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Creation 38(4):40–42, October 2016

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The cartoonification of Noah’s Ark

How such ‘delightful depictions’ downplay the Deluge—and Christianity

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cartoonification

A cartoon is a drawing in an unrealistic style, usually for satire, caricature or humour, and/or to appeal to children. ‘Cartoonification’ (aka ‘cartoonization’) is a recent colloquialism for the process of making something that’s real look ‘cartoonish’. I.e. drawing it in a (usually ridiculously) oversimplified, child-friendly or ‘delightful’ manner. Unfortunately, this has happened with Noah’s Ark, marker of one of the key events in biblical history. Most depictions of it have become thoroughly cartoonized!

Today’s common version of the Ark portrays it as a ridiculously-shaped small houseboat. It is mostly only able to carry a handful of the more well-known animals, with giraffes’ heads poking out of windows, and elephants’ trunks hanging down the side. This rather pathetic-looking, definitely non-ocean-going boat is featured on children’s books, celebration cards, novelty ornaments, and more. It has been made into children’s toys and, most disappointingly, put onto Sunday school walls.

The real Noah’s Ark

The Bible in Genesis Chapter 6 very clearly sets out the dimensions, purpose and shape of Noah’s Ark. God ordered Noah to construct it 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high, with three levels, and a door on its side. All the different kinds of land animals and birds that were to come to Noah would find safety on board, along with his family, while God’s judgment came upon the earth in the form of a year-long, worldwide flood. Even using the smaller common cubit of c. 46 cm (18 in),1 Noah’s Ark would have been a massive vessel: L × W × H 137 × 23 × 13.7 metres (450 × 75 × 45 ft), more than adequate for its task.2

More a barge than a boat

The Hebrew word used for the Ark of Noah (which only had to float, not travel like a ship) is tebah (תבה) meaning box-shaped or chest. It is not the Hebrew term used for boat or ship, e.g. ’onîah (אניה) in Proverbs 30:19, or tsî (צי) in Isaiah 33:21. Its Hebrew synonym is ’arôn (ארון), used for the Ark of the Covenant, another box-shaped item or chest, emphasizing the shape of Noah’s Ark.3 Both words are translated as kibōtos (κιβωτός) in the Greek of the Septuagint and the New Testament, showing they have an overlapping semantic range. And the NT never uses kibōtos for ship or boat.

Full-size ark constructions around the world

arkVan
In 1997 Rod Walsh was inspired to build this incredible scale model of Noah’s Ark.

Leading creation ministries have long been aware of the negative implications of cartoonish ‘Arks’ in their own publications; there are materials with age-appropriate Ark illustrations at creation.com/store, for example, that are far from the cartoonized distortions.

Also helping to counter the huge tide of such (mis)representations of the Ark today is a growing number of full-size reconstructions in different parts of the world.

The first appeared in 2008; a full-size concrete Noah’s Ark located close to Hong Kong Airport.1

In 2011, Dutchman Johan Huibers (after first building a smaller-scale version capable of navigating his homeland’s canals) built a full-sized Ark (fig. 3)—that floats and travels on water!2

In 2016, ‘Ark Encounter’ opened a theme park in Kentucky, USA, centred around a full-size wooden Ark (fig. 4).

Noahs-ark-HongKong
Fullsize Noah’s Ark near Hong Kong airport—a major tourist attraction since 2008.
dutchman-johan-huibers
In 2011 Dutchman Johan Huibers personally funded and built this full-size wooden Ark that floats and travels on water.
ark-encounter
The full-size wooden reconstruction at the Ark Encounter theme park in Kentucky, USA, opened in 2016.

Notes

  1. See creation.com/ark-hong-kong.
  2. See creation.com/full-size-dutch-ark; it is moored near Rotterdam.

Don’t help the scoffers!

With the Bible so clear on the size, purpose and shape of Noah’s Ark, its pervasive cartoonification is nothing short of amazing! Searching the average Christian bookshop’s children’s section, it is increasingly hard, if not impossible, to find any depiction of Noah’s Ark that even comes close to the biblical description. The cartoonified version is by far the dominant presentation.

Publishers have certainly made it into a delightful depiction for children, colourful and attractive—but not biblical. Pictorially, it seems to be more about Noah saving animals, rather than God saving Noah from the Flood cataclysm. And it detracts from the real history of God’s judgment on the evil of mankind; kids seem to be meant to enjoy the picture mostly because of the cute animals, rather than learning about God’s grace towards those He saved.

