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The authors of the Old Testament told very few “stories” for a story’s sake. Scriptural accounts were meant to illustrate a point usually having to do with Israel’s relationship to God. Authors carefully chose how they presented their messages, often fashioning the way they presented history in order to emphasize continuing themes. Those looking at the Bible as a strictly scientific, literally precise, and historically exact record often become frustrated when they come to stories that don’t fit in well with what is known from secular studies.
One of the accounts that falls into this category is that of Noah and the Flood. Many theories abound as to interpretation, but few hold water when evaluated scientifically, literally, or historically. Instead of concentrating on the discrepancies between secular theories and traditional interpretations, warns retired BYU Professor Paul Hoskisson, readers would get further by concentrating on looking for what is being taught. The literal meaning and the metaphorical meaning are not “either/or” propositions and both are important. However, if one gets hung up on the literal meaning, one can rarely get to the ultimate meaning.
Joseph Smith never commented on interpretations of the Flood in the Bible, but an editorial in a church magazine while W. W. Phelps was editor reflected the common Protestant view of the time. The Flood was seen as a baptism of the earth. But Protestants, it should be noted, see baptism differently than Mormons view baptism. In the LDS Church, baptism is seen as a necessary ordinance for exaltation and includes immersion whereas a Protestant is more likely to view it as a general cleansing carried out in various manners.
By the turn of the century, Elder Orson F. Whitney began writing and speaking about the Flood as a baptism in the sense of a necessary ordinance the earth needed despite its lack of ability to make decisions. This thought has persisted and been debated in LDS circles since that time.
Join Laura Harris Hales of the LDS Perspectives Podcast as she discusses with Paul Hoskisson some of the possible meanings of the Flood story and what it meant for the earth to be cleansed from its environment.
To read the full transcript of this episode, click here.
L. P. ReesJanuary 18, 2018
I guess we must each decide who we believe in this matter. I find the following far more persuasive: Genesis 6:17 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. JST Genesis 8:22 And, behold, I, even I, do bring in a flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; every thing that liveth on the earth shall die. Genesis 7:19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. 21 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: 22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. 23 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. Genesis 7:19-20 states, “All the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered . . ; and the mountains were covered.”These verses explicitly state that all of earth’s high mountains (“hills” should read “mountains” here; Hebrew harim) were covered by the waters. Lest one believe that the statement “under the whole heaven” is figurative and can be read or interpreted in different ways, a scriptural search through the entire Old Testament reveals that the phrase is used elsewhere only in a universal sense, as it is here; the phrase does not refer to a geographically restricted area (see Deut. 2:25; Deut. 4:19; Job 28:24; Job 37:3; Dan. 9:12). For instance, Job 28:24 also uses the phrase when referring to God’s omniscience, which is certainly not restricted to a specific geographical region on the earth. Genesis 7:21 states, “All flesh died that moved upon the earth, . . . every creeping thing . . . every man.” The phrase “all flesh” refers to all land animals, creeping things, and fowls and all of humanity, with the exception of those in the ark (see Gen. 7:23). The entry every in the Oxford American Dictionary reads: “each single one, without exception.” Moses is clearly trying to let us understand that the Flood was universal. . . . Taken altogether, these statements should convince every believer in the Bible that the great Deluge was a worldwide event, not a localized flood that filled only the Mesopotamian or some other region. (Donald W. Parry, “The Flood and the Tower of Babel,” Ensign, January 1998, p. 37) President John Taylor: “I would like to know by what known law the immersion of the globe could be accomplished. It is explained here in a few words: “The windows of heaven were opened,” that is, the waters that exist throughout the space surrounding the earth from whence come these clouds from which the rain descends.That was one cause. Another cause was “the fountains of the great deep were broken up” – that is something beyond the oceans, something outside of the seas, some reservoirs of which we have no knowledge, were made to contribute to this event, and the waters were let loose by the hand and by the power of God; for God said He would bring a flood upon the earth and He brought it, but He had to let loose the fountains of the great deep, and pour out the waters from there, and when the flood commenced to subside, we are told “that the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained, and the waters returned from off the earth.” ( Journal of Discourses, 26:74-75) And it seems the floods reached America, as stated in Ether 13:2 2 For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof; 3 And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord.