NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Some people express grave reservations about Ron Wyatt’s “discovery” of Noah’s Ark.
There are those who challenge Wyatt’s claims concerning Noah’s Ark because of other controversial discoveries he claimed to have made. Wyatt said he found the actual spot where Moses and the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and that he located the “real” Mount Sinai and the “real” site of Jesus’ crucifixion. Most incredibly, he was adamant about his having seen the Ark of the Covenant in a cave below that cross, spotted with blood that he said was proven by DNA analysis to have belonged to someone born of a virgin.
Others are skeptical because of Wyatt’s methods and his lack of qualification and experience. He was, after all, not trained as an archeologist or geologist but as a registered nurse anesthetist. Perhaps he was naïve and too eager to seize on evidence that seemed to support his earnest belief in the Bible.
Some reject Wyatt because they hold alternate theories about the location of the Ark, primarily that the great ship rests on Ararat’s peak itself. Most ongoing Ark research focuses on an inaccessible area at 15,500 feet where an “anomaly” has been photographed by satellites. Experts hope the nature of that formation can be resolved with space technology that can identify different kinds of matter by the amount of reflected sunlight.
Some are skeptical because in the past others have made outrageous claims about having discovered the Ark — like George Hagiopian’s assertion in 1905 that he actually walked on the Ark’s deck as a child.
Others discount Wyatt’s work because they doubt the existence of an Ark at all. These critics would not be satisfied with anything short of absolute proof. Determined not to believe, no evidence would be persuasive enough for such skeptics.
In the end, the merit of Wyatt’s claims is not an issue of faith versus science. It is a matter of looking at the evidence and asking, “Is the evidence solid?” and “What is the most reasonable explanation of the evidence?”
Whatever the scientific conclusions about Wyatt’s discovery, the proof and the significance of the Ark account do not rest with the physical evidence he claimed to have found at Durupinar.
The Genesis account of Noah and the flood reveal a truth about God’s authority and power, about His judgment against wickedness and His mercy in rescuing those who obey Him. People insist on living in ways other than to honor the Almighty who gives life and breath. Yet, in His grace, God provided a way for us to be set free from the power and penalty of our sin.
This freedom — our only hope of experiencing the kind of life God wants to give us — lies in “faithing” Jesus, taking the risk of following His way because we trust Him to keep his promises.
Like Noah, we must endure the ridicule of those who live for themselves and trust our destinies to the One who makes all things new.
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Based on accounts of Ron Wyatt’s expeditions archived by Wyatt Archeological Research at wyattmuseum.com.
