Early Christian Beliefs About Noah and the Flood
Early Christians taught that Noah was a real righteous man and that God saved him through the ark while the flood judged the wicked. Writers like Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Theophilus of Antioch, Cyprian, and Lactantius repeat this plainly. Many of them also read the ark as a picture of Christ, baptism, and the Church. The main teaching is strong; the symbolic use is common, but it is a second layer of meaning.
137 early-church witnesses · 183 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about noah and the Flood?
Early Christians taught that Noah was a real righteous man whom God saved through the ark and the flood. Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Theophilus of Antioch, Cyprian, and Lactantius all treat the flood as a real event, not a myth, and many say Noah was saved with his family while the wicked were destroyed. Several writers also use Noah and the ark as a picture of Christ, baptism, and the Church, especially Cyprian and Justin.
The evidence is broad and steady on the reality of the flood and Noah’s deliverance, but the typology is mixed with later moral and church-focused readings. Some cards are mostly date calculations or background, so they do not add much to the main teaching. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christian writers treated Noah and the flood as real history, not legend.
- They taught that God saved Noah, his family, and the animals in the ark.
- Several writers used the ark as a type of Christ, baptism, or the Church.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians teach that Noah's flood was a real judgment on wickedness?
The selected sources describe the flood as God's judgment on a wicked world, not merely as a symbol. They also say Noah was preserved while others perished, often emphasizing that he was righteous or faithful.
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Justin Martyr, The Second Apology Supporting witness
but the fire of judgment would descend and utterly dissolve all things, even as formerly the flood left no one but him only with his family who is by us called Noah, and by you Deucalion, from whom again such vast numbers have sprung, some of them evil and others good.
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness
...eople were kept safe in the ark, which had been prepared by God's command, not by Deucalion, but by Noah. This Hebrew name means "rest," as we have shown elsewhere. Noah, when he announced to the people then living that a flood was coming, prophesied to them and said, "Come here, God calls you to repentance." For this reason he was fittingly called Deucalion. And this Noah had three sons, as we mentioned in the second book. Their names were Shem, Ham, and Japhet. They also had three wives, one wife for each man, each man with his wife. Some have given this man the surname Eunuchus. Therefore, all eight persons who were found in the ark were preserved. And Moses showed that the flood lasted forty days and forty nights. Torrents poured from heaven, and the fountains of the deep burst open, so that the water rose fifteen cubits above every high hill. And so the whole human race that existed at that time was destroyed, and only those who were sheltered in the ark were saved. As we have already said, these were eight. And the remains of the ark can still be seen to this day in the Arabian mountains. This, then, is the summary of the history of the flood.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
who brought the great flood upon the world by reason of the multitude of the ungodly, and delivered righteous Noah from that flood by an ark, 1 Peter 3:20 with eight souls, the end of the foregoing generations, and the beginning of those that were to come;
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Genesis 7:6 Direct teaching
Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth.
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Genesis 7:23 Supporting witness
And God blotted out every offspring which was upon the face of the earth, both man and beast, and reptiles, and birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth, and Noah was left alone, and those with him in the ark.
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2 Peter 3:6 Supporting witness
and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
More related quotations from this section 24 shown of 25
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Julius Africanus, Extant Writings Direct teaching
...ntil the flood, in the case of the sinners of that time; for they were 20 years old. God instructed Noe, who pleased Him because of his righteousness, to prepare an ark. When it was finished, Noe himself entered it, and his sons, his wife, and his daughters-in-law, and the firstlings of every living creature, for the continuation of the race. And Noe was 600 years old when the flood came upon the earth. When the water went down, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, which we know to be in Parthia. But some say they are at Celaenae in Phrygia, and I have seen both places. And the flood prevailed for a year, and then the earth became dry. And they came out of the ark in pairs, as may be found, and not in the way in which they had entered, that is, distinguished according to their species, and they were blessed by God. And each of these things points to something useful for us.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
...ght the great flood upon the world because of the multitude of the ungodly, and delivered righteous Noah from that flood by an ark, 1 Peter 3:20, with eight souls, the end of the former generations and the beginning of those who were to come. You kindled a fearful fire against the five cities of Sodom, and turned a fruitful land into a salt lake because of the wickedness of those who lived in it, but snatched holy Lot out of the fire. You are He who delivered Abraham from the impiety of his forefathers, appointed him to be the heir of the world, and revealed Your Christ to him; who beforehand ordained Melchizedek as a high priest for Your worship; who made Your patient servant Job the conqueror of that serpent who is the patron of wickedness; who made Isaac the son of the promise, and Jacob the father of twelve sons, and increased his posterity into a multitude, and brought him into Egypt with seventy-five souls. You, O Lord, did not ignore Joseph, but granted him, as a reward for his chastity for Your sake, rule over the Egyptians. You, O Lord, did not ignore the Hebrews when they were afflicted by the Egyptians on account of the promises made to their fathers, but You delivere
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness
