FACT OR FICTION?

1. FACT OR FICTION?

2. DINOSAURS • What does the Bible have to say about dinosaurs? • Where did they come from? • Where did they live? • What did they eat? • Where did the fossils come from? • What happened to them?

3. Genesis 1:24-25 (KJV) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. [25] And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Job 40:15-24 (KJV) Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eats grass as an ox. [16] Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. [17] He moves his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. [18] His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. [19] He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. [20] Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. [21] He lies under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. [22] The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. [23] Behold, he drinks up a river, and hasteth not: he trusts that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. [24] He takes it with his eyes: his nose pierces through snares.

4. According to evolutionists: Dinosaurs first evolved around 235 million years ago – long before man evolved. No human being ever lived with dinosaurs. Their history is recorded in the fossil layers on the earth, which were deposited over millions of years. They were so successful as a group of animals that they eventually “ruled” the earth. However 65 million years ago something happened to change all of this – the dinosaurs disappeared. Most evolutionist believe some sort of cataclysmic event – such as an asteroid impact – killed them. But, many evolutionists claim that some dinosaurs evolved into birds, and thus they are not extinct, but are flying around us today!

5. According to the Bible: Dinosaurs first existed around 6000 years ago. God made the dinosaurs, along with the other land animals, on day six of the creation week (Gen. 1:20-25,31). Adam and Eve were also made on day six – so dinosaurs lived at the same time as people, not separated by eons of time. Dinosaurs could not have died out before people appeared, because dinosaurs had not previously existed, and death, bloodshed, disease and suffering are a result of Adam’s sin (Rom. 5:12,14; 1 Cor. 15:21-22). Representatives of all kinds of air-breathing land animals, including the dinosaur kinds, went on board Noah’s ark. All those left outside the ark died in the cataclysmic circumstances of the flood – many of their remains became fossils. After the flood, the remnant of the land animals, including dinosaurs, came off the ark and lived in the present world, along with people. Because of sin, the judgments of the Curse and the flood have greatly changed the earth. Post-flood climatic change, lack of food, disease, and man’s activities caused many types of animals to become extinct. The dinosaurs, like many other creatures, died out.

7. When Did the Dinosaurs Originate? Genesis 1:24-25 (KJV) And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. [25] And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

8. What did Dinosaurs Look Like? No one knows for sure exactly how each dinosaur appeared in its living form. Even if ALL bones of a dinosaur were found, this would amount to less than 40 percent of a dinosaur. When reconstructing dinosaurs from fossils, scientists make educated guesses about how a dinosaur may have appeared. Even among scientists, there is much disagreement. Sometimes mistakes are made that need correction when more bones are found. For instance, the famous “brontosaurus” is not found in newer dinosaur dictionaries. The original “discoverer” put the wrong head on a skeleton of a dinosaur that had already been named Apatosaurus.

9. Why Doesn’t the Bible Mention Dinosaurs? The King James Version of the Bible (the first English translation) was translated in 1611. However, it was not until 1841 that the word “dinosaur” was invented. Therefore, we cannot expect to find a word that did not exist in the King James translation. Could there be another word or term for dinosaur that the Bible uses? The Hebrew word commonly translated “dragon” in the KJV appears in the Old Testament 30 times. This Hebrew word is “tan,” “tannin,” “tannim” or “tannoth.” Genesis 1:21 (NASB) And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. The Hebrew word here for “sea monsters” is the word “tannin.” This passage may be describing sea-dwelling dinosaurs.

10. Psalm 74:13-14 (NASB) Thou didst divide the sea by Thy strength; Thou didst break the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. [14] Thou didst crush the heads of dragons; Thou didst give him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. Isaiah 30:6 (NASB) The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev. Through a land of distress and anguish, From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent, They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys And their treasures on camels' humps, To a people who cannot profit them; Job 41 refers to a great animal that lived in the sea called Leviathan. This may be referring to a great sea-dwelling dinosaur. These passages also refer to “dragons” which may be references to dinosaurs.

11. Job 4015 "Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. 16 What strength he has in his loins,what power in the muscles of his belly! 17 His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. 18 His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. 19 He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. At this present day, no living creature fits this description. This large animal was most likely a large, plant-eating, land dwelling dinosaur.

12. Are there other credible sources to verify the existence of dinosaurs in “modern” times? • One of the oldest books of British history, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, records encounters people had with dragons. Many of the descriptions fit well-know dinosaurs. • When Alexander the Great (300BC) and his soldiers marched into India, they found that Indians worshipped huge hissing reptiles that they kept in caves. • China is renowned for its dragon stories, and dragons are prominent on pottery, embroidery, and carvings. • In the 1500’s, a European scientific book, Historia Animalium, listed several animals that we would call dinosaurs, as still alive at that time (remember the word, “dinosaur,” did not exist at this time).

