@Jeremiah Ames ...this is in response you your questions as best as the Bible allows me to answer them.....
since the flood is quite literal, I have a few questions:
how big was the ship?
It wasn’t a ship...it had no bow, or stern and no rudder. It was a gigantic floating box. It was not designed for navigation....only to float.
According to the Bible it was about 300 cubits long (438 ft or 134 m)...50 cubits wide (73ft or 22m) and 30 cubits high (44ft or 13m). Something the size of the QE 11.
Ship builders down through time have used the ratios of the ark to build very stable seaworthy vessels....even in the roughest of seas. The ark had a 10:1 ratio which can withstand the kinds of stresses that the ark and any other sea going vessel would have endured.
Just to give you the scale...
how many people were on it
Eight......Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives.
how many animals?
The Bible does not give a number but mentions “kinds” which would not necessarily include every species within a “kind” (or family). And we can subtract the many marine creatures because they did not need the ark to survive. It was only for land dwelling air breathers.
Noah did not have to collect his specimens either, since God brought them all to the ark for Noah and his sons to guide them in. Seven of the “clean” animals and two of the “unclean” ones. Humans did not have permission to eat flesh until Noah came out of the ark, so all on board ate grains and seeds and vegetation.
It was three stories high....perhaps one for the larger animals, (possibly the bottom floor) one for food storage, and perhaps the smaller ones, and a third deck for the humans. This would have provided an overall storage area of about 96,000 sq ft. (or 8,900 sq m) It was built out of a resinous wood (water proof) and was sealed inside and out with tar...robust and water tight.
The roof may have been gabled, so that opening one cubit below it would have provided ventilation and light. Remember that windows in those days weren’t like ours today. All of the construction plans were given to Noah by God, so all he had to do was follow the design plan to the letter...which he did.
Even weight distribution would also have added to the stability.
how many doors?
Only one
how many windows?
It appears that the openings were high up, possibly along the full length of the vessel, to allow for air circulation and light..
the door and window would not be opened during a violent storm
The door was shut by God and not opened again by him until the ark was on dry land.
The windows being high up may not have allowed the sea water inside. Since God was controlling it all, he would have offered his protection to all inside his ark of safety....it is why they were inside it.
but the animals had to eat, correct?
All that was necessary was given in the instructions that God gave to Noah. He knew exactly how much food to gather and what kind was needed.
At that time, there were no carnivores except for the carrion creatures, (those who cleaned up dead carcasses) so there was no predatory activity on board.....very few meat eaters, so vegetation like straw that stores well would have provided many of the animals with food.
if they eat, then they must poop
Indeed, but seeing as how they were herbivores for the most part, their droppings could have been pitched overboard through the window openings. I don’t know what else they could have done to keep things manageably clean.
I am sure though that God would have had instructions for all those things. Hygiene was a large part of his law.
do you know how much food 1 single elephant eats in 1 single day?
Yes...and so does God. Since he fed the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years, (not just 40 days) and God’s prophet Elijah caused the meager rations of a needy widow to keep reproducing until the end of a drought, why assume that anything is impossible for God? There is no mention of any food shortages.
do you know how much poop comes from 1 single elephant in 1 single day?
Yes and again, so does God. This was his plan remember....? He would have had all that sorted before Noah even entered the ark. I can imagine some kind of waste disposal system in the plan. No one would have wanted to wade in knee high poop.
how do 8 people survive in an enclosed space with all those animals and all that poop for 40 days?
It wasn't just 40 days....that is how long it rained....they were in the ark for about a year. They would have had plenty of room if they had a whole floor to themselves.
and, finally what about all the pee?
Again God would have provided instructions on how to manage things and remain hygienic.
it may sound gross, but the questions are legitimate, and the math just doesn’t add up to me.
Don’t leave God out of the equation.....don’t you think that God would have sorted all that out in the planning?
i’m an engineer, and to make that all work is beyond me
You are not God......being an engineer is good because you are concerned with the mechanics.....but being a brilliant engineer like the one who designed all the mechanics of creation......is even better.
but I’m more than happy to learn more about the process
We are all a work in progress. A relationship with God must be based on trust....and I think we can see in creation itself the way systems are designed to work flawlessly and interactively.....unless interfered with by man.
yes, according to Ken the Ham, there were dinosaurs as well
sheesh, more poop
LOL.....there were no dinosaurs on the ark...they were long extinct before humans came on the scene....otherwise we would have become some sticky muck between a dinosaur’s toes.....
If you know what the Bible teaches, rather than what men assume that it teaches, there are no questions that undo the reasons for why those things happened.
Do you know why God sent the flood in the first place and why he responded the way he did?
