Christian perspective on the dinosaurs?

Question

This may sound like a crazy question, but I'm really serious here. I believe in God and am of the Christian faith, but sometimes I get to wondering...I know God made everything, including man, but I have to wonder about scientifically when they talk about the dinosaurs where they come into play. Were they created before Adam and Eve? And if so, then how did they all become extinct while humans did not? I know this sounds crazy, but it has always made me wonder if there ever were dinosaurs or prehistoric men or anything like that, because the Bible doesn't really support those scientific findings. Any thoughts on the subject?

Answer 1

Bible-writers didn't know about them.

The Bible was written over the course of thousands of years. Even so, it was completed well over a thousand years before dinosaurs were discovered. That's why the Bible doesn't take the dinosaurs into account. They simply didn't know about them.

The discovery of the dinosaurs was a bombshell for the Biblical account of creation. This discovery, and many others since, has made it impossible to maintain the age-old view of the Bible (especially the Old Testament and Genesis) as literal truth. The majority of the faithful now assert that much of the Old Testament is symbolic -- not literal. One can still assert (as the Fundamentalists do) that the entire Bible is literal truth but doing so will subject you to ridicule . . . it's not a defensible position to take.

The New Creation Museum in Kentucky is a case in point. They portray man living with the dinosaurs and even putting them in Noah's Ark. Not even most Christians can take this seriously. The museum is a laughing stock.

The fact of the matter is that the universe is billions of years older than Earth -- which is itself, billions of years old. Life on Earth is billions of years old and the dinosaurs are hundreds of millions of years old (they vanished 65 million years ago).

Disputing these facts without understanding the evidence (as in the New Creation Museum) rightfully exposes one to ridicule.

Does this mean God does not exist? No.

Does this mean the Bible is invalidated? No.

It means that the Bible was written at a time when all of humanity was ignorant of many things we take for granted now. The more we learn, the less the Bible will stand up to a literal reading. How can it be otherwise? The world is not flat. The stars do not rest on crystal spheres. The lineage of Adam and Eve, as outlined in Genesis, is impossible. There are more creatures than could ever fit on any boat man has ever made. Etc. etc. on and on.

The difference between an impression and an opinion is that an opinion is INFORMED. If you just want to embrace and cherish the Bible without learning about the world, then fine. But if you're going to assert an opinion, you need to inform yourself of all the evidence. You don't need to know everything . . . but you should at least cover the basic material.

The Internet makes researching the evidence very easy. Do some Google searches on concepts like:

History of the Bible
Abiogenesis
The theory of natural selection
Evolution
The Big Bang Theory
Cosmology
Classical Physics
The Special and General Theories of Relativity
Quantum Physics
Zoroastrianism

Being a Christian doesn't mean you can't learn about the world.

Answer 2

My perspective is that of a Roman Catholic (a Christian). Roman Catholicism believes that the Bible must be read with great care because some of its passages are symbolic of a higher truth but not literally true. The account of the creation in Genesis is such a passage. It is not a literal account of the creation of the universe but a symbolic one which tell us that God is the creator of everything and that God's creative act has many dimensions including a human dimension in which we share in the image of God. The fact that it does not mention dinosaurs does not suggest that scientific theory is wrong nor that the moral content of the Bible is wrong. I believe that dinosaurs existed and that the Earth is several billions of years old, and I don't think this poses a problem with my religious beliefs. Problems arise when people adopt simplistic religious views such as Biblical literalism. Problems also arise when people have an overly simplistic understanding of scientific theories. People would do better to take more care in both their study of religion and science.

Answer 3

We aren't told when Adam and Eve lived specifically. We are told "there were giants in those days" Before the great flood. But they don't specifically mention dinosaurs.

Genesis 6:4  Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.

The Catholic Church only claims infalliblity in faith and morals. And this is the only claim that the Bible can make as well.

-LOVE your neighbor as yourself.
Amen.

:Edit: It should be clear this is what we need to be saved. That the Bible paves the way, prepares the way, as does the Catholic Church prepare the way to Salvation in CHRIST. That is why we only receive lessons in faith and morals. We don't need to know rocket science or anthropology, we need to know what we must do to be saved . ..

Answer 4

I believe they were before Adam & Eve. The Bible doesn't mention everything. Only what God wants us to know and what he thinks we need to know. I won't know everything there is to know until we get to heaven and we have to accept that.

Answer 5

I'm with you on this one, but let me give you some perspective. When I was in high school many moons ago, my pastor answered my question like this: "When God created the world in 7 days, who says God's day was 24 hours long" and so that opened my mind to many more things,not decisions but just opened my mind. and let God do the thinking. I just love Him and have seen Him act in my life so much, I don't stay stuck on these issues, but it does wander around in my mind too

Answer 6

Evolution disagrees with Genesis in time, order, and mechanism. Genesis is just flat out wrong. There is no way to make both work.

Answer 7

evolution is the answer. period.