the time of Abraham, should have noticed that people living indoors or farther from the equator lived longer.

4

. Dillow, p. 170.

“It is commonly held that the pre-flood vapor canopy shielded the earth from cosmic radiation and also reduced surface ozone levels. These effects supposedly contributed to the longevity of the antediluvian patriarchs. However, radiation studies and research in molecular biology seems to rule this out. Even if the earth were 100 percent shielded from radiation and if ozone levels in the pre-flood world were zero, no appreciable improvement would have resulted.” Joseph C. Dillow, “The Canopy and Ancient Longevity,” Creation Research Society Quarterly, Vol. 15, June 1978, p. 27.

5

. Dillow, The Waters Above, p. 222.

6

. Doubling atmospheric pressure doubles the blood’s oxygen content. Doubling the blood’s oxygen content, by any means, can produce a disease called retrolental fibroplasia in unborn or premature children. An opaque membrane forms behind the lens of the eye, resulting in blindness. This also occurs in mice and other species.

Increased ambient pressure also results in excess carbon dioxide in the blood. Oxygen and nitrogen toxicities increase significantly. The problem is aggravated at high work levels and for the elderly and ill. [Personal communication with Daniel J. O’Rourke, M.D., 11 December 1994.]

7

. The Sun’s surface radiates at an effective temperature of 10,000°F, but occupies only a 10,000th of the sky’s area. A 220°F canopy, while not as hot, would radiate from the entire sky. Taking only these factors into consideration, a vapor canopy by itself would provide 60% as much heat as the Sun. Other complex factors might remove some of this heat.

8

. Genesis 1:14 says that the heavenly bodies were created “... for seasons, and for days and years.”  Therefore, the earth’s axis was tipped relative to the earth’s orbital plane, because only by being tipped can seasonal shifts in star patterns occur.

9

. Not addressed are canopy theories that provide no scientific details or data to support speculative claims.

10

. For example, two other ways to remove this heat might be to radiate it into outer space or to conduct it into the earth. Both processes are slow, removing relatively little heat in the short time available.

11

. Some have proposed that a huge, icy comet struck earth, causing a global flood and an ice age. Those proposals ignore this same heat problem. Actually, such a comet would have more kinetic energy than an ice or water canopy of equal mass. Therefore, the temperature increase would be greater.

12

. After 40 days and 40 nights, the “geshem rain” stopped (Genesis 7:12). However, the flood water rose until the 150th day, when it covered all preflood mountains (Genesis 7:19–24). After 40 days, the layer of water rising on earth blanketed and suppressed the jetting of the fountains of the great deep. Nevertheless, high-pressure subterranean water continued to gush out and add to the rising flood waters until the 150th day. On that day, the fountains were closed (Genesis 8:2) by the hydroplates settling onto the floor of the subterranean water chamber, pinching shut the outward-flowing water. [See pages 104–135 for the scientific details supporting this explanation.]

13

. “Numerical Climate Modeling at ICR,” Acts & Facts, April 1998, p. 2.

14

. Ancient extrabiblical writings, although not having the authority of biblical passages, also support the idea that earth was created with water under the crust.

The First Book of Adam and Eve states in verse 70:15 that “God ... established the earth upon the waters.” The Secrets of Enoch, another apocryphal book, also known as II Enoch, says in verse 47:5, “The Lord ... fixed the earth upon the waters.” [Rutherford H. Platt Jr., editor, The Forgotten Books of Eden (New York: World Publishing Co., 1927), pp. 50, 98.]

II Esdras, which was part of most Christians’ Old Testaments until the Reformation, retells the same creation story found in Genesis 1. However, in II Esdras 6:41–42 the second and third days are described differently by Ezra.

On the second day you created the angel of the firmament, and commanded him to make a dividing barrier between the waters, one part withdrawing upwards and the other remaining below. On the third day you ordered the waters to collect in a seventh part of the earth; the other six parts you made into dry land, ... [emphasis added]

In other words, the earth’s waters immediately after the creation were divided into two parts, perhaps equal parts. One part was below a barrier, and the other part was above. After the third creation day but before the flood, the earth’s seas covered only 1/7 of the earth’s surface. Therefore, the volume of surface water was probably much less than the volume of today’s surface water, which covers 70% of the earth.  So, considerable water would have been on the other side of the barrier—much more than any canopy could have held. However, subterranean chambers could have held that amount.

Most definitive is the word “barrier.” It hardly seems to describe the atmosphere, sky, heaven, or outer space. It aptly describes the earth’s crust that vertically divided the earth’s liquid water. II Esdras 16:58 reinforces this: “He has shut up the sea in the midst of the waters, and by His command He has hung the earth upon the water.”

A final, but intriguing, extrabiblical writing, The Book of the Cave of Treasures, is explained on page 371.

15

. Stanley V. Udd, “The Canopy and Genesis 1:6–8,” Creation Research Society Quarterly, Vol. 12, September 1975, pp. 90–93.

Dillow, p. 58.

16

. Udd, p. 91.

17

. Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, From Adam to Noah, translated by Israel Abrahams (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, 1961), p. 32.

18

. M. Rosenbaum and A. Silberman, Rashi Commentary on the Pentateuch, Vol. 1 (Jerusalem: Silberman Family, 1930), p. 4.

19

. Genesis 1:1 describes the first acts of creation on Day 1, and is not, as some have proposed, a topic sentence summarizing the entire creation week. The Hebrew conjunction—translated “and”—joining verses 1 and 2, shows a sequential action. (Similar connections—“and” and “then”—join all verses in chapter 1, tightly linking them all in time.) Obviously, the creation of time (“In the beginning”) and space (“the heavens”) must precede the creation of things such as earth, waters, and light.

20

. A few people claim that raqia is the universe, and the waters above the expanse (raqia) surround the universe. This places all the heavenly bodies in the expanse of the heavens, which is consistent with Genesis 1:14–17. [This was first proposed by Harold L. Armstrong, “The Expanding Universe and Creation,” Repossess the Land (Minneapolis: Bible Science Association, 1979), pp. 22–27. More recently, D. Russell Humphreys adopted this interpretation in his book Starlight and Time (Colorado Springs: Master Books, 1994), pp. 34–36, 58–77.]

Surrounding the universe with water assumes that the universe is finite, when its size may be infinite, or it may have an even more exotic geometry. Let us assume that the edge of the universe is only 10 billion light-years away, and absolutely nothing is outside it, even empty space. Surrounding the universe with as much water as the earth contains (1.43 x 10²⁴ grams), as just one example, would spread one gram over every 3 x 10²² square miles—or place adjacent water molecules one mile apart!

Pure water in the near vacuum of space would clearly be water vapor, not the liquid water the Bible describes above the expanse. What purpose would that water fulfill? Certainly, it would have played no role in the flood and could not be detected today. Why then mention it in the brief first chapter of Genesis?

21

. Pastor Diego Rodriguez first suggested this in a letter on 10 January 2005. Pastor Bob Enyart’s independent proposal was sent on 23 February 2005.

22

. Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004).

23

. Isaac Newton Vail, The Misread Record (Seattle: The Simplex Publishing Co., 1921), pp. 36, 37.