Where do dinosaurs fit into a Christian view of the world?
“Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you.” - Job 40:15
Secular scientists tell us dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, but how does that fit with the history of Adam and Eve and what we are learning about the age of the earth? Did dinosaurs really live and die before man existed? Or could they have walked the earth at the same time as humans?
Disappearing Dinos: A History Mystery
We’re told that the Age of the Dinosaurs, part of the Mesozoic Era, began about 225 million years ago—supposedly long before man—and ended in mass extinction supposedly around 66 million years ago.
According to Genesis, God created the earth and man and all the living creatures in the six days of creation. Creating wonderfully designed dinosaurs would have been no problem for an all-knowing, all-powerful God.
Easy Way To Remember Key Facts About Dinosaurs—the Five Cs:
Created. Dinosaur pelvic structure is more consistent with design than with a slow evolution. There’s definite evidence of divine creation in the way those bones fit together.
Catastrophe. Everyone agrees that the dinosaurs we find in the rock strata were killed off suddenly by some great and catastrophic event. And we find dinosaurs in layer upon layer of rocks deposited by water on every continent. Secular scientists believe these layers and the fossils found in them were caused by local floods and other small catastrophes with millions of years in between. But could it have been a year-long, world-wide flood?
Carbon. Carbon-dating only works when there is organic matter present and when the samples are less than 100,000 years old.
Collagen. That’s soft tissue, but remember that fossils are supposed to be rocks. There shouldn’t be any organic material in them. But in 2004, Dr. Mary Schweitzer found soft tissue in a tyrannosaur thighbone that had been thought to be about 70 million years old.
Clashes. Did humans have contact with dinosaurs? People have been writing about them for as long as humans have been writing. We find these fantastic creatures in legends from cultures around the world. Maybe people have actually encountered dinosaurs—that’s why these stories are so similar, no matter where you go.
Think Tank
What different ideas do secular and creation scientists have about when dinosaurs lived? Secular scientists believe that dinosaurs lived before man millions of years ago, but creation scientists believe they lived at the same time as man and went extinct only a few thousand years ago.
What’s the most popular theory about dinosaur extinction? The most popular theory is that an asteroid hit Earth and changed the climate and food supply, leading to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
During fossilization, what happens to a dead organism after its soft tissues rot away? Why is it so important for a paleontologists to spot a fossil and retrieve it quickly once it is exposed? Minerals begin to seep into its bones, changing their chemical composition. Once a fossil is exposed on Earth’s surface, it starts to weather and must be retrieved before it disappears.
What aspects of dinosaur anatomy and fossil evidence suggest that dinosaurs were created as an entirely different type of reptile—not as ancestors of modern reptiles? Dinosaurs and modern reptiles have different leg placements. Modern reptiles have legs that extend out to the side, which causes them to crawl. Many dinosaurs were much heavier, so their legs went straight down underneath them to support their weight.
What evidence indicates that the deposits in the Morrison Formation resulted from a catastrophe? The Morrison Formation, where Dinosaur National Monument is located, shows evidence of a catastrophe. (1) It is extensive—more so than we would expect from slow, gradual processes. (2) The formation is full of volcanic debris. (3) The formation contains fossils of both land and sea creatures mixed together.
What newer evidence has raised serious questions about the real ages of fossils? Evidence of soft tissue in dinosaur fossils has challenged the assumption that they are millions of years old.
Do you think dinosaurs lived at the same time as humans? Why or why not? The Bible says that animals and people were created at the same time, so we shouldn’t be surprised when we find evidence that supports this.
What is the strongest evidence you can give from science and the Bible to explain the creation perspective on dinosaur’s history to someone who have never heard it before? The Bible tells us that God created all animals within the same week that He created humans, and the book of Job even seems to describe a dinosaur. Soft tissue fossils support the idea that dinosaurs lived at the same time as humans, and dragon legends across the world suggest that eyewitnesses actually saw dinosaurs.
Back To The Bible
Read Job 40:15-17; Romans 5:12; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:4.
What does Job 40 indicate about when dinosaurs lived? It indicates that dinosaurs lived at the same time as humans.
What comparisons can you find between the Job 40 behemoth and dinosaurs? The behemoth’s strength is in his hips, his power is in his stomach muscles, he moves his tail like a cedar, and the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. We know that dinosaurs had very strong legs to support the weight of their body directly above. Some had giant, long tails. Because the behemoth’s tail is compared to a tree, this description would fit one of the larger dinosaurs.
What does Romans 5:12 tell us about the origin of death, and how does this connect to ideas about what caused the dinosaurs’ extinction? This verse makes it clear that death was the result of Adam and Eve’s sin, so it was not present in creation before man. Explanations that say dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago when an asteroid hit Earth suggest that death existed before man and do not fit the biblical timeline.
What hope do Christians have as death and extinction continue and our world continues to change? Revelation 21:4 tells us that we can look forward to a place where death is no more. This world of decay is passing, but Christians have hope of a world without pain and sorrow in eternity.
What will the new heavens and the new earth be like? It will be a place where “righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
Takeaways
The same evidence—dinosaurs, fossils, soft tissue, and bone cells—analyzed and tested with the same scientific rigor yields different interpretations based on the worldview of the person interpreting the data. Yet, the scientific evidence conforms to the Bible.
The Bible, God’s word, gives us insight into the creation of dinosaurs, their burial in a worldwide flood, and their contact with humans after the Flood.
Next Week: The Ice Age