Do Not Enter Noah's Ark
The 'Realist' Answer to a False Test
In this post, I’m sharing a deliciously unorthodox interpretation of the story of Noah’s Ark. It’s closely related to the following recent posts:
Make Yourself an Ark: Understanding Media through the Prism of Genesis 6:14
Seize the Means of Perception: Alternatives to Survival through Ignorance
I discovered this interpretation in Professor Jason Bhabhak Mohaghegh’s lecture on Secrecy and the Return of Mystery Cults.
Mohaghegh cites the Andalusian theologian and poet Ibn Arabi (1165-1240) who inverts the conventional interpretation of what happens after God commands Noah to “Make yourself an Ark of gopher wood” (Genesis 6:14). Instead of viewing the survivors on the Ark as the most devoted followers of God, Ibn Arabi proposes that the true devotees chose to remain unrescued because they only wanted a chance to drown in their God.
In this interpretation, the invitation to survive on the Ark was a “false test”. Those who declined the invitation passed the test. According to Ibn Arabi, they were in a state of bliss as the waters rose and engulfed them. In contrast to the view that those who perished in the flood were punished for their disbelief, Ibn Arabi sees them as the truly faithful who willingly submit to God instead of clinging to mere survival.
Ibn Arabi’s portrayal of the true believers consumed by their God aligns beautifully with the archetypal Realist that I described in my typology of responses to existential threats. (See link #2 above)
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