It currently appears that many people have “Titanic Fever” – a fascination with the famous ship which sank One Hundred Years ago. The media, obviously, is making a big deal about this 100 year anniversary – or 100 year memorial, whichever term you would prefer.
I remember being about 5 or 6 years old when I first heard about the sinking of the great ship. I had watched a television drama; I don’t remember if it was the old Armstrong Circle Theater or The Alcoa Hour. It may have been on the Kraft Television Theater 1) showing of ‘A Night to Remember’, broadcast on live television in 1955 showing the sinking of the ‘Titanic’. There was also a version of the Titanic story on the very spooky TV Show, “One Step Beyond” hosted by John Newland.
Shortly after watching the TV drama, I went to bed and then had a nightmare about the Ship. I was in the ocean, bobbing like a cork in the water and this huge ship was sinking next to me. If the ship was this huge, and sinking next to me, then, what was below me? That was how my child’s mind and emotions were thinking in this dream.
Titanic had captured my child’s imagination; until I learned about Noah’s Ark! There are some striking contrasts and parallels between the two ships. Here are a few which I thought of:
1} The Titanic sank in calm water; however Noah’s Ark kept afloat in the worst kind of turbulent water
2} Most of humanity did not know, or was related to, anyone who was aboard the Titanic; however, we have ALL been descended from Noah and his family, all of whom were descended from Adam!
3} Most people did not survive the sinking; however, ALL who were aboard Noah’s Ark, including the animals and possibly insects, survived and were the progenitors of the human race, animal race and insect race as we now know it.
4} The Titanic was made mostly of Iron and Steel; however, Noah used the natural materials which God had commanded him to use, primarily Gopher Wood and pitch.
5} Both Ships were big, with Titanic being much bigger. Assuming that the current Wikipedia article on the RMS Titanic 2) is accurate, to quote: “Titanic was 882 feet 9 inches (269.06 m) long with a maximum breadth of 92 feet 6 inches (28.19 m). Her total height, measured from the base of the keel to the top of the bridge, was 104 feet (32 m). She measured 46,328 gross register tons and with a draught of 34 feet 7 inches (10.54 m), she displaced 52,310 tons.” Henry Morris, in his book “The Genesis Record” 3) provides a conservative estimate of Noah’s Ark, on page 181, of “438 feet long, 72.9 feet wide, and 43.8 feet high. Despite being smaller, however, the Ark survived on waters that were exceedingly violent, unlike Titanic which sank in calm, cold water.
My interest in Noah’s Ark really started with a television special telecast during the 1990’s, hosted by actor Darren McGavin and shown on CBS, titled “In Search of Noah’s Ark”. Some of the comments of this show were made by Creationists. However, no one mentioned the reason for the Flood – the Giants mentioned in Genesis 6:4.
Amillenialists and others who do not teach the literal approach to the Bible, use what some call the “Sethite” theory, which simply means that believers married unbelievers. The Hebrew word for “Giants” is “Nephilim and, according to Morris’ in his book “The Genesis Record”, “comes from the verb naphal, meaning “fall“, or “those who have fallen” (Page 172). In other words, the fallen angels had relations with the human females and produced offspring that were not human, but something else!
From the information that I have read, Noah’s Ark is still resting somewhere on Mount Ararat but is covered in ice and is very difficult to find and reach.
Like Titanic, the Ark may be broken into two pieces upon the Mountain, due to a previous earthquake. You can read about the search for the Ark on Ark Search 4); and Noah’s Ark Search 5). There are other websites too numerous to cite so I’ll leave that for all of you to discover.
I am writing this article in the hope that perhaps Noah’s Ark will again become the focus of humanity – a Ship that we are all descended from; and not a Ship that none of us ever came from.
It was said of the Titanic that “God Himself Couldn’t Sink It”. We can look at the error of that thinking and know that God may have taken this blasphemy seriously and simply took his Grace away from the so-called famous ocean liner. In contrast, God Himself closed the door to the Ark after Noah, who was the last one aboard, entered within.
NOTES and WEBLINKS:
1) VOL. 9 of the “Kraft Television Theater” showing of “A Night to Remember, broadcast in 1955 – http://www.kinevideo.net/dramas.php
2) Wikipedia: RMS Titanic – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Titanic
3) “The Genesis Record” by Henry M. Morris – © 1976; ISBN: 0-8010-6004-4; Baker Book House and Master Books co-publishers
4) Ark Search – http://www.arksearch.com/
5) Noah’s Ark Search – http://www.noahsarksearch.com/
Christopher Mangan