Ian
priscilla 1Noah's Ark
January 7th 2009 09:32
As reported on the BBC Dutchman Johan Huibers is building a working replica of Noah's Ark as a testament to his Christian faith. Johan's Ark is a fifth of the size of Noah's and will carry farmyard animals.
Mr Huibers, who plans to open the vessel as a religious monument and zoo, hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands.
According to Genesis, Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals, and one breeding pair of all other creatures.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be just under 1m euros (£0.7m; US$1.2m) and was funded with bank loans.
Mr Huibers plans to charge people to tour the boat and said a drink and religious pamphlet will be included in the admission price. At least 100,000 people will need to visit for the project to break-even financially.
According to Ark dimensions commonly accepted by Biblical literalists, the real Ark would have had a gross volume of about 1.5 million cubic feet (40,000 m³), a displacement a little less than half that of the Titanic at about 22,000 tons, and total floor space of around 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²).
The question of whether it could have carried two (or more) specimens of the various species (including those now extinct), plus food and fresh water, is a matter of much debate, even bitter dispute, between Biblical literalists and their opponents. While some Biblical literalists hold that the Ark could have held all known species, a more common position today is that the Ark contained "kinds" rather than species—for instance, a male and female of the cat "kind" rather than representatives of tigers, lions, cougars, etc.
The many questions associated with a Biblical literalist interpretation include whether eight humans could have cared for the animals while also sailing the Ark, how the special dietary needs of some of the more exotic animals could have been catered for, how the creatures could have been prevented from preying on each other, questions of lighting, ventilation, and temperature control, hibernation, the survival and germination of seeds, the position of freshwater and saltwater fish, the question of what the animals would have eaten immediately after leaving the Ark, how they travelled (or were gathered) from all over the world to board the Ark and how they could have returned to their far-flung habitats across the Earth's bare, flood-devastated terrain, and how two or a few members of a species could have provided enough genetic variation to avoid inbreeding and reconstitute a healthy population.
Numerous Biblical literalist websites, while claiming that none of these problems is insurmountable, give varying answers on how to resolve them.
*These images used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.
**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It used material from the Wikipedia page for Noah's Ark.
According to Genesis, Noah kept seven pairs of most domesticated animals, and one breeding pair of all other creatures.
The total cost of the project is estimated to be just under 1m euros (£0.7m; US$1.2m) and was funded with bank loans.
Mr Huibers plans to charge people to tour the boat and said a drink and religious pamphlet will be included in the admission price. At least 100,000 people will need to visit for the project to break-even financially.
According to Ark dimensions commonly accepted by Biblical literalists, the real Ark would have had a gross volume of about 1.5 million cubic feet (40,000 m³), a displacement a little less than half that of the Titanic at about 22,000 tons, and total floor space of around 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²).
The question of whether it could have carried two (or more) specimens of the various species (including those now extinct), plus food and fresh water, is a matter of much debate, even bitter dispute, between Biblical literalists and their opponents. While some Biblical literalists hold that the Ark could have held all known species, a more common position today is that the Ark contained "kinds" rather than species—for instance, a male and female of the cat "kind" rather than representatives of tigers, lions, cougars, etc.
The many questions associated with a Biblical literalist interpretation include whether eight humans could have cared for the animals while also sailing the Ark, how the special dietary needs of some of the more exotic animals could have been catered for, how the creatures could have been prevented from preying on each other, questions of lighting, ventilation, and temperature control, hibernation, the survival and germination of seeds, the position of freshwater and saltwater fish, the question of what the animals would have eaten immediately after leaving the Ark, how they travelled (or were gathered) from all over the world to board the Ark and how they could have returned to their far-flung habitats across the Earth's bare, flood-devastated terrain, and how two or a few members of a species could have provided enough genetic variation to avoid inbreeding and reconstitute a healthy population.
Numerous Biblical literalist websites, while claiming that none of these problems is insurmountable, give varying answers on how to resolve them.
*These images used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.
**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It used material from the Wikipedia page for Noah's Ark.
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