Ark Encounter

Answers in Genesis is a young earth creationist Christian group that describes itself in the following way:

Answers in Genesis is an apologetics (i.e., Christianity-defending) ministry, dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively. We focus particularly on providing answers to questions surrounding the book of Genesis, as it is the most-attacked book of the Bible. We also desire to train others to develop a biblical worldview, and seek to expose the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas, and its bedfellow, a “millions of years old” earth (and even older universe). 

Answers in Genesis crowning acheivement is the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. In this museum there are displays of such examples of creation science as a domesticated triceratops wearing a saddle and a human girl side by side with what appears to be a velociraptor. I remember going to a theme park like this when I was a kid. It had a Flintstones theme. It wasn't meant to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, these next two images are.

In 2010, Answers in Genesis announced that it was building an attraction based on Noah's Ark, also in the state of Kentucky. The State government is providing tax incentives toward this project. The centrepiece of this park is a life-sized replica of Noah's Ark.

The Ark that will be built will be built according to the specifications in Genesis 6:14-16

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Ok...so lets do a little math. A cubit is the measure of the distance between a man's elbow and his fingertips. It's not the most exact measurement, but it's estimated at between 17 and 21 inches. For the sake of a round number, I'll use 20 inches.

So 300 cubits long times 20 inches is 6000 inches. 6000 inches divided by 12 is 500 feet. The Answers in Genesis people have started that the Ark will be 500 feet long, so it sounds like we're using the same measurements. 50 cubits times 20 inches is 1000 inches. 1000 inches divided by 12 is aproximately 84 feet wide. This gives us square footage of 42,000 square feet. The story says the Ark should have three floors, so 42,000 multiplied by 3 gives us a total square footage inside the Ark of 126,000 square feet.

To give some perspective, I learned while researching this blog that the average Target department store in the US is 126,000 square feet. So that's the kind of space we're talking about.

Genesis 6:19-21 says that God commands the following from Noah:

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. 

So just how many animals is that. Keep in mind that the story says this boat needs to fit two of every kind of animal on earth. How many different kinds of animal are there in the world? I found on MSNBC.com that The National Science Foundation’s “Tree of Life” project has estimated that there are between 5,000,000 and 100,000,000 animal species in the world. Science has catalogued 2,000,000. For the sake of this estimate, lets use the lower number, 2 million animal species. As well as the animals, some of the square footage needs to be used to store food for all of these 4 million animals. (2 of each of the 2 million species)

Ok, so we have 4,000,000 animals to fit in 126,000 square feet. This allows each animal 0.0315 square feet of floor space to occupy. I am no mathemetician and trying to break these numbers down anymore is starting to hurt my brain. Lets say that this gives us one half of one square inch per animal. This does not allow for the space needed by dividers to keep animals apart. It does not allow for any room for the 8 people supposedly on the ark. It does not allow for food storage or for room to maneuvre for the humans to feed the animals or to remove their waste.

Maybe the many species of small insects might be able to manage. Squeezing a tiger into a space the size of a postage stamp, though, would provide some logistical difficulties.

Keep in mind that these Answers in Genesis, young-earth-creationist types do not believe in evolution at all, so if there are 2 million species alive today there must have been 2 million species on the ark.

Obviously this is all ridiculous. Whomever wrote Genesis was probably only aware of a very few kinds of animals. He had no idea about penguins or caribou or marsupials of any kind. I doubt that any of these difficulties will be presented when this exhibit is built.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reported that this Ark will contain live animals such as juvenile giraffes. I don't know how they intend to keep a fresh supply of juvenile giraffes handy or what will be done with the giraffes when they are too large. Perhaps this hasn't been thought out either.

I almost want to plan a trip to the Ark Encounter when it's completed. The comedy value alone would make for a tremendously enjoyable vacation. I won't though. My paying admission would delay the bankruptcy that this project so richly deserves.