Chapter Ten - Dinosaurs in the Bible
1. INTRODUCTION
The believer will possibly find that the Evolution view of the origin of dinosaurs is a problem challenging to his faith. It will be our task in this chapter to provide a good biblical apologetic as a response to those who proclaim this incorrect world view, which is contrary to the biblical position.
Genesis 1:31 teaches that the creation of land animals took place on the sixth day of creation. Dinosaurs are special, because many of them were so large, and so strange, and different from anything living on the earth today. This chapter, divided into six major divisions, is a brief consideration of the latest scientific evidences and the biblical truth to support for the Creation of dinosaurs by the God:
discovery of dinosaurs;
types of dinosaurs;
the fallacy of the evolutionists's model of the origin of dinosaurs;
dinosaurs in the Bible;
dinosaurs in other human records; and
why dinosaurs are rarely found nowadays.
2. THE DISCOVERY OF DINOSAURS
2.1 The Discovery of Dinosaurs
The first fossil of a dinosaur, the Iguanodon, was discovered in 1822 by Dr. Gideon Mantell, an English doctor and amateur fossil hunter. At first, Dr. Mantell and the scientists who examined the fossil didn't realize what the creature was. Finally, it was realized that an entirely new kind of creature had been discovered - some of which were extremely large.
2.2 The meaning of the Word "Dinosaurs"
The famous British anatomist and paleontologist, Sir Richard Owen, named these creatures "dinosaurs," which means "terrible lizards." The jaws of Tyrannosaurus rex, 6 feet long with teeth 6 inches long, certainly give credence to the name "terrible lizard."
3. TYPES OF DINOSAURS
Since the discovery by Dr. Mantell, fossils of dinosaurs have been found on every continent of the world, as far north as Alaska and as far south as Antarctica. Dinosaurs existed in all sizes, shapes, and descriptions. Fossils of dinosaurs provide an ideal test case for creation versus evolution. There were many different kinds of dinosaurs. Some were as small as chickens and some were among the largest creatures that ever lived, weighing as much as 80 tons. Many of them had very unusual structures. The different types of dinosaurs are described in below paragraphs:
3.1 Horned Dinosaurs
There were different kinds of horned dinosaurs. Triceratops had 3 horns - one above each eye and one on the end of the snout. It is estimated he weighed 8 to 10 tons. He had a huge shield which protected his neck and shoulders and which was composed of bone up to 6 inches thick. Triceratops had both an offensive weapon (the horns) and a defensive weapon (the shield) in the event of attack by other dinosaurs. We do not find a series of transitional forms showing those horns slowly evolving or the armor shield gradually forming.
Stegosaurus, unlike Triceratops, had no horns on his small head, and his brain was probably about the size of a walnut. He had 4 formidable spikes on the end of his tail which were about 3 feet long and nearly 6 inches thick at the base. Stegosaurus probably used these spikes on the end of his tail much as Triceratops used his horns, to ward off attacks by other dinosaurs. Stegosaurus also had a series of very unusual plates running down along his neck, body, and tail. Some have suggested that these plates were there for protection, but most likely they were heat exchangers - absorbing heat from the sun on cool days and radiating heat on warm days.
One of the dinosaurs Triceratops and Stegosaurus would have had to contend with was Tyrannosaurus. Both of these dinosaurs would have been able to defend themselves by using their sharp horns or spikes to tear into the soft underbelly of their attacker. The fossil record shows these defensive structures fully formed. There are no fossils of transitional forms showing spikes gradually developing and no fossils of intermediates showing bony plates gradually coming into being on some previously ordinary reptile. No fossil like the above mentioned has ever been found.
3.2 Duckbilled Dinosaurs
The duckbilled dinosaur may seem at first to be a very unusual kind of dinosaur. A vast number of duckbilled dinosaurs roamed the earth in ancient times, and numerous fossils of them have been found in many places around the world. These duckbilled dinosaurs include Corythosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Lambeosaurus, and Anatosaurus. Just recently, a fossil graveyard of duckbilled dinosaurs was found above the Arctic Circle in Alaska. This discovery has evolutionists asking, how could dinosaurs live in an area which is now covered with ice and snow the year round and has 6 months of darkness each year? This will be discussed at a later time.
