Animals on the Ark

Everyone, at least, nearly everyone, knows what Noah’s ark is. However, most would think of it as a childish, cute little boat with the heads of animals sticking out of the windows.

In reality, the boat would have been a monster of a thing, and there was certainly no cuteness about it.

(Image from Creation.com)

For one thing, can you imagine the noise of thousands of animals put together?  Just imagine the sound of feeding time at the zoo, and then multiply it by a thousand. Think of that ringing in your ears, all day long!  Not to mention the smell…and most likely, Noah and the other inhabitants of the boat would have got dreadfully seasick – and with all that work to do!

Pooper-scooper

As an animal lover and owner, I know that they make a lot of mess.  Of course, the thousands of animals on the ark would have made much, much more, and there were only eight people to look after them. It sounds rather daunting, but probably wasn’t to bad - after all, apart from work, there wasn’t much else to do!

It is thought that Noah could have made sloped floors on the pens, so that waste could slide down into a “gutter.” Then they could easily have flushed it away, or decomposed it.*

Erm, dinosaurs are huge.  How did THEY get on there, eh?

There’s a rather simple answer to this question.  The dinosaurs didn’t have to be fully-grown - they would only have had to take babies, or “teenagers” (juveniles).

The same goes for many animals, for instance, a young elephant would be a lot easier to look after that a fully-grown one, and it would eat a lot less!

(copyright Minden Pictures)

What about exercise?

Exercise isn’t really a problem – most animals don’t need any more exercise than their pen/cage would have allowed, and for those that did (such as horses) they could have had an exercise chamber to walk them up and down or some such thing.

I know the ark was huge, but there where SO many animals…how did they fit ‘em all?

Back then, there would be a lot less variety in the animals “kinds” (basically, animals that can interbreed).  For instance, in the equine family, there wouldn’t have been Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Clydesdales, Friesians etc., but only one horse kind.  Possibly donkeys and zebras came from their family as well.

A Przewalski's horse…the original created horse would have looked much like this.
(photo by http://morho.devianart.com)

Likewise, they didn’t have to take Yorkshire terriers, basset hounds, golden retrievers, beagles, sausage dogs and poodles – they would probably only had to take one dog kind, from which came dingoes, wolves, coyotes…you get the picture!

Foxes, Pomeranians and wolves- all dog kinds!
(wolf photo by http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/wolf/)


This quote puts the size of the ark into perspective: “[it] was the equivalent volume of 522 standard railroad stock cars, each of which can hold 240 sheep…the 16,000 animals would only occupy 1200 m3 (42,000 cubic feet) or 14.4 stock cars. …[All] the insect species would occupy a total volume of only 1000 m3, or another 12 cars.”**


Well, how did they feed them all?

As all the animals, including insects, would have only taken up 26.4 out of 522 railroad stock cars, there would have been plenty of room left over to store food! 

There have been questions as to how they fed carnivorous animals, such as tigers. Well, carnivorous animals can quite happily live on a vegetarian diet today, and back then it was a lot closer to creation.  A certain lioness was fed on pasta till she was several years old, and she was perfectly healthy. And many people all across the world feed their dogs on rice and vegetables.  As a matter of fact, I used to have a dog that I would often feed porridge. His coat shone with health.

What about air-breathing marine animals?

Marine animals such a whales and dolphins certainly couldn’t have come on the ark!  So how did they survive?

Most of them probably didn’t survive.  The turbulence of the water, upheavals of mud and such would have caused most of them to die.  But only two had to survive to carry on the species (a male and a female!), and I’m sure God took care of that.

*The Answers Book (Ham, K., Sarfati, J., Wieland, C., Triune Press: 1999) page 173 -174 

** ibid, page 172.

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pictures from Google images

Book Reviews (2)

The Journey of the Eldest Son

Written by J.G Fyson

A sequel to Three Brothers of Ur, The Journey of the Eldest Son follows the story of fourteen-year-old Shamashazir, who leaves his home in the city of Ur to travel with his cousin Serag.  Weighing heavily on Shamashazir’s conscience is the fact that his brother Haran had broken the sacred image of the family teraphim, and had then stuck it back together with porridge.  Shamashazir wondered what woes would befall his family.

But despite his troubles, Shamashazir is enjoying the journey, and all is going well.  Then one morning, disaster strikes when Shamashazir takes an early walk high in the cliffs by himself and disappears...

Thinking that his cousin is dead, Serag and his company continue on alone, Serag with a heart that is heavy not only for his cousin, but also because he does not know what Shamashazir’s father will do to him when he hears that his son is dead.  

