A contentious issue that seems to be a major dividing point between atheists and the religious, as well as among various religious groups themselves, is the biblical account of the Flood. This has ranged, comically in some cases, from external discussions regarding the breathing space and window size needed for x number of species to apparent internal contradictions in the durations of the flood itself. Obviously, undertaking every issue would require more time than I have to spare, but I can hopefully settle enough in the following posts so as to dissipate some of the histrionics that plague serious discussion. First of all, the notion of the geographic universality of the Flood can, contrary to some interpreters, be abandoned while still doing justice to the Genesis account and without compromising the anthropological universality the Deluge.
