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Creation #3: Dinosaurs and God’s Word Introduction: Dinosaurs is a subject that often comes up when talking about evolution and he Bible. Questions such as: Did they really exist? Does the Bible speak of them? Where did they come from? When did they live? Etc. These questions and others go to the very integrity and truthfulness of the Bible? I) Dinosaurs A) Background on fossils. 1. They are rare, most living things are either eaten, rot, or simply decay over time. 2. For a fossil to form they must be buried and usually rather quickly. a. Animals do not bury their dead. b. There are not many fossils of man. B) Fossils first discovered in Great Britain. 1. In 1822 Dr. Mantell and his wife, Mary Ann Mantell, found what appeared to be large, fossilized teeth. 2. In 1825 he named them, Iguanodon, "iguana-tooth". 3. In 1842, Dr. Owen, of the British Museum of Natural History named them, Dinosaurs. a. Meaning large lizard teeth. b. By this time a large number of bones had been discovered. B) Fossils found on all seven continents 1. Thousands of bones have been discovered at numerous places. a. Green River, on the Colorado/ Utah border, over 1,500 fossils (1909- 1924) b. "Dinosaur Fossil Cabin Museum" 10 miles from Medicine Bow, WY contained over 26 new dinosaur species; 45 Jurassic mammals. 2. All of these discoveries range from the late 1800’s to the present. (1870) 3. October 1990 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Peter Dodson of the University of Pennsylvania reorted a. 45.3% of all dinosaur genra are based on a single specimen b. 74% are represented by five specimens of less C) Other proofs 1. Cave drawings of dinosaurs 2. Stories of dragons and man a. Keep in mind the term "dinosaur" was not joined until 1845. Before that time the word "dinosaur" did not exist. b. Many descriptions of "dragons" fits what we now call dinosaurs. 3. Other art work depicting dinosaurs. II) Evolutionist & Dinosaurs A) Evolutionists Teach 1. Dinosaurs lived 200 million years ago and became extinct around 65 million years ago. 2. Dinosaurs became extinct due to: ice age, 2. Dinosaurs and humans did not exist. a. Man had not evolved yet b. Man could not have possibly survived in a world with dinosaurs. c. The lack of man’s bones with dinosaur bones. B) Problems 1. How could man have drawn pictures of dinosaurs without seeing them? a. Cave paintings in Zimbabwe dating to 1500 BC. 1970 Newsweek Magazine. b. Dr. Samuel Hubbard, curator of archaeology in the Oakland (California) Museum, discovered dinosaur carvings on the cliff walls of the Hava Supai Canyon in Arizona. One remarkable carving resembles a Tyrannosaurus. 2. Where did the stories of dragons and man come from? 3. Why could man have not survived around dinosaurs? a. Some were as small as a chicken, the average size was that of a horse of a cow. b. Man has shown the ability to tame dangerous wild animals, such as lions, killer whales and other animals. c. How do we know how dinosaurs acted? 4. Would you really expect to see man’s bones and dinosaur bones together? Why? a. Would you expect to see man’s bones and alligator’s together? b. Fossils are a rarity so why would you expect to see man’s bones and dinosaurs together. 5. Man’s footprints have been found in the same rock strata as dinosaur tracks. a. When the discovery of what appeared to be human footprints, along with dinosaur tracks (in the Paluxy River bed near Glen Rose, Texas), was reported in the May 1939 issue of Natural History III) The Bible And Dinosaurs A) God created everything. 1. God created "great sea creatures", Genesis 1.21. 2. God made all land creatures on the sixth day, Genesis 1.24, 2.1; John 1.3 a. This means man and dinosaurs were created on the same day and lived together. b. Would account for the dragon stories, drawings, and other dinosaur images. B) Job 40.15-40; 41.1-11 1. Was a powerful creature, not a hypo or an elephant. 2. He was made along with man. 3. Remember the term dinosaur is not used for these were very large and dangerous creatures. VI) What happened to the dinosaurs? A) Many died during the flood, Genesis 6.19-20 1. Genesis 7.13-16 Noah took on the ark the animals commanded by God. a. He could have taken the babies or young dinosaurs. b. He did not have to take every type of dinosaur. c. The ark was 450 feet long and 3 decks. 2. Afterward they would have lived. B) Before the flood they could have peacefully lived with man, Genesis 1.29-30 1. It was after Adam and Eve did things change. 2. It was after the flood that we read of animals being afraid of man, Genesis 9.1-3. 3. Those that survived the flood may have died because of the change in the world. a. Man killed for food, man killed for skins, man kills for survival. b. May have died out due to competition for food. Conclusion: It is true that nobody today has seen a live dinosaur. But they lived and they lived along side of man for a time. Once again it is a matter of interpretation of the information rather than the information itself that has lead the evolutionists to contradict the Bible. D.T. @ Westside Church of Christ 01.27.08 |