Anatosaurus (previously called Trachodon) stood about 18 feet high. He had webbed feet and a powerful tail that proved useful in swimming. He had a huge duckbill, with as many as 2,000 teeth piled one on top of each other in the back of his duckbill. These teeth were used to chew the large amount of vegetation needed to maintain this large animal every day. When his teeth got worn and fell out, other teeth were right there ready to take their place.
If, indeed, these many different kinds of duckbilled dinosaurs evolved from reptiles or other kinds of dinosaurs, then the jaws and teeth of reptiles, etc., had to evolve into duckbills. Since many fossils of duckbilled dinosaurs have been recovered from many parts of the world, and since there are many different kinds of duckbilled dinosaurs (meaning that evolution of duckbilled dinosaurs would have happened many different times), scientists should be able to find thousands of transitional forms showing reptiles or ordinary dinosaurs gradually evolving into duckbilled dinosaurs. Not one such fossil has ever been found! The problem is not with the fossil record! It stands as a silent but undeniable witness to the abrupt appearance of fully formed, massive creatures, created just as described in the Bible.
3.3 Meat Eaters
There was also a variety of meat-eating (carnivorous) dinosaurs. Most peole assume they ate meat; they appeared to be equipped for it, with huge jaws and teeth that would be efficient for tearing flesh, and with claws and powerful muscles. We have already mentioned Tyrannosaurus rex, the biggest meat-eater of all. He is believed to have stood upright approx. 20 feet high, with a total length of 50 feet. Fossilzed remains of this creature have been reconstructed with jaws 6 feet long, containing teeth up to 6 inches long. It is highly probable that this animal was one of the most feared creatures, by both man and animal alike. It is supposed that his main diet consisted of other dinosaurs, but it also may be that these teeth and claws were used to eat tough roots and bark, etc.
3.4 Small Dinosaurs
There was also a variety of small dinosaurs, all of which apparently walked on 2 feet (bipedal, in contrast to quadrupedal dinosaurs, or those that walked on 4 feet). These included Podokesaurus, Compsognathus, and Struthiomimus. These small dinosaurs may have fed on a variety of plants, and may have eaten small reptiles, mammals, and eggs. Struthiomimus means "ostrich mimic," and he was so named because it is believed that he looked like an ostrich.
Struthiomimus may have looked like an ostrich, but he never could have been an ancestor of the ostrich. First of all, Struthiomimus didn't have even a hint of a feather. Secondly, he didn't have the right kind of hips. Dinosaurs had two different kinds of hips. "Lizard-hipped" dinosaurs obviously had hips similar to lizards and other reptiles, while the "bird-hipped" dinosaurs had hips similar to birds. Struthiomimus, as did all others of these small bipedal dinosaurs, had "lizard hips." Thus, it did not have the right kind of hips to be the ancestor of birds. Thirdly, not a single transitional form between Struthiomimus and an ostrich or any other bird has ever been found.
3.5 Big Plant Eaters
Diplodocus ("double-beamed") had a very long neck and tail, with a total length of approx. 100 feet. Brontosaurus ("thunder lizard") was so named because the ground must have thundered when he walked by. Brontosaurus (recently re-identified by dinosaur specialists as Apatosaurus) was about 80 feet long and weighed about 40 tons. He also was a plant-eater. He was not the biggest dinosaur of all, however. Recently a fossil of a Brachiosaurus has been found which, to date, is the largest dinosaur on record. He may have stood 50 feet high (as high as a five-storey building) and may have weighted as much as 80 tons - twice as large as Brontosaurus. He had a unique location for his nostrils: in a bony dome on the top of his head!
It has been surmised that perhaps the location of his nostrils enabled him to dash out into a lake or stream to escape a hungry meat-eating dinosaur and then raise his head out of the water just enough to breathe. We cannot know the many reasons why God designed the Brachiosaurus as He did, but one thing we do know for certain: No one has ever found a single transitional form showing the nostrils migrating from the snout up into the bony dome on the top of the head. When he first appears in the fossil record, Brachiosaurus is 100 % Brachiosaurus, nostrils and all.
That is true of every dinosaur ever found, whether Brachiosaurus, Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Struthiomimus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, or any other dinosaur. Dinosaurs were some of the "beasts of the earth" mentioned in Genesis 1:24-25, created on the sixth day. Dinosaur fossils give eloquent testimony to the fact of creation.
