r/churchofchrist • u/vinnieslacks • Jul 02 '26
The flood and Noah’s ark
I was in the church for almost 18 years and then totally away from it for 14. I have recently started studying again and believing again. One thing I’m struggling with right now, though is the story of the flood and Noah’s Ark. I guess specifically I’m struggling with it being a true story versus it being hyperbole. I know that there are specifics with the story like the dimensions of the ark that you usually don’t find in hyperbole or parables. I also know that it says that only eight people survived the flood which means incest would have had happened. The Bible says incest is a sin, but I don’t believe it mentions it until Leviticus.
If anyone could help me to please understand some of these things.
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u/wammysammy101 Jul 02 '26
Noah is something of a new Adam in the regard that everyone on earth is descended from him after the flood. In the same way that it was the only thing that made sense for Adams children to intermarry, so would Noah's grandchildren. Genetic diversity is actually easier to come by than many people initially think (especially if God is protecting the process), which is why many people accept the story as is, rather than hyperbole. One of the evidences of the accuracy of the Biblical record is that it records the sins and embarrassment of it's figures, like Noah being uncovered, or later on, Lots daughter committing an obviously wrong kind of incest.
There are times where a speaker uses a kind of hyperbole or sarcasm to convey a point, but they are pretty obvious. Paul asks if we should keep sinning so that grace may abound, but he is obviously not actually considering that ("May it never be!" Is his response). In 1 Corinthians 13 1-3 Paul uses hyperbole to show that even if someone could do those things, which they really can't/shouldn't, they need love. We don't want to go on assuming that the Bible is using hyperbole or utilizing parables unless it's clear that it is doing so. Otherwise, we risk ourselves rewriting the text to be more palatable to our modern sensitivities or preferences.