Episode 121. Let's unpack this fascinating passage by St. Augustine in Quote 8, regarding the redistribution of animals to distant islands after the flood. First, it's very important to point out, St. Augustine is thinking within his intellectual toolbox. He's very logical and outlines on one hypothesis followed by another hypothesis. Notably, Augustine accepts the science or biology of the day, in that he believes in spontaneous generation. According to him and his generation, frogs sprang directly from the soil. Augustine also had no problem whatsoever in proposing that God or Angels-of-the-Gaps as a mechanism to transport animals to distant islands. Divine interventionism was perfectly acceptable during this period. Finally, and most importantly, St. Augustine fully embraced scientific concordism. Let me explain this in more detail. According to St. Augustine's Seed Principles Theory, God initially created a world with the seeds of different animals. These are term in Latin, Rationes seminales, this can be translated as seed principles or irrational seeds. Augustine then suggested, that these initial seeds then sprouted like plants into the various animals. Clearly, we have here the one seed theory of reproduction. In that an entire animal is inside a seed from which it emerges. To defend his Seed Principles Theory, Augustine appeals to the six day of creation where it states in Genesis 1:24, God said let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds. Livestock, creatures that move along the ground and wild animals. In other words, Augustine reads this verse in a literal and concortise manner. He reasons that since the land produced animals, God must have planted them there in a seed form. In the light of this ancient biology, Augustine's Hypothesis #4, now makes perfect sense. Augustine theorizes that some animal seeds landed on distant islands after the flood, and they sprouted to become the animals of those islands. Clearly, this famous Christian theologian fully embraced Scientific Concordism and the Biology-of-the-Day. Now that we have an appreciation of the ancient science embraced by Augustine, we can stop for a moment for a very critical excursus entitled St. Augustine, Adam, Original Sin, and Ancient Biology. The Doctrine of Original Sin is one of the most important doctrines in Christianity. It was formulated by St. Augustine around 400. This doctrine has two foundational beliefs. It refers to, number one, the first sin committed by Adam who was a real man and the first man in history. This doctrine also asserts that, number two, sin transferred from Adam to all humans. In this way, all humans descent from Adam. Therefore, with the doctrine of original sin being a central doctrine in Christianity, it is easy to see why a historical Adam is entrenched in Roman Catholic and Protestant Christianity. And why most Christians believe that Adam was a real person. However, as we've just seen in Quote 8, St. Augustine accepted Ancient Biology. In particular, he believed in spontaneous generation and his Seed Principles theory. So here is a question that will challenge many Christians. Is Augustine's historical Adam based on an ancient biology of human origins? No doubt about it, this is a question few Christians ever ask. But we need to ask it, and we will return to it as we proceed through this course. Here are some conclusions regarding the Early Church and the Flood. First, the biblical flood was viewed as a real historical and worldwide event. Second, flood scholarship and apologetics emerged during this period in the early church. And scholars used non-biblical information such as marine fossils found at the tops of mountains to defend their belief in a worldwide flood. Notably, God and angels-of-the-gaps was a mechanism to explain the physical world. For example, Augustine had no problem using divine or angelic interventionism to transport animals to distant islands after the flood. Finally, scientific and historical concordism characterized the hermeneutics of Genesis 6 to 9 in the early church. Noah's flood was seen as a record of actual events. End of episode.