THE PITCH FOR NOAH’S ARK
Evolutions misguided children
Many geologists claim that Noah
could not possibly have built the ark in the manner described in Genesis. They
argue that pitch could not have been used to cover the ark and make it
waterproof. Pitch, they claim, is derived from oil or coal, and if coal did not
form until during the time of Noah’s Flood, he could not possibly have covered
the ark with pitch.
For those who are not geologists,
pitch is a black glue-like substance left behind when coal tar is heated or
distilled. It belongs to the same family of substances as asphalt or bitumen.
Today, it is largely produced by heating coal. Most modern geologists know of
no other source for it. But coal tar and petroleum are not the only source for
pitch. Anyone who takes the time to consult a reasonable dictionary of geology
will find that pitch can be extracted by distilling or heating wood. In fact,
prior to the rise of the petroleum and coal industries, this was exactly how
pitch was made.
For at least one thousand years, the
pitch-making industry in Europe flourished. It was the pitch from this industry
which assisted in the construction of those great wooden sailing ships which
figured so prominently in European history. Pitch making was a skilled trade,
and many European surnames bear testimony to that fact today. In Polish, the
word for pitch or tar is ‘smola’. Any Polish telephone directory displays names
such as Smola, Smolander, Smolen, Smolenski and Smolarz. These surnames simply
mean ‘the man who makes pitch’.
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