Was Noah a Martian?

Ken Ham

According to a recent report, Noah's Flood actually occurred on Mars—not Earth!

Sounds ridiculous doesn't it? But a recent New York Times article¹ based on research that scientists have been conducting about the planet Mars suggested, in essence, exactly that!

It's been known for a long time that certain features on Mars appear to be evidence of massive water erosion in the past. Scientists for many years have postulated some sort of watery catastrophism on Mars. One of the reasons scientists are so interested in this is because they are desperately searching for evidence that life supposedly evolved elsewhere—not just Earth.

In this recent article, the director of Washington University's McDonnell Center for Space Sciences is reported as saying ‘According to the mantra of what you need for life—you need water, energy and organic compounds.’ Concerning Mars, this scientist then adds, ‘So there was water there, and conditions were probably above freezing. In so far as that supports life, I guess that's the point.’

But the amazing part of this article concerns the discussion surrounding what is believed to be massive past volcanism on Mars that produced a flood that the newspaper actually refers to as a ‘Noachian’ event. There you have it—a veritable Noah's Flood occurred on Mars!

The newspaper report states, ‘The total release of gases from Tharsis magma may have produced the equivalent of a global layer of water nearly 400 feet deep, although much of the water would have been lost to space…At the very end of the Noachian epoch, volcanic activity dissipated and carbon dioxide and water were removed from the atmosphere by a combination of factors.…’²

Isn't it remarkable that this secular report has no problem talking about a ‘Noachian’ event (global flood) on Mars as a serious theory—but would scoff at the idea of a global ‘Noachian’ event on Earth!

These scientists are very happy to believe in a global flood on a planet that as far as we know has no liquid water at the present time, but scoff at even the mention of a global Flood on a planet (Earth) that is mostly covered by water!

Of course there are those who say there's not enough water on Earth to cover all the mountains for such a global event. But as the late Jacques Cousteau said:

‘Were the crust of Earth to be leveled-with great mountain ranges like the Himalayas and ocean abysses like the Mariana Trench evened out-no land at all would show above the surface of the sea. Earth would be covered by a uniform sheet of water-more than 10,000 feet deep! So overwhelming the ocean seems to be.’³

There is good reason to believe that the Earth in Noah's day did not have the high mountains or deep ocean trenches of today. These features formed during or since the Flood of Noah's day. In fact, Psalm 104 seems to indicate how God ended the Flood—He raised the mountains and lowered the ocean basins (possibly associated with continental break up—plate tectonics), so the water ran off the Earth to form the present oceans.

Actually, most of the Earth is still covered with the waters of the Flood of Noah's day.

So why is the world so quick to mock at the idea of a global Flood on Earth, but seriously consider such an event on Mars?

I suggest it's because the deeper issue is not a scientific one—it's a spiritual one. Peter declares in 2 Peter 3:5 concerning the Creation, Flood, and coming Judgment that people in the last days will scoff at these things, and that they will be ‘willingly ignorant’. This means they ‘deliberately reject’ or ‘refuse to believe’. In other words, they disbelieve because they choose to, not because of the evidence.

You see, to admit there has been a global Flood on Earth is to admit that the Bible's account of such an event might be true after all! This would also mean that God is Creator and Judge. Every person would therefore be accountable to his or her Creator. It also means that God judges sin with death. He judged the wickedness of man in the days of Noah—and He's going to judge again, not with water this time, but with fire (2 Peter 3)—and just as Noah and his family had to go through the doorway of the Ark to be saved, so we need to go through a doorway to be saved.

Jesus said, ‘I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.’ (John 10:9). Jesus Christ, the Son of God is our Ark of salvation. Have you put your trust in him? Are you ready to face the final judgment?

By the way, if the Bible actually taught there was a global Flood on Mars, I strongly suspect most scientists would not even entertain this idea. Man will basically believe anything today but the clear teaching of the Word of God.

Footnotes

1. Reuters, Mars Calamity May have Created Conditions for Life. New York Times, 16 March, 2001. Return to text
2. Ibid. Return to text
3. Cousteau, J., The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau — Oasis In Space, Angus & Robertson (U.K.) Ltd. London, England, p.17, 1973. Return to text

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