4. THE FALLACY OF THE EVOLUTIONISTS' MODEL OF THE ORIGIN OF DINOSAURS
4.1 The Evolutionists' Imagined Model
Evolutionists believe that dinosaurs evolved during a period of about 150 million years, beginning with an ordinary kind of reptile. They think that dinosaurs became extinct some 70 million years before men evolved on earth. They claim that the discovered dinosaur fossils support the theory of evolution.
4.2 Dinosaurs Fossils Are Dated by the Geologic Time Scale Which Cannot be Proved by Scientific Methods
But how do evolutionists date the dinosaur fossils?
The discovered dinosauars was dated by the assumption of the Geologic Time Scale which was a statement of evolutionary dogma which cannot be proved by any scientific methods. They date the fossils by their theory of how old they think the fossils should be! Due to the this reason, the dinosaur fossils cannot be used as a valid evidence to support the theory of evolution. (Note: For further information of various dating methods, please read Chapter 7 of this course).
Here is obviously a system of circular reasoning. R.H. Rastall, Lecturer in Economic Geology at Cambridge University, says:
"It cannot be denied that from a strictly philosophical standpoint geologists are here arguing in a circle. The succession of organisms has been determined by a study of their remains embedded in the rocks, and the relative ages of the rocks are determined by the remains of organisms that they contain." (R.H. Rastall, Geology, Encyclopedia Brittannica, Vol. 10, 1956, p.168)
4.3 No Fossil Evidence to Support the Evolution Model
If dinosaurs evolved during a period of about 150 million years, beginning with an ordinary kind of reptile, then thousands of intermediate creatures must have existed. During that vast stretch of time, millions of dinosaurs would have lived and died. If evolution is true, our natural history museums should be able to display thousands of indisputable transitional forms. If creation is true, each kind of dinosaur would appear fully formed right from the start, with no intermediate type of fossil to suggest that these dinosaurs had evolved from a common ancestor. The fossil record of the dinosaur shows clearly that every one of the different kinds of dinosaurs fully formed, with no evidence that it evolved from an earlier form.
4.4 Discovery of Contemporaneous Footprints of Man and Dinosaur Plainly Disproving the Theory of Evolution
4.4.1 Human footprints have frequently been found in supposedly very ancient strata
There is the case of the human footprints that have frequently been found in supposedly very ancient strata. Man is supposed to have evolved only in the late Tertiary (claimed by the evolutionists), and therefore to be only about one million years old. But what appear to be human footprints have been found in rocks from as early as the Carboniferous Period, supposedly some 250 million years old (Albert C. Ingalls, The Carboniferous Mystery, Vol. 162, Scientific American, January 1940, p.14). These prints give every evidence of having been made by human feet, at a time when the rocks were soft mud. This sort of thing is not a rare occurrence but is found rather frequently.
4.4.2 Contemporaneous footprints of man and dinosaur have been found
Some remarkable footprints were found in a Cretaceous limestone formation near Glen Rose, Texas, photographed by Mr. Clifford L. Burdick, a practising mining geologist and examined by Roland T. Bird, a paleontologist from the American Museum of Natural History. Bird discovered not only the trails of large three-toed carnivorous dinosaurs, but also the footprints of a giant human footprints, twelve feet apart, and sunk very deeply in the mud (R.T. Bird, We Captured a Live Brontosaur, National Geographic Magazine, May, 1954, pp.707-722). These contemporaneous footprints of man and dinosaur were both cut from the Paluxy River Bed near Glen Rose, in supposedly Cretaceous strata, plainly disproving the evolutionist's contention that the dinosaurs were extinct some 70 million years before man evolved.
4.4.3 Scientists conclude that dinosaurs and giant humans must have lived at the same time
Note the tremendous size of human footprints, which immediately reminds one of the Biblical statement that there were "giants in the earth in those days" (Genesis 6:4). Similar giant human footprints have been found in Arizona, near Mt. Whitney in California, near the White Sands in New Mexico. Burdick has published some of the results of his investigations in this region, and it certainly appears from his description of the evidence that dinosaurs and giant humans must have lived at the same time (C.L. Burdick, in The Naturalist, Vol. 16, Spring 1957. Also, in Signs of the Times, July 22, 1950).