For as it was in the days of Noah, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Before the flood, they were eating and drinking, taking wives, and giving wives to men, until the day Noah entered the ark. They did not realize it until the flood came and took them all away. So the coming of the Son of Man will be. And as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day Lot went out from Sodom, the Lord rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. So it will be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, whoever is on the roof, with his garments in the house, must not go down to take them. And he who is in the field must not turn back behind him. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever desires to save his life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life will save it. Truly I say to you, in that night there will be two in one bed; one will be taken, and the other left. Two women will be grinding at one mill; one will be taken, and the other left. And two will be in the field; one will be taken, and the other left. They answered and said to him, "To what place, our Lord?" He said to them, "Where the bod
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Tatian, The Diatessaron Supporting witness
39 Matthew 24:38 As they were before the flood eating and drinking, and taking wives, and giving 40 wives to men, Matthew 24:39 until the day in which Noah entered into the ark, and they perceived not till the flood came, and took them all;
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Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness
And in Noah's time there occurred a flood throughout the entire world, which neither Egyptians, nor Chaldeans, nor Greeks recollect;
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Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness
This Noah, inasmuch as he was a most religious and God-loving man, alone, with wife and children, and the three wives of these, escaped the flood that ensued.
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness
During Noah's life, in his 600th year, the flood came.
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Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews Supporting witness
Noah also, uncircumcised — yes, and inobservant of the Sabbath— God freed from the deluge.
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness
And he says that eight human beings were preserved in the ark, in that which had been prepared by God's direction, not by Deucalion, but by Noah;
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
and said, In the Ark of Noah, few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water;
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
And Noah, whose origin was not the same as Adam's, was saved by divine care.
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Tertullian, On Fasting Supporting witness
... after the rein had been relaxed, he was to be strengthened by his very liberty. Equally, after the deluge, in the reformation of the human race, as before it, one law was enough: abstaining from blood, while the use of everything else was allowed. For the Lord had already shown His judgment through the deluge. He had, moreover, also issued a comminatory warning through the requiring of blood from the hand of a brother and from the hand of every beast. And so, preministering the justice of judgment, He issued the materials of liberty. Through allowance, He was preparing an undergrowth of discipline. He permitted all things with a view to take some away. He meant to exact more if He had committed more. He meant to command abstinence since He had foreseen indulgence. This was so that, as we have said, the primordial sin might be the more expiated by the practice of a greater abstinence in the midst of the opportunity of a greater liberty.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
He, when six hundred years old, built an ark, as God had commanded him, in which he himself was saved, together with his wife and three sons, and as many daughters-in-law, when the water had covered all the loftiest mountains.
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Genesis 8:11 Supporting witness
And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
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Genesis 8:18 Supporting witness
And Noah came forth, and his wife and his sons, and his sons’ wives with him.
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Wisdom of Sirach 44:18 Supporting witness
An everlasting covenant was made with him, That all flesh shall perish no more by the flood.
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Genesis 7:13 Supporting witness
On that very day entered Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him into the ark.
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Genesis 7:11 Supporting witness
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.
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Genesis 8:1 Supporting witness
And God remembered Noah, and all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and all the reptiles that creep, as many as were with him in the ark, and God brought a wind upon the earth, and the water stayed.
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Genesis 8:13 Supporting witness
In the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry.
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Genesis 7:17 Supporting witness
And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
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Genesis 10:1 Supporting witness
Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth; and sons were born to them after the flood.
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Genesis 10:32 Supporting witness
These are the tribes of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, according to their nations: of them were the islands of the Gentiles scattered over the earth after the flood.
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Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Background
After the flood, there was again a beginning of cities and kings, in the following way. The first city was Babylon, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. And their king was called Nebroth, that is, Nimrod. From these came Asshur, from whom also the Assyrians receive their name. And Nimrod built the cities Nineveh and Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and Calah. And Nineveh became a very great city. And another son of Shem, the son of Noah, by name Mizraim, was the father of Ludim, and those called Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, out of whom came Philistin. However, of the three sons of Noah, and of their death and genealogy, we have given a brief record in the above-mentioned book. But now we will mention the remaining facts concerning cities and kings, and the things that happened when there was one speech and one language. Before the dividing of the languages, these cities already existed. But when men were about to be dispersed, they took counsel by their own judgment, and not at the prompting of God, to build a city, and a tower whose top might reach into heaven, so that they might make a glorious name for themse
How did early Christians describe Noah and the eight who were saved in the ark?
