New Books in Critical Theory Philip C. Almond, "Noah and the Flood in Western Thought" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
6 snips
Mar 21, 2026 Philip C. Almond, Emeritus Professor in the History of Religious Thought, unpacks Noah as more than a biblical figure — a proto-shipbuilder, navigator, scientist and founder of disciplines. He traces the flood’s secular and religious afterlives across geology, biology, interfaith readings, racial misuse, ark hunts, and modern climate anxiety. The conversation connects ancient narratives to today’s environmental responsibilities.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Noah As A Second Creation Story
- Noah functions as a second creation story that restarts humanity after divine regret.
- Almond notes this made Noah central to explanations about human diversity, animal dispersal, and early scientific timelines tied to Genesis.
Biblical Flood Unlike Mesopotamian Floods
- The biblical flood differs from Mesopotamian floods by being ethical and placed in linear world history.
- Almond contrasts capricious Mesopotamian gods with a morally motivated Yahweh and situates the flood within creation-to-Revelation chronology.
Allegory Dominated Until The Reformation
- Early Jewish, Christian, and Gnostic readers prioritized allegory, reading the ark as a prototype of the church.
- Almond explains allegorical exegesis dominated until the 16th-century Reformation shifted emphasis to literal readings.
