A geologist attempting to prove that the great flood described in the Bible really happened has been granted permission to collect rock samples from the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
"The Grand Canyon is the gold standard for geologists," Andrew Snelling, who believes in the literal interpretation of the Bible, told The Australian.
"It's important because it's the largest and deepest canyon in the world … The walls are stacked like pancakes: shale, sandstone, limestone, mud. There are more rock layers exposed there than anywhere else."
In 2014, Snelling — director of research at Answers in Genesis, a Kentucky-based group of Christian scientists — asked the Department of the Interior to let him remove 50 to 60 "fist-sized" rock samples.
When the agency rejected his proposal saying it lacked scientific merit, Snelling filed suit claiming religious discrimination. But this week, he agreed to drop his legal action in exchange for permission to proceed with the excavations.
"Even if I don't find the evidence I think I will find, it wouldn't assault my core beliefs. We already have evidence that is consistent with a great flood that swept the world," Snelling said.
The great flood, described in the Bible's Book of Genesis, tells of God's decision to flood the Earth and start anew because its inhabitants had become evil and wicked. According to the Bible, God told Noah to build an ark and stock it with every species of animal.
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