Was the Flood followed by rapid evolution?
| ATHEISM | AGNOSTICISM | DEISM | THEISM | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evolutionary Creationism | Old Earth Creationism | Young Earth Creationism | ||||
| without "gap" | with "gap" | |||||
Creationism
For the concept of rapid evolution "within the kinds" after Noah saved representatives of each created "kind" from the Flood, see Baraminology and Microevolution and Macroevolution.
Young Earth Creationism (YEC) and Postcreationism
People who believe in a universal flood approximately 5,000 years ago have a problem accounting for the diversity of species nowadays, if their ancestors could only have survived by being on Noah's ark. The logistics of this have been argued
***INCOMPLETE*** several POVs BP
TODO
Note re Postcreationism
As of approximately 2020, Young Earth Creationism that incorporates belief in rapid speciation following the Flood is being called Postcreationism. It is a matter of ongoing controversy among Young Earth Creationists. Much of the material in this page under Young Earth Creationism is specifically relevant to Postcreationism.
See an essay Dissent with modification: how postcreationism’s claim of hyperrapid speciation opposes yet embraces evolutionary theory by Joel Duff and others.
The YEC concept of rapid speciation following the Flood
One solution, as expounded by "Answers in Genesis" on its web site and at the Kentucky Ark Encounter is rapid speciation, much faster than observed by modern scientists.
Our exposure to an abundance of Noah’s Ark illustrations and toys leads people to imagine the Ark filled with lions, tigers, giraffes, and more. But be careful. Beneath these drawings is a faulty assumption that the creatures on Noah’s Ark looked like the ones we see today.
. . . The Bible says God sent “kinds,” not species, onto the Ark. What if that pair of prancing horses in our favorite Ark illustration never stood next to a pair of wild zebras? After all, both are equids and can breed together; so both must belong to the same kind. Genesis 6:19 says God sent only one pair of each (unclean) kind onto the Ark. . . .
- — from an essay on the Answers in Genesis website.
Talking with Dr Joel Duff in a discussion titled Ken Ham and Answers In Genesis: Evolving or Approaching Extinction? on youtube, Dr. Nathaniel T. Jeanson from "Answers in Genesis" suggests that there was a single common ancestor on Noah's Ark for all bovidae (including cattle and sheep).
The smallest of seeds
Another essay published by "Answers in Genesis" speculates that rapid speciation could have made Jesus' mention of mustard seed as "the smallest of seeds" factually correct, true according to a literal reading:
If speciation is rapid, then evolutionists cannot make uniformitarian assumptions. Without these assumptions, evolutionists’ attempts to mock the Scripture lack foundation because what we observe today may not be what existed in the past. Ironically, even evolutionists admit that speciation can be rapid. Many studies have determined rapid rates of speciation in multiple life forms from algae to fish and mammals. . . . many species of plants with smaller seeds could have formed over the last 2,000 years, and therefore would not have existed when Jesus told the mustard seed parable. Thus the mustard seed could possibly have been the smallest seed in Jesus’ day.
- — Are Mustard Seeds the Smallest or Was Jesus Wrong? — also from the "Answers in Genesis" website. [accurate as of May 2024]
Arguments against the concept of rapid speciation following the Flood
See an extensive overview of changes in Young Earth Creationist beliefs by Professor Joel Duff, who blogs pseudonymously as "Natural Historian": Ken Ham’s Darwinism: On The Origin of Species by Means of Hyper-Evolution Following Noah’s Flood. His account of a visit to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky is here.
See here for a link to his essay arguing against the "Answers in Genesis" idea that modern animals evolved from specimens of "kinds" saved from the Flood on board Noah's ark.
A critical view of some detailed baraminological speculations about carnivores on the Ark is here. Professor Duff comments here on an exhibit at the Ark Encounter that shows chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas all evolving from a common ancestor that travelled on Noah’s ark.
A 2023 critique of “young-earth evolutionists” is published by "Answers in Genesis" here.
Archive of Critiques of YEC Hyper-evolution
Professor Duff has gathered an archive of critiques of YEC hyper-evolution at https://thenaturalhistorian.com/yec-hyper-evolution-archive
