What happened to the dinosaurs?

Why is it an important question?

As far as most people are concerned, dinosaurs and evolution go hand in hand. Dinosaurs are used more than almost anything to convince children and adults alike that there have been millions of years of Earth history. Most Christians do not know that the Bible can be used as a basis for explaining dinosaurs in terms of thousands of years of history, and solving the mystery of when they lived and what happened to them. After all, Colossians 2:3 states (about our Lord): "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."

Bible Reading: Genesis 1:24-25; Job 40:15-24

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Are dinosaurs A Mystery?

Many think that the existence of dinosaurs and their demise is shrouded in such mystery, that we may never know the truth about where they came from, when they lived, and what happened to them.

However, dinosaurs are only a mystery if you accept the evolutionary story of their history. According to evolutionists:

Dinosaurs first evolved around 235 million years ago, long before man evolved (the Mesozoic Era is called the "dinosaur age"). No human being ever lived with dinosaurs, say evolutionists. The record of their history is contained in the fossil layers over the Earth that were deposited over millions of years. They were so successful as a group of animals, that dinosaurs eventually "ruled" the Earth.

However, around sixty-five million years ago something happened to change all of this – at the end of the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic Era, dinosaurs died out. Most evolutionists believe some sort of cataclysmic event(s) destroyed them. One of the most popular theories about their extinction is that an asteroid hit the Earth, resulting in a catastrophic change to the Earth's climate and greatly affecting all life – especially the dinosaurs. However, many evolutionists claim that dinosaurs evolved into birds, and thus they are not extinct, but are flying around us today. All these ideas are guesses and make dinosaurs a great mystery!

But, there is no mystery surrounding dinosaurs if you accept this totally different account of dinosaur history. According to Biblical history:

Dinosaurs first existed around 6000 years ago. Because dinosaurs were land animals, and God made all the land animals on day six of the creation week, dinosaurs were created on day six.

Dinosaurs could not have died out before this time because death, bloodshed, disease, and suffering is a result of Adam's sin.

Adam and Eve were also made on Day Six alongside the dinosaurs – so dinosaurs lived with people. Representatives of all the KINDS of land animals, including the dinosaur kinds went on board Noah's Ark. All those that were left behind drowned in the cataclysmic circumstances of the Flood – many of their remains became fossils.

After the Flood (around 4,500 years ago), the land animals (including dinosaurs) came off the Ark and lived in the present world, beside people. Because of sin, the judgment of the Curse, and the effects of the Flood have greatly changed the Earth. Since the Flood, many animals have died out from diseases, a lack of food, etc. The dinosaurs, like many other creatures, seem to have also died out. According to this view, there is no mystery about dinosaurs!

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Why are the two views so different?

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. (Job 38:4)

How can there be such totally different explanations for dinosaurs? Think about this – whether one is an evolutionist, or accepts the Bible's account of history, all the evidence for dinosaurs is the same. All scientists have the same facts – they have the same world; the same fossils; the same living creatures; and the same universe.

If the "facts" are all the same, then how can the explanations be so different?

The reason is quite simple. Scientists only have the present to work with – dinosaur fossils only exist in the present. Yet scientists try to connect the fossils they find to the past. They ask: "What happened in history to bring dinosaurs into existence, and form their fossils, and cause them not to be around today?"

Obviously no scientist has lived through all the history of the Earth. There is no way to explain dinosaurs, unless someone (who can be trusted) has recorded the events of history to enable us to explain the evidence we now see before us.

Thus real science, using our five senses in the present, cannot ultimately answer questions about the unobservable and unreported past! Real science can build jet airplanes, make computers and so on – but real (observational) science cannot deal directly with the past, as we work only in the present. Most people don't realize that evolution is not science – it's a belief about the past.

Creation is not science either – it's a belief about the past based on the record in the Bible that itself claims to be the Word of God, of One Who has always existed, and Who is perfect and never tells a lie. The Bible claims to be a true record of history – past and future.

Many people think the Bible is just a book about religion or salvation. But in essence, it is much more than this. The Bible is THE HISTORY BOOK OF THE UNIVERSE from the very beginning. It gives us an account of when time began (Genesis 1:1), and the events of history such as: the entrance of sin and death into the world – the time when the WHOLE world (globe) was destroyed by water – the giving of different languages at the Tower of Babel – the account of the Son of God coming as man, and His death and resurrection – and the New Heaven and Earth to come.

Ultimately there are only two ways of thinking – one that starts with the revelation (Biblical record) from God as foundational to ALL thinking (biology, history, geology, etc) – which would be called a CHRISTIAN WORLD-VIEW; OR, starting with manÕs beliefs (evolutionary history) as foundational to ALL thinking – which would be called a SECULAR WORLD-VIEW.

Most Christians have been indoctrinated through the media and education system to think in a secular way. They tend to take their secular thinking TO the Bible, instead of using the Bible to BUILD all of their thinking.

If one begins by accepting the evolutionist view of history that has no written record or eyewitnesses, then an entire way of thinking based upon this view will be used to explain the evidence that exists in the present. Thus the evolutionist explanation of dinosaurs given above. But if one begins by accepting the Biblical view of history from the written record of an eyewitness to all events of history, then a totally different way of thinking will be used to explain the SAME evidence. Thus the Biblical explanation of dinosaurs given above.

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Which view is right?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10)

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7)

Many Christians do not know how to deal with dinosaurs. The main reason is because they are not using the Bible as their book of history. In other words, they are not building their framework of thinking on the events of history as recorded in the Bible.

For instance, if the Bible teaches there was no death of animals or people before the Fall of Adam, then this will affect the way Christians interpret fossils. Also, if there really was a global flood, this will have a direct bearing on a Christian view of geologic history. In addition, if all land animals were made directly by God on the same day as people, this will affect how a person interprets the history of dinosaurs, and so on.

In fact, the purpose of this book is to show that when one does start WITH the Bible to build a framework of thinking, one can consistently interpret the evidence concerning dinosaurs and construct a history that can be logically defended. Biblical history does make sense of the evidence, even if one doesn't know much about dinosaurs. By starting with the Bible, LOTS can be explained about dinosaurs.

At the same time, we will reveal that the evolutionist view of history cannot consistently explain the evidence or be logically defended.

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