5. DINOSAURS IN THE BIBLE
Dinosaurs, as were all other animals (except for those that lived in the sea and the birds that flew in the air), were created on the sixth day of creation - the same day man was created (note: "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee ..."). Although dinosaurs and man were created to inhabit the earth at the same time, dinosaurs became extinct after the Flood of Noah (which will be explained later in more detail). It wasn't until the fossil remains of these huge creatures began to be discovered in great numbers that modern man acknowledged their true existence.
5.1 The Name "Dinosaurs" Are Not Mentioned in the Bible Because the Name Wasn't Invented Until 1841
Dinosaurs are not mentioned in the Bible, in the sense that the word appears in the Bible, because that name wasn't invented until 1841, and the Bible was first translated into English and was published in about A.D. 1611 (known as the King James Authorized Version), that is over 200 years earlier.
5.2 Dinosaurs Are Described in the Bible
Modern Bible scholars believe that dinosaurs are described in the Bible (see Job 40:15-24; 41:1-34; Psalm 74:13-14; Isaiah 27:1).
In Job, we read:
"Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: The sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God: He that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: He taketh it with his eys: His nose pierceth through snares." (Job 40:15-24)
"Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn? Will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears? Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me? By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth. When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: by reason of breakings they purify themselves. The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold: the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon. Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride." (Job 41:1-4, 7, 9, 10, 18-21, 25-26, 33-34)
5.3 Interpretation of the Word "Behemoth"
5.3.1 Why early days Bible commentators have mistakenly translated the word "behemoth" as "hippopotamus"?
The reason commentators are unable to identify this mighty animal is that it is now extinct. They limit their thinking of the word "behemoth" to existing animals, insist on calling the "behemoth" a hippopotamus.
The Bible teaches clearly that all animals, living or extinct, were made on the fifth and sixth days of creation week, along with man, who was given dominion over them (Genesis 1:20; Exodus 20:8-11). Although most of the earth's great fossil graveyards were formed by the Genesis Flood, representatives of each animal "kind" in the dry land were preserved on Noah's Ark to repopulate the world after the Flood. It can be shown that the Ark could easily hold two of each known species of land animal, both living and extinct. (note: Please read Chapter 11 for further information on the Genesis Flood and Noah's Ark).
However, Job and his contemporaries could easily have seen many kinds of animals that later became extinct due to the earth's more rigorous climate and vastly depleted resources after the Flood.
5.3.2 The word "behemoth" should not be translated as "hippopotamus"
Some early days Bible translators and commentators have suggested that the passage of Job 40:15-24 is describing a hippopotamus or perhaps an elephant. They understand it of an animal well known in Egypt, called the river-horse, or hippopotamus.
The problem with such an identification is that it doesn't fit the characteristics of the animal "behemoth" described in Job 40:15-24 on the following ways:
This creature had a tail like a cedar tree (Job 40:17). These words certainly could never be used to describe an elephant or a hippopotamus.
This creature described is so huge he could drink up a river and was not in a hurry (Job 40:23). One reason he didn't need to hurry was that his massive size insured he need not fear any animal who also would have approached the river to drink.
5.3.3 The word "behemoth" seems to mean gigantic terrestrial dinosaur
One of the principles of Bible interpretation is: "Interpret a word in relation to its sentence and context." It means that the context will almost always tell you a great deal about the word. If we interpret the word "behemoth" in relation to its immediate context, then it seems to mean gigantic terrestrial dinosaur due to the following reasons:
5.3.3.1 No known living animals conform to the characteristics of "behemoth"
No known living animals conform to the following characteristics: "Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron ... that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth, ... his nose pierceth through snares" (Job 40:16-18, 23, 24).
5.3.3.2 The behemoth was identified by the God as the largest of all land animals
The behemoth, however, was identified by the God as "the chief of the ways of God," indicating that he was the largest of all land animals. Almost certainly, therefore, God was speaking of a mighty dinosaur. The description does fit certain dinosaurs, but no other animals that we know of. The popular evolutionary myth that dinosaurs became extinct about 70 million years before man "evolved" is fallacious, both biblically and scientifically. God made the behemoth with man.
5.3.3.3 The message emphasizes God's great power in creation
But why would God call special attention at this point to a mighty dinosaur? The divine message continues to emphasize God's great power in creation, and this animal was far greater than any previously mentioned. The dinosaurs were not only the largest, but also the most hideous and fearsome, of all the animals. Although they shared God's providential care for all animals, they also must have inspired great fear and probably loathing in ancient man. Therefore, they would have served effectively as a symbol of evil, probably giving rise to all the tales of dragons that have come down from almost every nation.
