Abstract
Acceptance of old-earth ideas, including the Big Bang, progressive creation,theistic evolution, the framework hypothesis, etc., necessarily impliesdowngrading the Flood of Noah's day from worldwide in scope to merely one oflocal extent. For example, Dr. Hugh Ross (an aggressive advocate of billions ofyears for the earth's age) vigorously denies the global flood. He calls it"universal," covering all that Noah could see, but not the entireearth. This insistence does not come from sound Biblical exegesis, but from theincompatibility of a global flood with old-earth thinking, which he accepts.The evidence for great ages is thought to be found in the rock and fossilrecords of the earth's crust. These are interpreted by the principle ofuniformitarianism, that "the present is the key to the past." Sincegeologic processes happen slowly today, they argue, the extensive rock andfossil records must have taken great lengths of time to form.