A Question About Dinosaurs And Christians I dont understand when they would come in?

[BooZker 0]

I have been wondering this for awhile. I dont understand what they think because im not christian. This is not a debate either. OK well here its is.For the Christians who believe the Adam and Eve story (The catholic church has accepted evolution) when do dinosaurs come in. You have got to believe in them right? I mean they have bones for them. The thing i dont get though is adam even were on Earth from the beginning (well one of the seven days i dont remember what one) but then there were considered cavemen? Sorry i might be an idiot, but i don't get this at all.

[SarCasM 0]

I'm not really a "christian" as in the sense of doing/living how the bible tells me to, I believe in God and what the bible says, I just don't follow it.I deffinetly believe there were "dinosaurs", as in creatures way back when that somehow ended up being killed off, but I don't really think we can know EXACTLY how they looked. In museums I mean, they put them together sure, but how do you know that was actually how they went? How it looked? It's just guesses to me.Cavemen? No clue there, haven't really thought about it. But who says you have to believe in cavemen if you believe in dinosaurs?

[leeleelee 0]

I was speaking to a christan who told me that bones where placed by the devil to test your believe in the bible. Basic if its not in the bible it didnt happen - have a read and see what you think

What about Dinosaurs and old fossils?

This question involves other issues: How can discovery of extremely old bones of dinosaurs be consistent with the Bible? Or... how could they fit on the ark? Or why doesnt the Bible mention dinosaurs? Your answer depends on whether you accept an Old Earth or Young Earth viewpoint. Both are briefly addressed below:

Old Earth - Easy answer: Dinosaurs were extinct long before Man. Since the Bible deals with humans and God... why mention dinosaurs? Many creatures are NOT mentioned. With Old Earth, Gods "days" of creation (Yom) were periods of time (even now we say, "days" of old). Some critics say the Bible says there was no death before the fall of Adam. The actual Hebrew text makes the context of "death" unclear. Does it mean physical death or spiritual death? The Hebrew word "muwth" could have been either. Do we know for certain introduction of death meant everything, or just human beings. To a biologist its difficult to imagine NO "physical" death. Eating plants causes plant cells to die and millions of human cells die every day. Nowhere in the Bible is it conclusive there wasnt death (or extinction) before man.

Young Earth - More involved answer: First, there is some evidence showing inaccuracies in scientific dating methods.. (The question is are they ALL wrong? And vastly wrong?) Second, why doesnt the Bible mention Dinosaurs? The Bible doesnt mention many creatures and things not relevant to man. Some believe the Bible actually DOES mention dinosaurs [Job 40:15-19; 41:1-10]. Third, how did dinosaurs fit in the ark? There is no Biblical indication that God didnt intend the extinction of dinosaurs before the flood (for whatever reason). If dinosaurs were brought into the ark, it would be difficult to account for space requirements unless they were eggs or very young.

http://www.evidenceofgod.com/rg-erdr.php?_rpo=t

[Dragonfly 0]

According to what most Christians interprete about the age of Adam and Eve is only a figurative language. So, the real age of Adam and Eve could be as old or older than those of dinosaurs and others. The problem you have mentioned is in the years, are Adam and Eve older or younger than these animals are those animals are found to be much more older than Adam and Eve. Also, according to the Bible, it is creation not evolution. So, when the Bible records God created everything on six days, what was one day? Was it really 24hours or more? That process could be evolution, but when that process is complete it could become one day too. So, this thing are believed by Christians by faith. Science is not bad, but it cannot tell us exactly how it had happened too. So, faith comes into existence. Evolution cannot begin unless there is a bang. And if it begins that way, how did the big bang began when there was nothing... probably this is the act of God. Man has these limits..

[HoRuS 0]

I also think the story of Adam and Eve is meant in a figure of speech way.Dinosaurs were here before us, since they were the first inhabitants of the Earth. But there are proofs that there also was a civilization in that time, probably in one of the late ages and I do think that dinosaurs weren't wiped out by a meteor, but wiped out by some nuclear or natural disaster, created by humans, like what is happening at this moment. I know it sounds controversial, but I'm pretty sure 'Adam and Eve' were two of the survivors/descendants of that civilization and that their story also relates to the story of the Arch of Noach and Osiris' Arch.No one will know if the Earth really was created in 7 days, but I think those 7 days should be the 7 steps in wich a solarsystem with it's planets is created. We have to keep in mind that the bible was written 2000 years ago, by people who had forgotten science and thus wouldn't understand everything we understand now.

