Finding the Ark—Does It Matter?

Illustration by Viktor Miller-Gausa

Ken Ham, President/CEO
Answers in Genesis

An atheist once said to me, “I don’t care if you find a big boat on the top of Mount Ararat and drag it down the main street of our city, I still won’t believe in Noah’s ark.”

Now, AiG’s geologist, Dr. Andrew Snelling, believes there’s good reason Mount Ararat could not be the ark’s landing site. (See “Is Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat?” Answers magazine May–June 2017). According to the Bible, the ark landed on the “mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4), which actually encompass the ancient region of Urartu (translated: Ararat). This area included mountain ranges in Eastern Turkey and likely extended farther east into Armenia.

Certainly, such a find would probably be the greatest archaeological discovery of our time. But do we really need to find Noah’s ark? Does it matter?

Well, there is already overwhelming evidence confirming the flood of Noah’s day—the massive fossil record over the majority of the earth’s surface. This record exhibits evidence of a watery catastrophe consistent with the global flood account as recorded in Genesis 6–9. But despite all this overwhelming evidence, the majority of people, including most scientists, reject the global flood of Noah’s day as a real event in history.

Why does the majority reject this evidence? The simple answer is that it’s a spiritual issue. Because of their sinful hearts, those who reject God’s Word don’t want to accept the account of the flood. In 2 Peter 3, we read that in the last days people will willingly reject the account of creation, the flood, and coming judgment by fire.

For they deliberately overlook this fact . . . the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and . . . the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire. (2 Peter 3:5–7)

I’ve had atheists tell me that if we can show them evidence for the flood and creation they will believe. But no matter what evidence these people are shown, they reinterpret it within their evolutionary secular worldview because of their sinful hearts.

The spiritual nature of this battle over evidence can be seen in the biblical account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. The chief priests wanted to kill Lazarus to get rid of the evidence because they refused to acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God.

In Luke 16 we have an account of a rich man and another man called Lazarus. Both had died. The rich man was in a place of torment, whereas Lazarus was with Abraham. The rich man wanted Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his five brothers about the place of torment after death.

But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:29–31)

Now it’s true that evidence is important. Jesus said to the Jews, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:37–38). Jesus gave people evidence of his divine nature by his works. But most still did not believe he was the messiah because of the spiritual state of their hearts.

We need to give answers for what we believe as we’re instructed to in 1 Peter 3:15. And we also need to point people to the Word of God.

Moses gave Pharaoh evidence that God was telling him to take the Israelites out of Egypt. But Pharaoh kept rejecting the evidence. The spiritual nature of the battle is seen in the biblical account when Pharaoh “hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:32) and refused to accept the evidence. But we are also told that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 7:3, 10:20, 14:4). It’s God who opens people’s hearts to the truth, which is why it’s important to understand that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Yes, we need to give answers for what we believe as we’re instructed to in 1 Peter 3:15. And we also need to point people to the Word of God. Our responsibility is to do all we can to convince people of the truth, using whatever evidence we can, but always point them to the Word of God, as only God opens people’s hearts to believe in him.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)

Does it matter if we find Noah’s ark? No, it doesn’t. God has already allowed us to find all the evidence we need to confirm the flood. God has given everyone enough evidence that he is the Creator. If they don’t believe, they are without excuse (Romans 1:20).

But actually, we have found the ark! It’s in Northern Kentucky, ready for you to visit. Well, it’s the life-size replica of the ark with exhibits teaching lots of evidence that clearly confirms the Bible’s account of the flood. We hope to see you at the Ark Encounter.