But Shamashazir is not dead.  He was found by the tribe of Enoch, which had once been great, until most of them were killed in battle.  They taught him about the Great Spirit, who is more wonderful and more powerful than any other god.  Shamashazir soon became friends with these suspicious yet kind people, especially the animal-loving Sam, the hunter Eb and the Ishak* of the tribe, Enoch. However, he didn’t find it so easy to befriend the Ishak’s proud son, also named Enoch.  Enoch son of Enoch thought of Shamashazir as a heathen, and an enemy to the Great Spirit.  

But Shamashazir and the tribe of Enoch journey together, they begin to see more of the heart of the Great Spirit - his love and forgiveness, even towards the cursed tribe of Cain, the first murderer.   

My Thoughts:

The Journey of the Eldest Son was a very interesting and thought-provoking book.  Fyson has a gift for making history come alive - though the story was set around 4,000 years ago; somehow it feels like it could have happened yesterday.  A note at the end says that Shamashazir is actually the author’s name for Abraham.  The book is not based on real events, and some of it is a little sketchy as to biblical soundness, but overall I felt that Fyson has respect for God.

I give it four stars.

(google image)

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*Chief

Book Reviews (1)

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

Written by Maria Augusta Trapp

Maria was perhaps the worst behaved novice at Nonnberg Abbey.   

She slid down the banisters, whistled in the hall and was always late.   So when she was summoned to see the Abbess Mother, Maria expected that she was in trouble.  But she was not prepared for what came. The Abbess asked Maria to leave the Abbey for nine months as a tutor.  Her pupil was to be the daughter of a Baron, Captain Georg von Trapp.

Maria didn’t want to leave her beloved Abbey.  But the Abbess Mother insisted; so she summoned up all her courage and headed away to meet the Captain and his seven children.  

In the past, Captain von Trapp had been in the Austrian Navy as a submarine pilot.  He became quite famous because of his great skill and daring. He was even awarded the Empress Maria Theresia medal!*

When the Captain’s wife died, leaving him seven children, he left the Navy and settled down. His plentiful supply of money meant that he did not need to work.

*

When Maria met Captain von Trapp for the first time, she was surprised. He was not anything like she had imagined- tall and bearded and rough, since, after all, that is what sea captains look like.  But Georg could hardly be described as tall, and his kindly face was beardless.

Maria soon got to know all the Captain’s children, especially her new pupil.  The girl was so ill that she had to be confined to her room; and was therefore unable to attend school.

Maria was shocked to find that the children never sang.  So she taught them.
At night, around the fire, they would all sing together. The air was filled with Austrian folk songs, hymns, carols and many more beautiful songs. Eventually, Captain von Trapp joined them, and many a happy evening was spent gathered around the fire, Maria with her guitar and the children with their voices.  The children all grew to love Maria.  They were not the only ones.



When Maria had heard that George would, most likely, soon be engaged to a princess, she was overjoyed.  She knew the children needed a mother. And when the Captain went to visit  princess Yvonne (not for the first time),  everyone (especially Maria) supposed that this was “the” visit.  Then Georg sent Maria a letter, which mentioned “...I wish I could see your eyes when you read the announcement of my engagement.”  Maria was furious!  She sent back a fiery letter saying “My eyes are none of your business!”  

At the time the Captain received the letter, he was walking in the garden with princess Yvonne, and just on the verge of proposing.  But after he read the letter, he knew he could not marry Yvonne.  Captain von Trapp loved Maria.
Meanwhile, Maria was stricken with guilt at her hasty letter, and was wishing fervently that she had never sent it.

A few weeks past.  The Captain came home, and everyone was busy and happy.  Maria was happily unaware of George’s feelings towards her.  She was also unaware that the children had decided the two should marry. And since nothing was happening, the children devised a plan.  While Maria was distracted, they crept into their father’s office, and asked if he loved Maria.  He replied that yes, he did love her, but he doubted that the feeling was mutual.  So the naughty children went and demanded of the preoccupied Maria whether or not she liked the Captain. Naturally, Maria said that she did.  Back to the office rushed the children to tell their father that Maria said she did love him.

So when the Captain came out of his office and asked if what the children said was true, she was shocked!  Never had she suspected such a thing.  Without so much as a goodbye, she left for the Abbey.  Maria did not want to marry; she wanted to be a nun.  And yet...

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The story goes on to tell how Maria was convinced by the Abbess Mother to marry Captain von Trapp, and how they shared many wonderful, peaceful years together in Austria.  But their life changed forever when their bank went broke and the Captain lost all his money. It then took another turn when the Germans invaded Austria, and the von Trapp family had to flee to America.  There they began a new life, and also their family choir, the Trapp Family Singers.  Maria had three children of her own.  