Several sources say Noah was found righteous, warned by God, and saved with his household and the animals in the ark. The writers repeatedly stress that only eight persons were preserved through the flood.
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Clement of Rome, Connection to 1 Peter 3:20 Supporting witness
Noah, being found faithful, preached regeneration to the world through his ministry; and the Lord saved by him the animals which, with one accord, entered into the ark.
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Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness
...en they call on Me, in the time of their affliction." Jeremiah 7:16 But who was more righteous than Noah, who, when the earth was filled with sins, alone was found righteous on the earth? Who was more glorious than Daniel? Who was stronger in suffering martyrdom with firmness of faith, more blessed in God's condescension, who so many times, both when he was in conflict conquered, and when he had conquered, lived on? Was anyone more ready in good works than Job, braver in temptations, more patient in sufferings, more submissive in his fear, more true in his faith? And yet God said that He would not grant their request if they were to ask. When the prophet Ezekiel pleaded for the sin of the people, He said, "If any land sins against Me by grievous trespass, I will stretch out My hand upon it, and will break its staff of bread, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters; but they alone would be delivered themselves." Ezekiel 14:13-14 Thus, not everything that is asked depends on the expectation of the one asking, but on the free will of the one giving.
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Genesis 7:1 Supporting witness
And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
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Genesis 6:9 Supporting witness
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.
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Genesis 6:22 Supporting witness
And Noah did all things whatever the Lord God commanded him, so did he.
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2 Peter 2:5 Direct teaching
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
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Hebrews 11:7 Supporting witness
By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
More related quotations from this section 5 shown
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
since they were ignorant both at what time the flood happened on the earth, and who it was that deserved on account of his righteousness to be saved when the human race perished, and how and with whom he was saved: all of which are taught by the inspired writings.
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness
and Noah, who, having believed, was saved; and Abraham, who for his faith and hospitality was called the friend of God, and was the father of Isaac.
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Wisdom of Sirach 44:17 Supporting witness
Noah was found perfect and righteous; In the time of wrath he was taken in exchange for the world; Therefore was he left as a remnant unto the earth, When the flood came.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background
...ough Enos and through Enoch, who was taken up. He instructed those at the time of the flood through Noah; the people of Sodom through hospitable Lot; those after the flood through Melchizedek, the patriarchs, and Job, the beloved of God; the Egyptians through Moses; the Israelites through him, and Joshua, and Caleb, and Phinehas, and the rest; those after the law through angels and prophets, and the same people by His own incarnation from the Virgin; those a little before His bodily appearing through John His forerunner, and the same people by that same man after Christ's birth, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," Matthew 3:2; and those after His passion through us, the twelve apostles, and Paul, the chosen vessel. Therefore we, who have been counted worthy of the favor of being witnesses of His appearing, together with James the brother of our Lord, and the other seventy-two disciples, and his seven deacons, have heard from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with exact knowledge declare what the will of God is, that good and acceptable and perfect will, Romans 12:2, which is made known to us by Jesus: that none should perish, but that all men with one a
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Genesis 5:29 Background
and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the LORD has cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”
Did early Christians see Noah's ark as a type of the Church or baptism?
This is one of the clearest patterns in the sources: Noah’s ark is repeatedly called a type, figure, or sacrament of the Church, and sometimes linked directly to baptism. The same texts use Peter’s language about eight souls saved by water to make the point.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...e Church is one, and that only those who are in the Church can be baptized. He said, “In the ark of Noah, few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water; the like figure to which even baptism shall save you.” 1 Peter 3:20-21 In this way he proves and testifies that the one ark of Noah was a type of the one Church. If, then, in that baptism by which the world was expiated and purified, the person who was not in Noah’s ark could be saved by water, then the person who is not in the Church, to which alone baptism is granted, can also now be made alive by baptism. Moreover, the Apostle Paul, showing this same thing even more openly and clearly, writes to the Ephesians and says, “Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water.” But if the Church is one, and it alone is loved by Christ and cleansed by His washing, how can someone who is not in the Church be either loved by Christ, or washed and cleansed by His washing?
