Book contents
- Noah and the Flood in Western Thought
- Reviews
- Noah and the Flood in Western Thought
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Plates
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Prologue
- 1 Ancient Floods and Heroes
- 2 Building Narrative Arcs
- 3 Noah and the Flood in Judaism and Islam
- 4 The Late Medieval and Early Modern Noah
- 5 Noah and the New Science
- 6 Noah, Myth, and History
- 7 Legends of Noah and the Ark
- Epilogue: A Legend for Our Time
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - Legends of Noah and the Ark
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2025
- Noah and the Flood in Western Thought
- Reviews
- Noah and the Flood in Western Thought
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Plates
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Prologue
- 1 Ancient Floods and Heroes
- 2 Building Narrative Arcs
- 3 Noah and the Flood in Judaism and Islam
- 4 The Late Medieval and Early Modern Noah
- 5 Noah and the New Science
- 6 Noah, Myth, and History
- 7 Legends of Noah and the Ark
- Epilogue: A Legend for Our Time
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The final chapter begins with consideration of the beginnings of source criticism of the first five books of the Bible and the discovery of The Epic of Gilgamesh that cast doubt, as a result, on the literal truth of the Genesis text. This chapter also takes up the development of ‘Creation Science’ as a means of shifting the debate on evolution versus the Bible to one of evolution versus ‘Creation Science’ and the role of Noah and the story of the flood in this transition. It also demonstrates how the belief in Biblical inerrancy leads to the modern conservative Christian quest to find the lost ark and, in the absence of that discovery, to recreate the ark this century in the US state of Kentucky. It shows how the ‘Ark Encounter’ in Kentucky creates a new legend of Noah that goes well beyond the Biblical story.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Noah and the Flood in Western Thought , pp. 301 - 338Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025