If the flood occurred in the time frame claimed by the young-earth
creationists, then it seems we might have reasonably detailed records of it
from the historical records of one or more civilizations. After all,
4000-odd years isn't that long. We do have the Gilgamesh epic, but the
Gilgamesh epic, from what I know of it seems rather fanciful. Possibly
it's just a legend or a much-corrupted version of the flood account. The
Egyptians were, as I understand it, keeping written records from before the
time of the flood, and their records don't mention it. The Code of
Hammurabi dates to about 1780 b.c.,
(btw you can get the complete translated text of the Hammurabi code at
gopher://gopher.vt.edu:10010/02/91/1). It would seem rather amazing that a
civilization capable of developing such an advanced legal code would exist
just a few hundred years after the devastation of a global flood.
Furthermore, the Hammurabi code begins with a historical prologue which
praises the Gods for their providence, but doesn't mention one of the most
obvious acts of divine providence: enabling the Babylonians to rebuild
their civilization so quickly after the disaster of the flood.
So we have some records going back to the popularly accepted time frame for
the flood, and these records don't mention the flood, with the exception of
the Gilgamesh epic which might be just a fanciful legend, or might be a
seriously corrupted account of an actual event which occurred long before
the popular flood date.
On the other hand, if the flood had occurred 5 million years ago, it's
difficult to believe that we would know about it unless God had provided
for us to know by telling Moses about it. Since the flood is a significant
event in God's program for men, we need to know about it. Dating the flood
when Glenn does eliminates conflicts with historical records, as well as
explaining the genetic diversity of man, if you require that the flood had
to wipe out all except eight humans.
Bill Hamilton | Vehicle Systems Research
GM R&D Center | Warren, MI 48090-9055
810 986 1474 (voice) | 810 986 3003 (FAX)