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...d and warned us that we cannot be saved except by the one baptism of the one Church. "In the ark of Noah," he says, "few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water; baptism will likewise save you also." 1 Peter 3:20-21 In a very short and spiritual summary, he has set forth the sacred mystery of unity. For just as, in that baptism of the world, when its ancient wickedness was washed away, the person who was not in Noah's ark could not be saved by water, so also a person cannot seem to be saved by baptism if he has not been baptized in the Church, which is established in the unity of the Lord according to the sacred mystery of the one ark.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...he saving lava from the fountain which is enclosed within, and sealed with a divine seal? And since Noah's ark was nothing else than the sacrament of the Church of Christ, which at that time, when all outside were perishing, kept safe only those who were within the ark, we are plainly taught to look to the unity of the Church. As the Apostle Peter also laid down, saying, "Thus also shall baptism in like manner make you safe" (1 Peter 3:21). This shows that those who were not in the ark with Noah not only were not cleansed and saved by water, but at once perished in that deluge. So now also, whoever are not in the Church with Christ will perish outside, unless they are converted by penitence to the only and saving lava of the Church.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
1 Peter 3:20-21 proving and attesting that the one Ark of Noah was a type of the one Church.
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness
..., then, gentlemen," I said, "that God has said in Isaiah to Jerusalem: 'I saved you in the flood of Noah.' What God meant by this is that the mystery of saved people was revealed in the flood. Righteous Noah, together with the other humans at the flood—meaning his wife, his three sons, and their wives, totaling eight people—symbolized the eighth day when Christ appeared by rising from the dead, forever the first in power. Christ, being the firstborn of every creature, became the leader of a new human race, regenerated by Himself through water, faith, and wood, symbolizing the mystery of the cross; just as Noah was saved by wood when he floated over the waters with his family. So, when the prophet says, 'I saved you in the times of Noah,' as I've already mentioned, he is addressing those who are equally faithful to God and bear the same signs. For when Moses had the rod in his hands, he led your nation through the sea. And you believe this was spoken only to your nation or to the land. However, the entire earth, as Scripture states, was flooded, and the water rose fifteen cubits above all the mountains, making it clear that this was not spoken to the land, but to the people who o
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness
For righteous Noah, along with the other mortals at the deluge, i.e., with his own wife, his three sons and their wives, being eight in number, were a symbol of the eighth day, wherein Christ appeared when He rose from the dead, for ever the first in power.
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Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness
even as Noah was saved by wood when he rode over the waters with his household.
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1 Peter 3:20 Direct teaching
because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.
More related quotations from this section 4 shown
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Anonymous, Treatise Against the Heretic Novatian Typology
Therefore that deluge which happened under Noah showed forth the figure of the persecution which now lately was poured forth over the whole world.
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Wisdom of Solomon 10:4 Typology
For whose cause the earth being drowned with the flood, wisdom again preserved it, And directed the course of the righteous in a piece of wood of small value.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Typology
Noah came out of the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the month Jiar, in the second year. The ark kept sailing for five whole months, and it moved back and forth on the waters. Then, over a period of fifty-one days, it came near the land. After that, it did not keep floating around any longer. Instead, it moved in turn toward the four main directions of the earth, and at last it came to rest facing east. We also say that this was a sign of the cross. And the ark was a symbol of the Christ who was expected. For that ark was the means of salvation for Noah and his sons, and also for the cattle, the wild animals, and the birds. And Christ too, when He suffered on the cross, delivered us from accusations and sins, and washed us in His own most pure blood.
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4 Maccabees 15:31 Typology
For as the ark of Noah, bearing the world in the world-filling flood, bore up against the waves,
Did early Christians say Noah preached repentance or righteousness before the flood?
The sources present Noah not only as a survivor but also as a witness who warned others. One early witness says he preached repentance, while Scripture calls him a preacher of righteousness and says he was divinely warned.