[curtis07 0]

I believe in the story of Adam and Eve in a literal sense. I also believe there were dinosaurs. Why wouldn't there be? I've seen dinosaur skeletons. I also believe there were "cavemen", but not primitive humans, as some see cavemen. You see, I also believe in a literal worldwide flood (which completely fits with the way the world is shaped today, it explains Pangeae, the midoceanic ridges, volcanoes, mountains, tectonics, rock layers, fossils, coal, etc.). I believe that the world was rather barren after the water wiped out everything, and people had to rebuild civilization. If North America were to suddenly get washed over, then reinhabited, we wouldn't immediately have electricity and running water. We would have to start by seeking shelter--in a cave. We would have to forage and hunt. Then we would start building huts. Then we would set up civilization as we know it today....Dinosaurs definitely fit in my understanding. They may have been human-bred before the flood, or they may have just died off soon after, when there wasn't enough food to sustain the giants.Oh, and Adam was created on the sixth day, in case anyone is still wondering....

[rpgsearcherz 5]

Whether there were dinosaurs or not is unknown...There are many things missing from the Bible.For example, it explains that Adam and Eve were made by God. This would make them brother and sister. So if they were to mate, it would be incest, which I'm not 100% sure if that's a societal taboo or a religious one, but I think it's a religious one as well.So after they mated, their children would have to mate, and on and on and on.So for it to make sense, it is clear that others were also created. Hence why there are Blacks, Mexicans, Indians, Whites, etc. etc. Adam and Eve could not have made all of the different races by themselves.Under the basis that there are missing stories from that area, it seems very possible to me that there was life before Adam and Eve (such as dinosaurs) that was not documented.To take it one step farther, Adam and Eve could have been cavemen during dinosaur days.There's just too many unsolved questions.I'm Christian and believe in God and the Bible, but you can not dispute the fact that there is a lot of missing information.

[jaychant 0]

I believe the creation of the world did not happen in seven of our days. A day to God could very well be the entire Mesozoic Era. It was definitely not literal, it was figurative.As a side, humans did not appear until almost 64 million years after the dinosaurs were extinct, so to say that cavemen lived during the "dinosaur days" is completely inaccurate, despite what the Flinstones might have told you.

[ORene 0]

I think God created Earth first, in 7 days and stuff.. and it was like that for millions of years, then one day God was bored and decided that there was something missing on Earth. The dinosaurs were already gone by then and thats when He created humans.Personally I don't believe in Adam and Eva so I think its bull...However i respect and know about it because I'm Christian, however I don't accept nor believe in everything they tell me

[truefusion 3]

Unfortunately, neither of the members that posted about 3 years ago are any longer active. Nevertheless, in response to the topic, proper or basic analysis of the text should have provided a decent answer to anyone asking about dinosaurs concerning the Bible—and without even declaring the "days" as metaphoric. Starting at Genesis 1:2 we see that the earth is already in existence before the First Day and that it was a water world. This allows for any amount of time before the First Day. The Bible only mentions things insofar as it finds it relevant to the story, therefore anything that could have existed before the First Day is irrelevant, so there is no mention of it—except perhaps what could be obtained from Genesis 1:1. But if we analyze a bit on what a water world at this point may mean, we can obtain some insight on how some of the dinosaurs became extinct and how the earth looked several thousand years ago.

 

A water world implies that most of the dinosaurs could have become extinct through a worldwide flood. However, in Genesis 1, verses 6 through 8, we see God introducing the "sky"—in other terms indicating our atmosphere; so perhaps another form of suffocation may have been used. Moving on to Genesis 1:9 God causes ground to appear. If we assume that most of the dinosaurs became extinct due to a worldwide flood, Genesis 1:9 may imply that the earth was a bit smaller during the time of the dinosaurs than it is now (though it may still imply it without a worldwide flood). The reason being that there is no mention of any loss of water during the gathering of the water. And when you push water aside within a container to make room for something else, the water raises. During this time when "new" ground starts to form, any of the already dead dinosaurs, or any that may have been still existing, would in turn be buried by the shifting earth, therefore making it possible for archaeologists to find dinosaurs buried within the earth's crust.

 

Following from the above, this gives way for even a literal interpretation of Genesis concerning whether or not these "days" were in fact 24-hour days. For, as you'll notice, not one part of my analysis relies on whether or not these "days" were 24-hour days. It doesn't necessarily matter to me if you don't entirely believe what is written. In fact, many unbelievers don't even accept this analysis i have provided. It may be due to them not wanting the Bible to appear plausible or logical—especially if it harms the theory of evolution; but that is up for debate. Whatever the case, the entire Genesis creation is highly possible with or without dinosaurs. I won't go into further analysis on the other information mentioned within the text, as it appears unnecessary given the topic, but this should do away with any doubt concerning the text and dinosaurs.