My thoughts:

This book was a interesting and heartwarming autobiography.  Maria was a Catholic, and I could really sense her genuine love for God.  You can see Maria grow from a fun and mischief filled young woman into a wise and kind mother.  Three and a half stars.

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*This medal is only awarded if the recipient has shown extraordinary bravery at his own initiative, sometimes even against orders.

In case you were wondering...

There is a likely chance that you are thinking that I haven't done any schoolwork this year, since I haven't posted anything! :O.  But don't worry - I have!  I've just been having some formatting problems  with my posts (I don't know anything about html :| ).  It seems for some reason, there's a huuuuge gap between the writing and the photos (ideas anyone?). *Sigh.*  Oh well!  I am going to fuss around till I've fixed it, if it takes me all year! :P  In the meantime, I'll post the things that are doing what I tell them to...


Cheerio!
Big Sister xoxo

Monkeys or Men?

“I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially the extent to which it’s been applied, will be one of the great jokes in the history books of the future. Posterity will marvel that so very flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity that it has.”

– Malcolm Muggeridge, well-known British journalist and philosopher—Pascal Lectures, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. From the Revised Quote Book, containing 130 quotable quotes on creation/evolution by leading authorities. Published by Creation Science Foundation, Australia (no longer in print).

***

 

(google image)

The question of whether human beings evolved or were created by God is perhaps one of the most debated topics in the western world today.

Most would treat it as a matter of very little importance.  Yet, it is really the most important question of all.  There are some who believe that God instigated evolution, but this is inconceivable for a great many reasons.1

Yet history shows that the effects of evolutionary thinking are both damaging and detrimental to the actions of human beings.

People from History

When Darwin founded his theory of evolution, bad things started to happen.  People believed that African people (and other dark-skinned races) were the closest related to “ape-men” and treated them accordingly.  Also, people who were deformed were often used as circus “freaks,” and labeled as “the missing link between Africans and brute animals.”

Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer of Germany during WWII and the murderer of thousands of innocent Jewish people, and also many people with deformities and disabilities (such as Down’s Syndrome), was an evolutionist.  He used the excuse that his victims were not human, and believed that the “Aryans” were the purest race, and therefore the only ones who deserved to live.  An intelligent and determined man, he brainwashed his whole nation into believing him.

Joseph Stalin, a communist and also the murderer of thousands upon thousands of people, was also an evolutionist.  He decided to try to create a mindless killing machine that was half human and half ape.  He employed scientist Ilya Ivanov to carry out his plans.  Ivanov’s attempts at artificially inseminating apes did not succeed, and Stalin had him jailed and then exiled.  

Evolution has also been the cause of many of the great evils of today.  For some reason, babies are allowed to be killed five minutes before they’re born, but not five minutes after.  Life, we’ve decided, only begins after you leave the womb.  Another thing looming on the horizon is euthanasia. If we can put animals down, why not people?  I say it is because God is the only one who should decide when the precious life of a human comes to an end.  

Ooparts

The apparent “evidence” for evolution is full of holes.  When and archaeologist finds something that doesn’t make sense with the evolutionary theory, it’s called an “Oopart."2  Because it is believed that early man was ignorant and witless, when something is found that shows intelligence and ingenuity, it causes great perplexity.  

For instance, in 1902, a ship was found sunk off the Greek island Antikythera.  It contained an analog computing device that is believed to have been made between the years of 105BC and 100BC.  Other things, such as an electrical device (thought to be a spark plug!) and a battery considered to be 2,000 years old, have been found.

The importance of Christianity

The laws of our country are very important.  Without them, people would do whatever they wanted.  Imagine how terrible it would be, is if stealing and murder weren’t illegal!  Yet because we have laws, doing something wrong is risky.  We have policemen to keep everything under control. These laws have been critically important in the development of our thinking. But what are our laws based upon?  Animals have no law-systems or rules that govern how they behave.  The only rules in the animal world come by instinct.   

Well, if you go right back, you’ll find that the laws that have shaped the western world are based on the Ten Commandments.  Also, most would agree that things such as swearing, coveting, bad manners, rudeness and so forth are indecent.  What else, except for a conscience designed by God, could bring about such knowledge?  Everything that is good about our world: generosity, kindness, faithfulness, helping others and selflessness- all of them are based on Biblical truths.  

Conclusion.

Most people these days do not realize the importance of people’s beliefs.  But what you believe shapes who you are.

Spend some time thinking about what would happen if the laws of your country were neglected.  Imagine what life would be like!

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“The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the Oxford English dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.”

- Look What We Found, p. 103

Footnotes:   

 1. For instance, if Genesis is not meant literally, that puts the whole Bible into doubt.  Also, that would mean that we were not “made in God’s image,” but “intelligent” animals!

 2. Out of Place Artifact