The Great Flood

Did the Great Flood in the Bible really cover the whole earth?

No, probably not. There is significant scientific evidence that contradicts the idea of a global flood that occurred sometime within the past 4,000–6,000 years.[1]

But isn't there geological evidence for a global flood?

Not really. Some argue that certain geological features of the Grand Canyon point to a global flood,[2] but scientific consensus does not support this interpretation.[3]

Doesn't the Bible say the flood covered the "whole earth"?

Yes. Genesis 7:19 says that "all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered" with water during the flood,[4] and Genesis 8:9 specifically says "the waters were on the face of the whole earth."[5]

The Hebrew text of the Bible uses the word "all, every" (kōl)[6] to describe the details of the event (e.g., "all the animals," and "all the earth," etc.).[7]

Why would the Bible say that the "whole earth" was flooded if it probably wasn't?

It might be that the use of the phrase "whole earth" in Genesis meant something different than what it means to us today.[8] It seems the ancient Israelites didn't know that the earth was a globe, instead picturing something like a flat disc sitting on water and holding up a domed, vaulted sky.[9]

Haven't modern prophets and apostles taught that the flood was global?

Yes. Both early and modern Church leaders have described the Flood as global or universal.[10]

An 1880 wood engraving of Noah's ark on the ocean after the great flood, based on a drawing by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.

Haven't modern prophets and apostles taught that the flood was the earth's baptism?

Yes. This idea was first taught by Latter-day Saints as early as 1832[11] and has been continuously taught by Church leaders.[12] It has also been repeated in literature written by Latter-day Saint scholars and scriptural commentators.[13] However, some Latter-day Saint writers disagree with this idea.[14]

Is it possible that the entire Earth could have been technically covered by water at one point, just not in a complete flood?

Possibly. John A. Widtsoe[BIO] taught this when he said "all parts of the earth were under water at the same time" and that there could have been "a terrific, long-continued downpour, such as is described in Genesis. The depth of the layer of water is of no consequence."[15]

Does the Church still teach that it was a global flood?

Yes, sort of. The Church gives the traditional story of the flood in its curriculum and publications, but they usually focus on the gospel principles to pull from the story, not the specifics of how it may have happened.[16] The most recent article on a literal global flood was published in 1998 in the Ensign.[17]

Have general authorities ever weighed in on the importance of a global versus local Flood?

Joseph Fielding Smith said in the 1950s that there needed to be a global flood for the earth to be baptized,[18] but no recent general authorities have weighed in on this matter.

Is believing in a global flood a requirement to be an "orthodox" member of the Church?

No. Many faithful Latter-day Saint scholars have written about reconciling the apparent problem with the global flood.[19]

The Facts

The Bible depicts a universal flood that eradicated all life except Noah, his family, and the animals he saved on the ark.
Scientific consensus is that there is no evidence for a universal ("global") flood in recent geologic history.
Church leaders have regularly taught or assumed a global flood.
Many Church leaders have also taught that this flood was the earth's baptism.
Some Latter-day Saint scholars have proposed alternative ways to read the story of Noah and the flood that can be harmonized with modern science.

Our Take

The story of Noah and the great flood is certainly one of the most memorable in the Bible and a hallmark of the Christian tradition. But the idea of the whole globe covered in water doesn’t match up with modern scientific reasoning. With that modern reasoning in mind, why would the Church or Church leaders teach the story as a literal global flood? How do Latter-day Saints make this work?

It seems early Church leaders believed and taught the traditional Judeo-Christian interpretation of the flood in Genesis, that it was a literal global flood. Science has since progressed, which challenges Latter-day Saints to look at the account more critically and perhaps less traditionally.

So why haven't Church leaders denounced the traditional flood story? We don't really know. It may be because they are undecided on the issue, or it may be they don’t see a compelling benefit to making a definitive statement on it. In recent years, Church publications and lessons focus more on the lessons learned from Noah and less on how the flood may have happened.

It's okay to take stories like the flood literally, and its okay to approach them as allegory. Wrestling with the reality, historicity, symbolism, or semantics of scriptural accounts is a meaningful expression of faith. Scriptures are most useful for the principles they teach, and for providing a way for God to speak to our hearts and help us to grow closer to Him.

What's Your Take?