5.3.3.4 The behemoth symbolized the Satan which would be destroyed in the future
Despite the fact that no man could trap one of these beasts, God assured Job that "he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him" (Job 40:19). Before they could proliferate in such numbers as to threaten human survival, God would see to it that they would either die out, or possibly be driven deep into the jungle swamps by need of food, water, and warmth. Modern scientists have long been mystified by the extinction of the dinosaurs, but God was equal to the task when the proper time arrived.
There was yet another implication to be noted by Job from behemoth. His nature, appearance, and power probably reminded men of the serpent in Eden, who had already caused havoc in the world. By this time, Job may have sensed that his troubles. The God of creation, who cared for all the animals he had created, even the behemoth, would not deliberately have inflicted such tribulations on one he loved as much as Job. Job may have been thinking by this time that, in some way he could not yet understand, the malignant serpent, symbolized by the ugly dinosaur, was behind it all. Therefore, God's assurance that he could destroy this gigantic beast ought to have given Job a glimmer of hope that his own sufferings might soon be over - if he recalled God's Edenic promise that the Serpent (Satan) would one day be destroyed (Genesis 3:15; Revelation 12:7-9; 20:7-10).
5.4 Interpretation of the Word "Leviathan"
5.4.1 Why early days Bible commentators have mistakenly translated the word "leviathan" as "crocodile"?
Some early days Bible translators and commentators are unable to identify this mighty animal is that it is now extinct. They once again limiting their thinking to existing animals, insist on calling the "leviathan" a crocodile or a whale.
5.4.2 The word "leviathan" should not be translated as "crocodile"
The witness of the great beast behemoth is brought into still sharper focus when God begins to speak of leviathan. As the behemoth was the greatest terrestrial animal, the leviathan was the greatest aquatic animal. Like the behemoth, it seems to be extinct, although reports continue to persist of great sea serpents and plesiosaur-like animals in oceans and deep lakes around the world (note: It will be discussed in Section 6 of this Chapter 10.).
Whether this Leviathan be a whale or a crocodile, is disputed. Once again, however, the awesome description in Job 41:1-34 does not fit at all. Whatever the leviathan may have been, it was not a crocodile! Neither was it a whale even though whales are the largest animals living today. Such an identification doesn't fit the characteristics of "leviathan" on the following ways:
The leviathan was impregnable to human efforts to capture or slay him (Job 41:7, 9, 10, 26). Yet zoos are full of crocodiles, and crocodiles have been hunted so successfully that they are often considered an endangered species. The same applies to whales.
The leviathan was capable of breathing out fire out of his mouth (Job 41:18-21). However, both crocodile and whale do not breath fire.
5.4.3 The word "leviathan" seems to mean gigantic aquatic dinosaur
If we interpret the word "leviathan" in relation to its immediate context, then it seems to mean gigantic aquatic dinosaur due to the following reasons:
5.4.3.1 Dinosaur fossils showed that some dinosaurs were capable of breathing out fire
Dragons of various kinds were capable of breathing out fire - at least according to traditions from all parts of the world. Certain insects can, in effect, give out light or fire (e.g. the bombardier beetle and the firefly), as can various luminescent fish. Perhaps more to the point, dinosaur fossils have been excavated that show a strange protuberance, with internal cavity, on the top of the head. It is conceivable that this could have served as a sort of mixing chamber for combustible gases that would ignite when exhaled into the outside oxygen.
5.4.3.2 Ancient human records have mentioned fire-breathing dragons
In any case, it seems unlikely that the ubiquitous tales of fire-breathing dragons in ancient times, coming as they do from all parts of the world, could have come into existence without a strong factual basis. Furthermore, the Bible often mentions dragons just as it mentions unicorns - always in such a way as to show that the writers believed they were real animals.
5.4.3.3 Other Scriptures indicated that whales may be translated as sea monsters or dragons
For example, the first mention of the animal creation refers to such animals. "God created great whales" (Genesis 1:21). The word translated whales in the King James is often translated sea monsters in other versions. In most other passages, however, the word is translated dragons or sometimes serpents. It apparently was meant to identify the animal called a dragon in other nations.
