Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Ark Encounter

i) Ken Ham's new theme park on Noah's ark and the flood instantly garnered a hostile reaction from the atheist community–as well as BioLogos, the flagship of theistic evolution. It's striking how threatened these groups feel by the very existence of Ken Ham's theme park. For them, it's unbearable that that viewpoint should even be in the public domain. 

ii) As I've often remarked, it can be a useful exercise to visualize Biblical descriptions. Stepping into an imaginary time machine to consider what the scene would look like if you could travel back into the past and see it for yourself. 

iii) Genesis gives us a sketchy description of the ark, rather than a blueprint, so any reconstruction will include a fair about of conjecture. It's important for Christians not to equate historical reconstructions with the Biblical record, since there are different ways to fill in the gaps. Many of us have been conditioned by popular reconstructions to think we know what the text is describing, but that could be way off the mark. Consider, for instance, Ben-Uri rhomboidal design for the ark:


iv) There's a certain irony in the fact that Ham's model ark was constructed with power tools. If only Noah had a crane! 

I wonder who the technical consultants were for designing Ham's model ark. There are so many judgment calls regarding the exterior and especially the interior. 

v) Depicting animals on the ark may present something of a conundrum for Ham. In YEC, extant species are variations on prediluvian natural kinds. So the animals on the ark don't necessarily resemble any contemporary species. Rather, they are the progenitors of modern species, which may be fairly unrecognizable in relation to the occupants of the ark. 

vi) In the age of video games, CGI, and Virtual Reality, there's a sense in which Ham's physical mockup is rather retro. We can produce computer simulations of the ark. We can produced detailed computer modeling of the ark, inside and out. Take a virtual tour.

In fact, we now have the wherewithal to produce video game representations of creation, the Flood, the Ten Plagues, the visions of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation, or picturesque vignettes in Isaiah–to take few examples. It is possible to create an immersive, audiovisual experience of these literary descriptions. 

That, of course, involves many interpretive judgment calls. But that in itself is an instructive exercise. 

For instance, suppose you did a computer simulation of Revelation. Do you depict the imagery as is, or do you update it according to what you think it stands for? The futuristic counterparts? 

In fact, you don't have to choose. You could do two different video game versions of Revelation: one which preserves the original imagery, and another which gives the viewer an interpretive future projection. 

I think it would be pedagogically informative for geeky Christians to use CGI to produce immersive representations of Biblical narratives, including–or especially–the more surreal descriptions of Scripture. That would also be a great way of getting boys interested in the Bible. 

8 comments:

  1. "I think it would be pedagogically informative for geeky Christians to use CGI to produce immersive representations of Biblical narratives, including–or especially–the more surreal descriptions of Scripture. That would also be a great way of getting boys interested in the Bible."

    I agree 100%.I was thinking this same thing a few months ago as I was reading through the Temple descriptions in the Bible with my (then) 12 year old nephew. We have been reading through the entire Bible together and obviously some portions can be very tedious for a 12 year old (or adult). A virtual walk through of the Temple dimensions with narration would be a great benefit.

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    1. I agree with Jonathan. In fact, I've often thought that an immersive video game where the answers to help people progress in the game would be found in that account in the Bible. All you need is a Bible and some basic theological thought in order to get through the game.

      Regarding the temple, it's been modeled in CG. There are some examples on YouTube. However, last time I checked it wasn't available in an accessible format for the general public.

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  2. My wife wants to go see it. Did Noah Build a roller coaster? /:0)-

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  3. iv) There's a certain irony in the fact that Ham's model ark was constructed with power tools. If only Noah had a crane!

    In fact, atheist memes make fun of the fact that modern reconstructions of the Ark require modern tools and materials.

    For example this meme HERE which mentions facetiously Noah's Crane, Noah's Preformed Laminated Composite Structures, Noah's Plywood, Noah's Propane Tank, Noah's Hydraulic Lifters etc.

    However, we don't know the ingenious techniques Noah used to construct the ark. Techniques which God may have revealed to Noah as God did to Moses in constructing the taburnacle.

    Also, modern power tools are used because we don't want it to take decades to build our reconstructions of the Ark.

    AIG estimates that it took 75 years (maximum) for Noah to build the ark. Presumably Noah had help from his sons and hired help.

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    1. Also, I'm sure many of the construction designs had to be modernized to comply with today's institutional building codes as well as to accommodate the sustainability of the attractions on board. The original ark didn't have to last that long (after construction) although that lifespan included surviving one very large flood.

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  4. I think it's a scandalous waste of money. I shudder to think how many solid Reformed churches could have been planted with all those millions of dollars.

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    1. You sound like Judas, whining about the woman that was washing Jesus' feet with expensive perfume, and saying... that perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus told Judas, you will always have the poor, but you will not always have Me. So, preach the gospel while you can, even with this Ark exhibit, and don't wait around for the dead churches to wake up.

      When atheists are whining this much, this museum and theme park MUST be a great thing!

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  5. Certainly cheesed off the Washington Post's Style section "reporters." I think they broke their snarky bones trying to write about this.

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