Max A.
“Love the post but it might also be important to add some information on how the story of Noah might be a re-packaging of older flood myths like the Epic of Gilgamesh.”
Merlin G.
“The story of Noah and the flood is metaphorical. Noah preaches the gospel to the surrounding neighborhood. The boat represents the gospel, those that get on the boat (accept the gospel) shall be saved. Those that reject the gospel (don't get on the boat) will die. Simple.”
Ryan
“The authors of the biblical accounts wrote what they believed to be true. They were right about some things and wrong about others. We believe things that ancient and modern revelation agree on. Personally, I believe there was a local flood affecting the known world of the writer”
Stephanie
“Doesn't matter. It's not a saving principle. You can believe the flood covered the whole earth and be saved. You can believe the flood did not cover the whole earth and be saved. You can believe the Earth is flat or round. Doesn't matter. Faith in Jesus. That's what matters.”
B. Craig
“It's amusing when people try to twist science into an ancient story. The Gospel principles taught by the Flood are vastly more important than its supposed historicity.”

Read More Difficult Questions

132 Primary Sources

Footnotes

BIOJohn A. Widtsoe
John Andreas Widtsoe (January 31, 1872–November 29, 1952) was an early Latter-day Saint leader. He was born on Frøya, a Norwegian island. He lost his father when he was six. His family was introduced to the Church a few years later. Widtsoe moved to Utah with his family in 1883 and was baptized in 1884. Widtsoe graduated from Harvard with a degree in chemistry in 1894 and married Leah Eudora Dunford in 1898. Widtsoe was called on a mission to get his Ph.D. at the University of Göttingen, Germany. He graduated in 1899. Widtsoe was president of Utah State Agricultural College from 1907–1916. He was then president of the University of Utah until 1921. Widtsoe was called as an apostle in 1921 and served until his death in 1952.
[1]↩︎
A 2011 article by Phil Senter for the National Center for Science Education summarized the current scientific consensus disputing claims of a global flood in recent geological history.
Authors Clayton M. White and Mark D. Thomas have also summarized the scientific consensus in an article that addresses the issue from a Latter-day Saint perspective.
- Phil Senter summarizes scientific consensus on geological evidence against a global Flood.
- Clayton M. White and Mark D. Thomas discuss issues pertaining to Flood story; summarize scientific evidence against a global Flood.
[2]↩︎
The Creationist website Answers in Genesis, for instance, cited the Grand Canyon as an example of a geological feature that can best be described as the result of a global flood in the earth's recent history.
The website noted that the Grand Canyon "defies the explanations offered by evolutionary geologists," specifically mentioning a lack of evidence for millions of years of erosion in the canyon.
- Young Earth Creationist website uses geological features of Grand Canyon to argue for a young earth and global Flood.
[3]↩︎
A number of recent books by both Christian and non-Christian scientists have responded to arguments from proponents of "Flood Geology" who use the Grand Canyon, among other things, as evidence for a global Flood.
For example, scientists in the book "The Grand Canyon: Monument to an Ancient Earth" discuss how the geological stratigraphy of the Grand Canyon, including erosion patterns, rock thickness, sorting patterns, fossil deposits, and rim formations appear to contradict the idea of a young earth and global flood.
Another scientist, David R. Montgomery, discussed how the geological evidence from the Grand Canyon is more consistent with an ancient earth and the gradual (hundreds of millions of years) process of erosion and sediment deposit.
He wrote, "The biblical flood would have to have dumped more than ten feet of sediment every day for a whole year in order to have deposited the thousands of feet of sediment exposed in the canyon walls."
He further explained:
The hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of layers of silt could not have settled out and separated from the intervening layers of sand during the passage of a single violent current because turbulence would have resuspended the fine sediment.
[4]↩︎
The full verse reads: "And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered."
- Genesis 7 (KJV), narrating account of the Flood.
[5]↩︎
This verse specifically mentions the "whole earth" being covered, which is why the dove could not find a place to rest:
But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.
- Genesis 8 (KJV), narrating the Flood.
[6]↩︎
The word is defined in the Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT) as "the whole, all, everything," etc.
- Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament entry for kōl giving its various definitions.
[7]↩︎
For instance, Genesis 7:11 reads that "all [kōl] the fountains of the great deep broken up." Later, verses 14–16 use kōl repeatedly to describe the animals that came into the ark, while verse 19 says "all [kōl] the high hills, that were under the whole [kōl] heaven, were covered." Genesis 8:9 also reads that "waters were on the face of the whole [kōl] earth."
[8]↩︎
The Hebrew word ʾāreṣ can mean anything from "ground, earth" to "territory" and even the "underworld."