5.4.3.4 Other Scriptures identified the leviathan as a dragon
The leviathan is specifically identified as a dragon in one biblical text, where it is called "leviathan .. the dragon that is in the sea" (Isaiah 27:1).
It is not a mythical creature is clearly asserted in the great psalm of God's providence. When the psalmist speaks of "that great and wide sea" in which there are "things creeping innumerable," he also notes that "there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein" (Psalm 104:25, 26). The description in Job also notes that "he maketh the deep to boil like a pot" (Job 41:31).
5.4.3.5 The leviathan symbolized the end-time doom of Satan
The leviathan was a real animal, presumably the largest and fiercest of all the aquatic dinosaurs. Like the behemoth, however, he also symbolized the great power and pride of the wicked one, Satan. This is even more evident in this case than for behemoth. Some of the divine references to leviathan could not literally apply to any animal, even this one. They could, in fact must, apply ultimately to Satan, and to him alone.
As we read Job 41, it seems that we alternatively read about a powerful animal and a more powerful malevolent spirit, as though God were describing both leviathan and Satan intermittently but in the same context. The following statements and phrases, for example, though referring directly to the great animal, seem also to personify him as evil.
"Will he make many supplications unto thee? Will he speak soft words unto thee? Will he make a covenant with thee? Wilt thou take him for a servant for ever? ... Behold, the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him? ... When he raiseth up himself, the mighty are afraid: ... Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear (Job 41:3-4, 9, 25, 33).
All those who accept a full creationist and inerrantist position on Scripture should now realize that the leviathan was what we call a dinosaur and what ancient people called a dragon. That leviathan also symbolizes Satan is evident from Isaiah 27:1. In the context of God's promised last-day judgment on the earth and its inhabitants, Isaiah prophesied: "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."
To foreshadow this end-time doom of Satan, God has already eliminated most of the real dragons from the earth. God was promising this extinction to Job when he said that his "sword" could reach behemoth. He implied the same to Isaiah when he said his "strong sword" would punish leviathan. The psalms also noted: "Thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the peoples inhabiting the wilderness" (Psalm 74:13-14).
6. DINOSAURS IN OTHER HUMAN RECORDS
Evolutionists believe that dinosaurs became extinct some 70 million years before men evolved on earth. They claim that the discovered dinosaur fossils support the theory of evolution. However, apart from the Bible, other human records have shown that dinosaurs may co-exist with human beings, plaining disproving the theory of evolution.
6.1 Ancient Human Records or Tales
It is very possible some dinosaurs were killed by hunters. Perhaps stories like:
"St. George and the Dragon" in Europe is really true story of a knight killing a monster like a dinosaur; and
"Beast of the Year" in China is really true story of a group of ancient Chinese citizens killing a beast like a dinosaur.
6.2 Modern Human Records
6.2.1 The Loch Ness monster
Loch Ness is located in the North of Scotland and is one of a series of interlinked lochs which run along the Great Glen. For many years it has been supposed that there is a large dinosaur-like "monster" resident in Loch Ness. The evidence for its existence are a series of sightings of a plesiosaur-like dinosaur throughout the last 100 years. The case has occasionally been supported by indistinct photographic evidence.
The first recorded sighting of Nessie on land was made by Mr Spicer and his wife, on July 22nd 1933, who were driving down the road between the Loch Ness side villages of Dores and Inverfarigaig. They caught sight of a large cumbersome animal crossing the road ahead, which was some 20 yards from the water. They first saw a long neck, forming a number of arches, a little thicker than a elephant's trunk and a huge lumbering body heading towards the Loch. It disappered into the bushes out of sight.
Probably one of the first photographs to be taken of the monster was snapped by a British Aluminium Company worker, Mr Hugh Gray, near Foyers. It showed a writhing creature creating a considerable disturbance on the surface of the Loch. He only saw part of the animal which he estimated to be around 40 ft long, which included a thick rounded back and also a muscular looking tail.
However, several scientific studies have been conducted, including thorough sonar surveys of the loch, and these have not revealed any presence of such a "monster". Many people believe that the size (21 square miles) and great depth of the loch (almost 800 feet), together with potential underwater caves, gives the monster many places to hide.
