" It involves an epic journey from the slopes of Mount Ararat in Turkey to India and finally Oman as she unearths a significant number of scientific facts to back up what some dismiss as a fairy story."
Oh dear.
"Not just a physical search for the ship, it’s more about the symbolism of the story and our need to believe in it"
Oh dear Oh dear. :)
If I get chance, I might watch it, cos Lumley is pleasant enough, and what they consider "scientific evidence" might be worth a laugh......
The truth is would finding Noah’s ark really confirm and even create faith? The Bible shows that genuine faith does not depend on objects we can see and touch. (2 Corinthians 5:7) Some people are so skeptical that they insist that only physical evidence would enable them to put faith in certain Bible accounts. So the truth is, though, that for such individuals no amount of evidence would produce faith. Jesus himself said that some people simply cannot be convinced of spiritual truths—even if they should see someone rise from the dead!—Luke 16:31.
//would finding Noah’s ark really confirm and even create faith? //
No. It would confirm that such a vessel existed, but no more than that.
Don't you ever wonder why God didn't just zap that ark into existence rather than put Noah to all that trouble? I mean, imagine how many trees would have had to have been felled for a start, and in an area where trees are pretty scarce - and the tremendous amount of work involved in the construction - and all with primitive tools.
//Some people are so skeptical that they insist that only physical evidence would enable them to put faith in certain Bible accounts. //
And some people are so skeptical that they insist that only physical evidence would enable them to put faith in certain Koranic accounts, or hindu Vedas accounts or Bhagavad Gita accounts.
If physical proof does not matter goodlife - why are you so intent on trying to defend the concept with cutting edge research like waxed paper models in bathtubs?
This is what I mean - your faith often takes you into conflict with science and rationality. It leads you to reject empirical evidence to the contrary - and for what? In an attempt to justify something - in this case Noahs Ark - that you say yourself requires no physical evidence for the faithful to believe?
You will have a problem in convincing rationalists and sceptics with that argument though, especially when the initial concept is so clearly a myth. Practicality dictates that there is no way that such a construct would float, nevermind the actual logistics of assembling 2 (or 7) of each of every single species, getting them all in a boat, then feeding them and cleaning them out is impossible.
I missed the beginning of the prog but the second half was really good IMO, demonstrates how there is a flood story, with one man and his family being saved, in all three Abrahamic faiths and in Hinduism. Lumley is good at this, she is genuinely interested, there's nothing celeb about her - and the academics respond to her. It's on again next Sunday (30th) at 5.15pm - I'll try to catch it again so I can see all of it.