When the biblical author says the "whole earth" (kōl ʾāreṣ) was covered with water, it could mean the whole extent of the observable world as known to the author, which was different from how modern people may imagine the world as a globe in space.
- HALOT entry for ʾāreṣ.
[9]↩︎
A pair of Evangelical Christian authors, summarizing the scholarly consensus, described biblical cosmology this way:
The earth was a flat, disc-shaped piece of land floating on deep cosmic waters, which is why if you dig deep enough, you eventually hit water. This is “the deep” in Genesis 1:2, so they believed the land must be suspended, or “floating” above the deep by pillars (you’ve maybe heard the biblical phrase, “pillars of the earth”). The land, surrounded by waters, is where humans and land animals lived, and the waters around the land was “the sea,” where all the sea creatures lived. Ancient Israelites also observed that the sky was a dome shape and that the sun, moon, and stars were embedded into the dome. There was more water above the sky, which the dome typically held back, but not always, which explained why sometimes it rained.
Another Christian website, BioLogos, explained:
Modern people read the Flood story with a completely different perspective on the shape of the Earth and universe. Those who say the story portrays a "global” flood, for instance, are imposing that term upon the text, because the original audience had no idea that the Earth was a globe. Similarly, any speculation about the water sources or ark buoyancy or geologic effects or post-Flood animal migrations or similar questions is missing the point of the story."
- Tim Mackie and Aeron Sullivan summarize biblical cosmology for popular internet audience.
- BioLogos reviews the Noah story in its ancient context.
[10]↩︎
This idea seems to have been taught as early as the Joseph Smith era. On March 1, 1844, Joseph said that "in the days of Noah God destroyed the world by a flood."
Since Joseph's time, multiple Church leaders have affirmed a universal flood.
[11]↩︎
William W. Phelps taught the idea of the flood being the earth's baptism as early as 1832. Lorenzo Snow also taught this in 1841. Joseph Smith in 1844 did say the flood cleansed the earth but did not call it a baptism.
[12]↩︎
Church leaders who taught that the Flood was the baptism of the earth include Orson Pratt, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson F. Whitney, Charles W. Penrose, John A. Widtsoe, and Joseph Fielding Smith.
[13]↩︎
Several Latter-day Saint publications and theologists have published on this idea.
For example, a Church publication in 1954 noted that "the flood was nothing more nor less than the cleansing of the earth by baptism."
More recently, an author writing in the Ensign magazine wrote, "Modern revelation teaches that God indeed suffered great sorrow over the flood, which served as the baptism of the earth."
[14]↩︎
In a 2016 article published by BYU's Religious Studies Center, LDS scholars Paul Hoskisson and Stephen O. Smoot questioned whether the scriptural citations used to justify the idea of the flood as the world's baptism should be read as literally as past interpreters have.
- Paul Y. Hoskisson and Stephen O. Smoot review LDS views on the Flood, question idea of Flood as baptism of the earth.
[15]↩︎
Widstoe wrote this in the June 1940 issue of the Church's magazine Improvement Era. It was republished three years later in Widtsoe's book Evidences and Reconciliations.
- John A. Widtsoe answers question about Flood; states global Flood but not of uniform depth; Flood was baptism of Earth.
- Reprint of 1940 editorial by John A. Widtsoe on Noah's Flood.
[16]↩︎
Contemporary Church publications that discuss the flood typically summarize the scriptural story and discuss gospel principles that one can draw from it.
The Gospel Topics entry for Noah explains how "God called him to be a preacher of righteousness" and that "God commanded Noah to build an ark, gather animals, and prepare for a flood." It goes on to say how "Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives were the only people on the whole earth saved from the flood."
[17]↩︎
Donald W. Parry, a professor of the Hebrew Bible at Brigham Young University, published the article and cautioned readers against dismissing the historicity of the global Flood described in Genesis.
- Donald W. Parry argues for a worldwide Genesis Flood.
[18]↩︎
In Doctrines of Salvation, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
If the water did not cover the entire earth, then it was not baptized, for the baptism of the Lord is not pouring or sprinkling. These forms are strictly man made and not part of the gospel ordinances.
- Joseph Fielding Smith teaches Flood was the baptism of the earth.
[19]↩︎
For example, Ben Spackman, a Latter-day Saint scholar, has argued that the flood story was never intended to represent factual history. Spackman also acknowledged that this does not necessarily mean Noah wasn't a historical person but may mean the scriptural account about him was attempting to communicate something more than just plain history.
In their 2014 commentary on the Book of Moses, Latter-day Saint scholars Jeffrey M. Bradshaw and David J. Larsen gathered a number of believing Latter-day Saint and non-Latter-day Saint writers who have offered ways to reconcile the issue.
- Ben Spackman summarizes his views on the Flood as being in the genre of "myth."
- LDS Monograph exploring ancient and scientific aspects of the Flood.