If all the routing tables on the Internet would be erased simultaneously, will the routers be able to rediscover them automatically?

I'm having an argument with a colleague who says that the RIPE routing tables are essential, but I remember reading that if the tables disappeared, the BGP protocol will allow routers to rediscover working routes between nodes by querying their neighbors which in turn will query their neighbors until a working route will be detected. Then that route will be used to repopulate the routing tables. After a while, all the routes will be restored (not necessarily the optimal routes).

Is that correct?