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Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness
...ce he embodies all the wickedness that occurred before the flood due to the apostasy of the angels. Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world because of that infamous generation in Noah's time. The Antichrist also embodies every error of false idols since the flood, along with the killing of the prophets and the destruction of the just. The image set up by Nebuchadnezzar was sixty cubits tall and six cubits wide; Ananias, Azarias, and Mishaell, who refused to worship it, were thrown into a furnace of fire, prophetically indicating the wrath against the righteous that will arise towards the end times. That image, in its entirety, prefigured this man’s arrival, decreeing that he alone should be worshipped by all men. Thus, the six hundred years of Noah, during which the flood occurred because of apostasy, and the dimensions of the image for which these just men were thrown into the fiery furnace, indicate the number of the name of that man in whom the entire apostasy of six thousand years, unrighteousness, wickedness, false prophecy, and deception are concentrated; for these reasons, a cataclysm of fire will also come upo
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Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness
...as Caïnan, and the father of Caïnan was Arphaxad, whose father was Shem, and the father of Shem was Noah. In Noah's time there was a flood over the whole world, which neither Egyptians, nor Chaldeans, nor Greeks remember. For the floods that happened in the time of Ogyges and Deucalion reached only the places where those people lived. So then, in the case of these patriarchs, that is, from Noah to Heber inclusive, there were five generations and 495 years. This Noah, since he was a very reverent man and one who loved God, alone escaped the flood that followed, along with his wife, his children, and their three wives. He was preserved by an ark. And both the measurements and the remains of this ark are, as we have explained, shown to this day in the mountains called Ararat, which lie in the direction of the land of the Adiabeni. Therefore, those who are willing to examine the matter carefully can see how clearly it has been shown that there existed a nation of worshippers of the true God, older than all the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Greeks. What need is there now to name those who, before Noah, were devout men and were allowed to speak with the true God, since, as far as the subj
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness
...when God saw that the earth was full of wickedness and crimes, He decided to destroy mankind with a flood. However, to restore the human race, He chose one man who, when all others were corrupt, stood out above them all as a remarkable example of righteousness. When this man was six hundred years old, he built an ark, as God had commanded him. In it he was saved, together with his wife, his three sons, and his three daughters-in-law, when the water had covered even the highest mountains. Then, when the earth was dry, God condemned the wickedness of that former age. So that long life might not again become a cause for devising evil, He gradually shortened the lifespan of man in each succeeding generation, and set a limit of one hundred and twenty years, which it would not be permitted to exceed. But when he came out of the ark, as the sacred writings tell us, he carefully farmed the land and planted a vineyard with his own hand. By this fact, those who think that Bacchus was the inventor of wine are refuted. For this man not only lived before Bacchus, but also many generations before Saturn and Uranus. And when he had first taken fruit from the vineyard, he became merry, drank ev
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
...ther in their essential qualities nor in their accidental qualities. But we do not refer either the deluge or the conflagration to cycles and planetary periods. Rather, we declare the cause of them to be the extensive prevalence of wickedness, and its consequent removal by a deluge or a conflagration. And if the voices of the prophets say that God comes down, He who has said, "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the Lord, the term is used in a figurative sense. For God comes down from His own height and greatness when He arranges the affairs of men, and especially those of the wicked. And as common usage leads men to say that teachers condescend to children, and wise men to those young men who have just given themselves to philosophy, not by descending in a bodily manner, so, if God is said anywhere in the holy Scriptures to come down, it is understood as spoken in conformity with the usage that employs the word in that way, and in like manner also with the expression "go up."
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Genesis 6:13 Direct teaching
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
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Genesis 6:17 Direct teaching
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
More related quotations from this section 5 shown
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Supporting witness
At the voice of Noah the flood came, and suddenly the water destroyed that bread.
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Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Supporting witness
Therefore God gave intimation to Noah, and informed him of the coming of the flood, and of the destruction of the ruined (wicked).
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Lactantius, On the Anger of God Supporting witness
From the time when the God of heaven was angry with the cities themselves and with all people, a flood broke out, and the sea covered the earth.
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1 Enoch 106:18 Background
shall die [he and his sons shall be saved]. And now make known to thy son Lamech that he who has been born is in truth his son, and call his name Noah; for he shall be left to you, and he and his sons shall be saved from the destruction, which shall come upon the earth on account of all the sin and all the unrighteousness, which shall be consummated on the earth in his days. And after that there shall be still more unrighteousness than that which was first consummated on the earth; for I know the mysteries of the holy ones; for He, the Lord, has showed me and informed me, and I have read (them) in the heavenly tablets.
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1 Enoch 10:2 Background
and said to him: 'Go to Noah and tell him in my name "Hide thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come
Common Questions
Did early Christians believe the flood really happened?
Yes. Writers like Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Theophilus of Antioch, Cyprian, and Lactantius speak of Noah and the flood as real history.
What did early Christians say Noah was like?
They often called Noah righteous, faithful, or a preacher of repentance, and said God saved him with his household in the ark.
Did early Christians see the ark as a symbol?
Yes. Several writers said the ark pictured Christ, baptism, or the one Church.
Source Index for Noah and the Flood
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 126 ranked source links from 183 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 126 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 137
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
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Clement of Rome, Connection to Genesis 6:9
Bible Passages 46 included
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
