Noah's Ark: Philosophies Of The World Flood

THE WORLDWIDE FLOOD Almost every culture has some story explaining a worldwide flood that happened thousands of years ago. These stories have remarkable similarities between them but have extreme differences as well. The similarities include God, or the god’s flooding the earth to put an end to corruption, and in each story at least one person was saved in order to restore mankind. The differences include, what time period the flood occurred, how long the survivors were at sea, and where they came to rest when the rain ceased. Christianity, Hinduism and the study of the Greek god’s all depict undeniable differences in their philosophies of the world flood. Christianity’s story is Noah’s Ark, Hinduism’s is
Manu and the fish, and the Greek’s is Deucalion and Pyrrah.
The most well known, and commonly taught flood story is found in Christianity’s Holy Bible, the story is known as Noah’s Ark. In Genesis 6 of the Bible, God saw how great mans wickedness had become and decided to put an end to it by flooding the earth of which he created. He saw that Noah was the last righteous man, and spared he and his families lives so that reproduction would be possible after the disaster. God gave Noah the exact dimensions to build a giant ark that would fit Noah’s family, and a pair of each kind of animal. In most cultures interpretations of the flood, the god tells the man to build a boat because that is their only chance of survival, however only in the Bible’s flood narration, God gives specific instructions and dimensions for the boat itself. After Noah had finished building the Ark and each detail was in place, the animals were loaded on and the rain started to fall. Noah was six hundred years old by the time the flood began. The rain fell for an incredible forty days and forty nights, Genesis 7:20 states, “The waters rose and
covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet.” Out of all the interpretations of the flood, the Christian Bible describes the longest period of rain. After one hundred and fifty days, the flooding finally ceased and Noah’s dove returned with proof of land, at which time the ark was put to rest on the peak of Mt. Ararat. Once every living creature had come out of the ark, Noah sacrificed burnt offerings to the Lord as a thank you for sparing their lives. God made a promise to Noah that never again would he flood the earth, and each time it rained he would set a rainbow in the sky to remind the people of his promise. The Christian flood story found in the Holy Bible, is the most commonly taught interpretation known to man. This story is one description of the flood but there are many others as well.

The Hindu religion originated in Northern India about four thousand years ago, the flood story that is most well known in that region is about Manu and the fish.
This story begins when a man named Manu, who was living deep in the jungle, finds a small fish in the river that was begging for help. The man decided to take care of the fish, he put it in a water vessel tending to it as if it was his own child. Soon the fish out grew his vessel so Manu found a large pool that would be suitable for the fish for many years to come. Eventually the fish grew beyond the limits of the pool so he asked Manu to take him to the Ganges River, where he lived for a while longer. The fish once again asked Manu to move him, this time to the Ocean. Since Manu had so kindly cared for this fish, it decided to give him a piece of helpful information, the fish told Manu of a great flood that was soon going to engulf the world. Almost every flood story has some reason for the flood, usually human wickedness, but the Hindu story is an exception. The fish then gave Manu instructions to build an ark and take a long rope, the Seven Sages, and the seeds of all things on board with him. By the time the flood began, the fish had grown horns of which Manu tied the ark onto. The fish towed Manu’s ark through the raging waves for several years, once the water reached the highest mountain in the Himalayas they tied the ark to the mountain peak. Most flood stories include the boat or ark resting upon a
mountain, and the Hindu’s view is no exception. From there the fish said goodbye to Manu and disappeared, Manu eventually reached land and became the father of all living things. Hinduism’s flood story, Manu and the fish, described a few similarities with the other flood interpretations, including the fact that the survivor was the father of many descendants, but this story also had many contrasting points. For at least a thousand years, this story of Manu and the fish has been the Hindu’s version of the worldwide flood story.

The Greek culture’s flood story, which originated many years ago, shows several similarities to other interpretations, including Noah’s ark. This flood narration is about a husband and wife, Deucalion and Pyrrha, who are described as the purest people on earth by the gods. The world was described as being in a bad moral situation, there was sin all around and the gods were angry with the humans behavior. Zeus soon put an end to the corruption by destroying mankind with a flood. This is very similar to the Christian story with God putting an end to evil. Deucalion and Pyrrha were the chosen ones to survive the disaster, but they did not know of the flood until Deucalion’s father informed them of the upcoming devastation. Deucalion and Pyrrha were shocked by this information and immediately began constructing a boat so that they would be prepared when the flooding began. This is contrasting to most other stories where God, or the gods informed the humans to build the boat and gave them specifications for it. Without any warning the furious storm began, leaving everyone unprepared except Deucalion and Pyrrha, who climbed in their boat, which was taken out to sea. For many days the rain proceeded and only Deucalion and Pyrrha were safe. This parallels the other flood stories, where a few were chosen but everyone else perished. Once the entire earth was underwater, including every mountain, the storm ceased and the boat was left floating. Once the water had drained, the boat was laid to rest on Mount Parnassos. This is a common event in each flood story, although the specific mountain varies in each version, there is always a description of the boat resting on a mountain peak. When Deucalion and Pyrrha saw the devastation that the flooding had caused they were struck with grief. The god’s messenger appeared before them and instructed them to throw their mother’s bones over their shoulder. Deucalion and Pyrrha did as the messenger commanded, and miraculously when the stones hit the ground they became living humans. The stones thrown by Deucalion were men, and by Pyrrha, women. Another common thread that ties these stories together is that there is always repopulation at the ending, but the Greek philosophy is unusual. The Greek’s version of the flood story has many similarities with other versions, especially the Bible.

Most religions and cultures have some account of a flood happening at an unknown time, thought to be approximately seven thousand years ago. All of these stories share distinct similarities, one of which is at least one man is saved in order to repopulate mankind. One major difference in all of these stories is how the survivors actually repopulated the land. In the three versions of the flood story that I compared, Christianity, Hinduism, and the Greek mythology, there were only a few chosen survivors and everyone else perished. In Christianity, God flooded the earth in response to end the evil that had taken over. All mankind was destroyed, except for Noah’s family and a pair of each kind of animal. Out of these three interpretations, this is the only account given that includes saving animals of each kind. In Hinduism, a fish that was raised by Manu, when fully grown, informed Manu of an upcoming flood that would destroy the world. The fish gave instructions to Manu, that if he built a boat the fish would be able to save him. In Greek Mythology, the Olympian gods put an end to all wickedness with a flood. Deucalion and Pyrrha were the chosen people who repopulated the land by tossing stones over their shoulders. Almost every culture has a story explaining a flood, a lot are similar to the Christian view, but each version is unique.