What About the Dinosaurs?
By Kyle Pope
All over the
world fossilized bones of large animals we now call dinosaurs have been
discovered. Those who reject biblical accounts of creation and accept
evolutionary theories of the origins of life argue that these creatures lived
millions of years ago. Does the Bible teach anything about dinosaurs?
I. God
Made All Things in Six Days. Christians cannot accept the Bible and believe
in a universe that has existed for millions of years. The Bible teaches that
God made all things in six days (Exod. 20:11). When it comes to life,
the Bible teaches that on the fifth day God made life in the sea and the birds
in the sky (Gen.1:20-23). Then on the sixth day God made all land creatures and
humans (Gen.1:24-31). This makes it clear that all land animals were made at
the same time that man was made, not millions of years before. According to the
Bible, therefore, we must conclude that land dinosaurs once lived alongside
human beings.
II.
Before The Flood the Earth was Much Different than it is Now. The
Bible records that before the worldwide flood of Noah’s day rivers that are now
separated from each other were closer together (Gen. 2:10-14). Before the
flood, rain did not fall, but a mist came up from the ground and watered the
earth (Gen. 2:5-6). While this is much different than the environment we now
enjoy, the world before the flood appears to have been a very moist and
tropical habitat. Much like the old terrariums that were once very popular,
such an atmosphere would seal in the moisture under a thick cloud canopy. At
that time, the Bible reveals that human beings themselves had a much longer
lifespan, with some living hundreds of years (see Genesis 5). Such conditions
would naturally confuse modern dating methods that rely on assumptions of
uniform environmental conditions and modern degrees of exposure to solar
radiation.
III.
When the Flood Came “the Fountains of the Deep were Broken up” and the “Windows
of Heaven were Opened” (Gen. 7:11). In describing the geological and
atmospheric conditions that brought the flood the text makes it clear that the
world before the flood had a reserve of water under the earth and in the upper
atmosphere (see Gen. 1:7-8). When the flood came the Bible reveals that it
covered the earth above all the mountains (Gen. 7:19), and water stayed on the
earth for 150 days (Gen. 7:24). This not only killed all land creatures but
caused shifts in land and soil that encased plants and animals all over the
word under layers of mud preserving them from the normal destruction of decay.
This resulted in much of the worldwide fossilization observable today. The
erosion caused by the flood and other the geological changes from the “deep”
being broken up left the earth itself much different than it was before.
Continents once joined were separated. Mountains, canyons, and once sea-covered
plateaus were transformed. The environment once ideally suited for forms of
life before the flood was no longer the same.
IV. So, What Happened to the
Dinosaurs? Even those who accept evolutionary theories generally explain
the extinction of the dinosaurs by some major catastrophic event such as a
meteor or asteroid hitting the earth. From the biblical record we can
understand the flood as the very type of catastrophic event necessary to change
life on earth so dramatically. The Bible records that representatives of land
animals were taken aboard the ark with Noah’s family in order to survive the
flood. We do not know if some creatures even before the flood came to a natural
extinction, but based on the dimensions outlined in Scripture it is clear that
there would have been enough room on the ark for dinosaurs even if some were
taken on board in their infant stage (Gen. 6:15-16). If so, it is likely that
some dinosaurs survived the flood. The Bible speaks of large unidentified land
and sea animals it calls “leviathan” (Psa. 104:24-26; 74:14; Job 41).
Many of its descriptions fit well with what we know about dinosaurs. Legends
the world over about “dragons,” and even the Bible’s use of this figure in
reference to Satan (Rev. 12:9) may well derive from a cultural and historical
recollection of these creatures that once lived alongside man. It is likely
that the dinosaurs were on the ark and died off slowly in the time after the flood
due to the change in environment and terrain found in a post-flood world. They
did not live millions of years ago, but fit easily into the cosmology and
chronology outlined in the biblical record.
eBulletin Print Version