How do dinosaurs fit into the history recorded in the Bible? Some would say, “They don’t. Dinosaurs lived millions of years before people were around. The Bible doesn’t mention them.” Dinosaurs are often used as an icon for evolution and deep time. It seems that there is no need to make a logical argument for an “old earth” – just say the word “dinosaurs” and you win! After all, we all know that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, and some evolved into birds. Or did they?
In part 1, we found that we can learn much about the history of dinosaurs from Scripture, even though the term ‘dinosaur’ is modern and therefore not to be found in the ancient text. Yet, the King James Bible uses the word ‘dragon’ or ‘dragons’ 35 times. Could some of these be dinosaurs?
The Bible contains numerous references to “dragons” and other creatures that resemble dinosaurs, such as Behemoth, as well as other extinct reptiles like Leviathan and the flying serpents. Most of these references are after Genesis 6-8, implying that these kinds survived the global flood. So how and when did these marvelous creatures go extinct?
Why defend Genesis when so many people don’t even believe in Jesus? Why not concentrate on defending the big issues, like the Gospel and the deity of Christ? Considering all the problems we have in society, should we really be focused on apologetics, rather than trying to change our culture? It takes time and effort to learn to defend biblical creation. Wouldn’t that time be better spent defending the important Christian doctrines, and fighting abortion, “gay marriage”, racism, and other social ills?
Christians rightly recognize the Gospel as an essential Christian doctrine. This vital principle has its roots in the literal history of Genesis. Unfortunately, some professing Christians mishandle Genesis. They interpret its message in an unnatural way to accommodate secular beliefs about origins such as “millions of years” or particles-to-people evolution. These compromised views reduce the Gospel to incoherent nonsense.
Was there an ice age? In most public schools, students are taught that there have been at least five major ice ages in Earth’s multi-billion-year history. The last one is claimed to have started 2.58 million years ago, and then retreated about 10,000 years ago. Obviously, this timescale is incompatible with biblical history. Nonetheless, there is scientific evidence for one ice age that occurred within the biblical timescale. The real ice age occurred shortly after the global flood and lasted a few hundred years.