[darasen 0]

Good answer Truefusion.

When people say that the Bible can not be a literal work because of (insert argument here) they always tend to forget a few things. Firstly the intent and scope of the Bible; it is a record of God's love for mankind, Man's fall, and God's redemptive plan through Christ. It has never been intended as a science document nor a historical document. It only seems to be in error when one places their own expectations and limited understanding on it. For example the Bible never states that the world is flat nor does it ever state that the sun revolves around the Earth. At one point some with a limited scope of thought believed the Bible said these things but they are clearly not accurate and the Bible never makes these claims. Last example The big Bang Theory. I have heard people state that God could not create the Universe because of the strong scientific evidence of the the Big Bang. Of course never thinking that perhaps God caused it in the first place by setting the laws of physics into place. The Bible starts with the words "In the beginning" interestingly we know that before space existed that there is no time

onto the case of Dinosaurs and the history of the Earth before man appears. There are several ways to look at this of course. To me the debate of literal 24 hours Earth days or epochs of time days is rather inconsequential because we do not know the frame of reference. Relativity taught us that time is mutable and strictly dependent on the observer. Remember the twin paradox? So if we are looking at the time frame of The Lord an infinite being we have no idea how infinitely fast He may or nay not move. Thus a 24 hour day to God in his frame of reference may well be a couple billion years to the rest of the universe.

Onto Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Here is another case of placing our own restrictions on the narrative. We do not know the location of the garden nor do we know how long Adam and Eve resided there nor how long Adam was alone before Eve was created. Bear in mind that before the original sin there was no sickness, aging, or death for Adam and Eve. Thus it is completely possible that the Earth was going through it's prehistory, meteor strikes and all, while Adam and Eve were living in the Garden under God's care and protection safe from the tumultuous events outside of Eden. The Bible states that Adam lived to the age of 930, I believe that is years measured after the fall when time would be of any significance.

Sorry for the long post, I hope it causes some thought.

[mircealuncan 0]

There is really one thing you should ask yourself reguarding this topic: wasn't the Bible written by human beings as well?

[darasen 0]

As a Christian I believe the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. It is completely God breathed and written by the Holy Spirit through others. It is complete and completely authoritative.

Edited April 17, 2009 by darasen (see edit history)

[rpgsearcherz 5]

I believe the creation of the world did not happen in seven of our days. A day to God could very well be the entire Mesozoic Era. It was definitely not literal, it was figurative.
As a side, humans did not appear until almost 64 million years after the dinosaurs were extinct, so to say that cavemen lived during the "dinosaur days" is completely inaccurate, despite what the Flinstones might have told you.

First of all, the Flinstones was on TV, which makes it completely accurate. I knew Fred. And I've ridden on Dino.

But on a serious note, I agree to the view that 7 days was figurative, not literal. The reason is because there are claims that people lived for 700-800+ years. But who is to say that their calendar is the same as ours? For example, we claim dog years are equal to human years on a 7:1 ratio(Dog:Human). So it is perfectly logical that their time was different.

And taking that into consideration, it could be seen that the Christ days were equal to today's on a ratio of ~9:1 because of life expectancy(really, 9:1 is still lower than it should be..). And if that is taken into consideration then in those days, 7 days would be equal to around 2/3 of ONE of our days.

Therefore, at least to me, it is clearly figurative.

Not to mention all the things God put on the Earth...Imagine the amount of time it would take to even think of them. Assuming there was no speaking needed, he still had to *think* of everything there is in the world. There's no way he could even do that in 7 days.

(Obviously others will have their opinions. These are my opinions and in no way reflect what is true, as we really do not know. Please don't read it as being offensive towards you because of your views. Because at the end of the day, we could both be wrong!)

[truefusion 3]

Last example The big Bang Theory. I have heard people state that God could not create the Universe because of the strong scientific evidence of the the Big Bang. Of course never thinking that perhaps God caused it in the first place by setting the laws of physics into place. The Bible starts with the words "In the beginning" interestingly we know that before space existed that there is no time.