This cartoonification is strongly correlated with the denial of true biblical history, and the concomitant demise of Christianity. The history in Genesis is the real history of the universe, life and mankind. It chronicles our Fall into sin, leading to the ‘bondage to corruption’ (Romans 8:20–22) of the originally ‘very good’ universe (Genesis 1:31)—and to God’s judgment through the Flood. The New Testament makes clear that this history is the seedbed of Christianity, foundational to the Gospel. The Kinsman-Redeemer promised right after this Fall, the Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:15), and further prophesied in Isaiah 59:20, is also called “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45). It is the shedding of His blood in death which will ultimately abolish the Genesis Curse of death and bloodshed (brought in by the disobedience of “the first man, Adam”), when the entire creation is restored. This Ark-cartoonification thus plays perfectly into the hands of those who seek to rubbish the history in Genesis, and with it, Christianity itself.

Consider, too—what is one of the strongest reasons for thinkers to reject the Bible (and thus the Gospel) as factual? It is the belief that fossils were formed over vast eons of time, long before people existed (and thus long before sin). Since fossils show death, disease and suffering, this emphatically contradicts the Gospel-foundational teaching that such things entered a perfect world only after sin.

And, in turn, the crucial ‘key’ to powerfully refuting this belief in ‘geological ages’ is understanding the Genesis Flood—an unparalleled catastrophe. It would have buried and fossilized countless billions of plants and animals exhibiting such ‘bad things’—after Adam’s Fall. So, making the Ark (and thus the whole Flood account) seem ridiculous through this ‘cartoonification’ is doubly effective in furthering the aims of the enemies of the faith.

In light of all this, a most pressing question that Christendom needs to ask of itself is: Why do Christian publishers, bookshops and buyers continue to publish, sell, and buy such misleading books?

comparison
A cartoonized Titanic somehow just doesn’t look right! Compare the real one departing on its maiden voyage from Southampton in 1912 (right).

It doesn’t happen in the secular world!

This process of cartoonification has not happened to other historical ships of the past. The Titanic, for example, one of the world’s best-known ships, is almost never portrayed in this way. Even when within cartoons, it looks like quite an accurately-proportioned ocean-going liner. Of course, everyone knows what it looked like, from numerous photos. Any attempt to cartoonize it would just make it look ridiculous, just as Noah’s Ark has been made to look ridiculous.

Children growing up and seeing a cartoonized version of Noah’s Ark are having a massive obstacle to the truth placed unnecessarily in front of them. Reaching children in an evolutionized world is already hard enough; let’s not make it harder by impressing upon them a mental image that conjures up questions and doubts due to its fable-like characteristics.

Realistic depictions avoid later ‘unlearning’

It is a great responsibility to have an influence on the life and development of a child. Resources should of course be attractive and high quality, but should not be cartoonized at the expense of biblical truth. Portraying Noah’s Ark in true biblical proportions means children will not have to subsequently ‘unlearn’ the sorts of ‘delightful depictions’ many currently have in their heads. It will also help to reinforce the real historical accuracy of the Bible.

Not all unbiblical ‘arks’ are modern

Anton-Koberger
Nuremberg-chronicles
Pierre-Mortier-Bible-1700

In Anton Koberger’s illustrated 1483 edition of the Bible in High German (fig. 5.), or in the illustrated 1493 biblical paraphrase, the Nuremberg Chronicle (fig. 6), there are inaccurate pictures of Noah’s Ark with little room for Noah and his family, never mind all the different kinds of animals.

However, there are also good early examples of realistic drawings that have attempted to adhere closely to the biblical text. For example, Pierre Mortier’s 1700 detailed depiction of the Ark being built (fig. 7), and Matthew Poole’s 1669 drawing of the Ark in water (fig. 8). Other examples include the detailed study Arca Noë (1675) by Athanasius Kircher, called in his day ‘The master of 100 arts’. Even the now-secular Encyclopædia Britannica, had a realistic Ark in its 1771 edition, which supported the global Flood (see Encyclopaedia Britannica: supporting a young earth!).

Noahs-Ark-Matthew-Poole-Commentary-1669
Posted on homepage: 22 August 2016

References and notes

  1. As opposed to the longer royal cubit, used in ancient Egypt, of c. 52 cm (~20.5 in), which would make the Ark significantly bigger. Ark Encounter’s reconstruction (see box, p. 41) is based on a royal cubit. Return to text.
  2. See creation.com/noahs-ark-questions-and-answers for more on the adequacy of Noah’s Ark in many respects, including size. Return to text.
  3. Both words are translated arca in Latin hence the modern word ‘Ark’. Return to text.

Helpful Resources

The True Story of Noah's Ark
by Tom Dooley and (illustrator) Bill Looney
US $17.00
Hard cover