13. Any other evidence for humans and dinosaurs living together? In the early 1920s, archaeologist Samuel Hubbard uncovered Indian rock carvings near the Grand Canyon, dating back several hundred years. Among them were pictures of well-known creatures including the ibex (wild goat), the buffalo – and the dinosaur. How could Indians draw such accurate pictures of a creature if they had never seen it or talked to someone who had?

14. How Old are the Dinosaurs? Recently, scientists from the University of Montana found T. rex bones that were not totally fossilized. If the bones were really millions of years old, then the blood cells and hemoglobin would have totally disintegrated. The following is an excerpt from their findings: “A thin slice of T. rex bone glowed amber beneath the lens of my microscope… the lab filled with murmurs of amazement, for I had focused on something inside the vessels that none of us had ever noticed before: tiny round objects, translucent red with a dark center… Red blood cells? The shape and location suggested them, but blood cells are mostly water and could not possibly have stayed preserved in the 65 million year old tyrannosaur… The bond sample that had us so excited came from a beautiful, nearly complete specimen of Tyrannosaurus rex unearthed in 1990… When the team brought the dinosaur to the lab, we noticed that some parts deep inside the long bone of the leg had not completely fossilized… So far, we think that all of this evidenced supports the notion that our slices of T. rex could contain heme and hemoglobin fragments. But more work needs to be done before we are confident enough to come right out and say, “Yes, this T. rex has blood compounds left in its tissues.’”

15. What Did Dinosaurs Eat and How Did They Behave? Genesis 1:30 “And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food." And it was so. Originally, before sin, ALL animals, including dinosaurs were vegetarian. This means that even T. rex, before sin entered the world, ate only plants. Some people object to this by pointing to the big teeth that a large T. rex had, insisting they must have been used for attacking animals. However, just because an animal has big sharp teeth does not mean it eats meat. It just means that it has big sharp teeth. Many animals today have sharp teeth, but are basically vegetarian. The giant panda has sharp teeth like a meat-eater, but it eats only bamboo. Different species of bats with extremely sharp teeth eat fruit and nectar. Bears have teeth similar to those of a big cat (lion), but some bears are vegetarian or mostly vegetarian.

16. How Did Dinosaurs Fit in the Ark? The average size of a dinosaur is about the size of a sheep. Only a few dinosaurs grew to extremely large sizes. Reptiles, even modern reptiles have the potential to grow as long as they live. Dinosaurs laid eggs. This shows that even the largest dinosaurs were very small when first hatched. Genesis 6:20 “Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.” Some might argue that the 600 or more named species of dinosaurs could not have fit onto the ark. But Genesis 6:20 states that representative kinds of animals boarded the ark. Example: There are many types of cats in the world, but all species probably came from only a few “kinds” of cats originally.

17. Where are the Dinosaurs Today? At the end of the flood, Noah, and his family and the animals come out of the ark. The dinosaurs began a new life in a very new and changed world. The flood devastated the earth. It was now much more difficult to survive. After the flood, God told Noah that all the animals would fear him and man would eat their flesh (Gen. 9:1-3). To survive, the once easily obtained plant nutrition would now have to be supplemented by animal sources. Both animals and man would find their ability to survive tested to the utmost. We can see from the fossil record, from the written history of man, and from the experience over recent centuries, that many forms of life (plant and animal) did not survive this test.

18. Where are the Dinosaurs Today? If you were at the zoo and asked “Why are plants and animals becoming extinct?” you would probably receive an answer similar to this: “It’s obvious! People killing them; lack of food; man destroying their environment; diseases; genetic problems; catastrophes like floods – there are many reason.” The factors that cause extinction today are the same factors that caused the dinosaurs to become extinct.

19. Are Dinosaurs Really Extinct? One cannot prove an organism is extinct without having knowledge of every part of the earth’s surface simultaneously. Experts have been embarrassed when, after having declared animals extinct, they were discovered alive and well. For example: Explorers recently found elephants in Nepal that are more closely related to the wool mammoth than modern day elephants. As recently as the past 50 years, explorers and natives in Africa have reported sighting dinosaur-like creatures.

20. Summary Points • Throughout the ages, people have been familiar with dragons (dinosaurs). • Descriptions of dragons fit with what we know about dinosaurs. • In addition to the Bible, there is a tremendous amount of historical evidence that dinosaurs lived alongside people. • Although the Bible does not directly mention dinosaurs, there are many references to dinosaur-like creatures. • Since the Bible does not make a major focus, we should not allow this topic to derail discussions on more important topics like Jesus Christ and salvation.