Ironically, the Big Bang theory actually implies an intelligent, all-powerful, supernatural being. Since it is logically impossible for anything to cause its own existence, if there is truly overwhelming evidence for the Big Bang theory, then in turn there is overwhelming evidence for an intelligent, all-powerful, supernatural being. The reason why these three qualities for this being is necessary is because complexity implies intelligence (i.e. the universe is complex), omnipotence means you are above or greater than everything else in existence (therefore making you the greatest), and supernatural basically because of the same reason for omnipotence.

 

So if we are looking at the time frame of The Lord an infinite being we have no idea how infinitely fast He may or nay not move. Thus a 24 hour day to God in his frame of reference may well be a couple billion years to the rest of the universe.

I would have mentioned about this in my previous post, but i didn't want to rely or imply any dependence on how long these "days" were. But since my previous post is over and done with, i'll will say a few things about this.

 

For one, this is mentioned a couple of times in Scripture: Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8. Peter may be alluding to Psalm 90:4, though—but that is uncertain.

 

For two, i will place emphasis on verse Gen 1:14, for in it is when God declares that the sun and the moon is to be (or should be) used as a measurement of time by humans. Notice that the word "day" was mentioned a few times previous to Gen 1:14 (Gen 1:5; Gen 1:8; Gen 1:13). What does this mean or imply? It means that these "days" do not bear a human-relative definition. Interestingly enough, it should also be noted that neither do the words "evening" and "morning" bear their human-relative meanings, for the sun and the moon was not at the time being used as a measurement of time by God, neither were humans in existence during these "days"—that is, until the last day of creation. Therefore it follows that these three words are figurative in their entirety, for this is obviously from God's perspective.

 

Onto Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Here is another case of placing our own restrictions on the narrative. We do not know the location of the garden nor do we know how long Adam and Eve resided there nor how long Adam was alone before Eve was created. Bear in mind that before the original sin there was no sickness, aging, or death for Adam and Eve. Thus it is completely possible that the Earth was going through it's prehistory, meteor strikes and all, while Adam and Eve were living in the Garden under God's care and protection safe from the tumultuous events outside of Eden. The Bible states that Adam lived to the age of 930, I believe that is years measured after the fall when time would be of any significance.

Interesting point.

 

There is really one thing you should ask yourself reguarding this topic: wasn't the Bible written by human beings as well?

The truth-value of something is not dependent upon who wrote what. For it can be said of the same thing for any book in existence. So the question is really a bit irrelevant to the topic.

 

But on a serious note, I agree to the view that 7 days was figurative, not literal. The reason is because there are claims that people lived for 700-800+ years. But who is to say that their calendar is the same as ours? For example, we claim dog years are equal to human years on a 7:1 ratio(Dog:Human). So it is perfectly logical that their time was different.

The probability of something can always appear logical, but that doesn't make something true. You would have to also consider the gradual decline in years of the average lifespan as recorded in the Bible. It could be argued that the effects of the Tree of Life took that long to be removed from the system. It could also be argued that due to each generation bringing in more sin than the previous, that is what caused a lower lifespan, hence statements like Gen 6:3—emphasis on footnote. So it is perfectly logical that their measurement of time was practically the same.

 

And taking that into consideration, it could be seen that the Christ days were equal to today's on a ratio of ~9:1 because of life expectancy(really, 9:1 is still lower than it should be..). And if that is taken into consideration then in those days, 7 days would be equal to around 2/3 of ONE of our days.

The lifespan expectency wasn't as low as some people like to claim it was (is). Excluding martyrs, many of the disciples and apostles of Jesus lived to be over 70, some going over 80 years of age. You could probably argue that your ratio still stands, since we are still talking about years. However, it is said that at the age of 12 Jesus was questioning the teachers at this one temple at Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-48). Following the ratio, that would make Jesus less than 2 years old.

 

Not to mention all the things God put on the Earth...Imagine the amount of time it would take to even think of them. Assuming there was no speaking needed, he still had to *think* of everything there is in the world. There's no way he could even do that in 7 days.

God isn't limited to time, so it can be said that any train of thought is instant. However, your statement implies that you are bringing God down to a human's level. But even if we do that, we can see that He'd still be able to form a fully functional universe as He is creating it. For example, let's consider a competent programmer (we say competent because it should be obvious that it is not safe to assume that God would be in any way incompetent). One day this programmer decides to give himself a pretty big task (even though, due to their compotence, it may not seem as big as someone else might see it as). His computer can hold an infinite amount of memory. For each day, the programmer decides to construct and compile one piece of the overall program—these parts of the overall program took from evening to morning to compile. It took the programmer 6 days to construct this one, big, uniform program. I am unaware of you ever programming anything, but this analogy can fit very well within human-relative situations.