6.2.2 Carcass of unknown gigantic sea creature
This carcass was picked up by the Japanese fishing boat MS Zuiyomaru off the coast of Japan. The carcass was covered with a fatty tissue which had badly decayed. The creature weighed about 1 ton. The Captain ordered it thrown back because of it's smell so it was never closely examined. Scientists studying the picture were unable to tell what kind of animal it was. It does not resemble any known sea dwelling creature. Skeptical scientists assumed it was a decayed body of a basking shark. Upon further examination, other biologists claim the size, fin placement, and overall appearance does not support the basking shark theory.
6.2.3 Ogopogo
The creature that has been sighted in Canada's Lake Okanagan is known to the locals as Ogopogo. This creature is considered the Nessie of North America. The numerous sightings date back to 1850 and still continue to this day. The creature is described as a large, dark colored animal with a long neck and a humped back. In 1968, Art Folden video taped Ogopogo while it swam across the lake. In 1976, the above photo was taken of Ogopogo by Ed Fletcher of Vancouver. On that day he chased the creature up and down the lake for several hours taking pictures of it.
6.2.4 Kodiak, Alaska
In 1969 the M/V Mylark, a shrimp boat fitted with special equipment, was using a state of the art electronic detector to map the ocean bottom in the Raspberry Straight off Kodiak, Alaska. The detector was the Simarad which was an fool-proof electronic detector. What the also detected about 55 fathoms down was a 200 feet long "dinosaur". This assignment had nothing to do with marine life so they were not in search of any, yet they had managed to get an image of a very large marine creature that did not resemble any known animal in the area. There are no whales in this area that are this size and shape.
6.2.5 China's Hubei province
In 1995, some peasant fishermen discovered a giant vapour-breathing creature that lives at the bottom of a deep gorge in a remote mountain area in central China's Hubei province. It has revealed itself only to frightened fishermen who have nicknamed it Chan, or toad, becuase of its amphibious appearance. The first recorded sighting came in 1962 from peasants who were fishing in the gorge by throwing explosives into the water. Chan allegedly emerged and chased the frightened fishermen for about 30m.
7. WHY DINOSAURS ARE RARELY FOUND NOWADAYS
Why did dinosaurs die out, along with flying reptiles, marine reptiles, and many other creatures that used to populate the earth? How could they be so numerous, and thus so successful and in such variety - meat-eaters, plant-eaters, little, big, ordinary, bizarre, slow, fast - and yet become utterly extinct or rarely found nowadays?
7.1 Fallacy of Evolutionists' Suggestions
Evolutionists have puzzled over this question since dinosaur fossils were discovered, and many ideas have been suggested:
Perhaps a peculiar disease wiped them out.
The newly evolved mammals ate all the dinosaur eggs.
One of the latest ideas is that an asteroid struck the earth and threw billions of tons of dust and debris into the air. The dust was so thick it blacked out the sun for several years and caused most of the plants on the earth to die. Therefore, most of the plant-eating dinosaurs died, and left little for the meat-eating dinosaurs to eat.
There are things wrong with all of these assumptions:
If an asteroid collision caused the dinosaurs to die, why didn't alligators, turtles, snakes, and all other reptiles die?
If tough dinosaurs died out (large and small), why didn't thin-skinned mammals become extinct?
How could a great variety of birds survive?
Evolutionists simply do not know why dinosaurs died out.
7.2 The Bible Has Provided Satisfactory Answers to the Extinction of the Dinosaurs
7.2.1 The Genesis Flood destroyed every land-dwelling creature on the earth except those on the Noah's Ark
The Bible tells us, in Genesis Chapters 6-8, about a great Flood - the Genesis Flood (or known as the Flood of Noah) - that overflowed the entire earth and destroyed every land-dwelling, air-breathing creature on the earth except those on the Noah's Ark.
7.2.2 The amount of water vapour in the atmosphere today is much less than existed before the Flood
The Bible tells us that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. This could not happen today. If one or two inches of rain would fall over the entire surface of the earth, the atmosphere would be bone dry. There is just not enough water vapour in the atmosphere today to keep it raining for 40 days and nights over the entire earth.
That tells us that there had to be much more water vapour in the atmosphere before the Flood than there is today. Most of that water vapour came down as rain at the time of the Flood, and, because of drastically changed conditions, only a small fraction of the quantity of the pre-Flood water vapour was able to return to the atmosphere. The amount of water vapour in the atmosphere today is much, much less than existed before the Flood.
7.2.3 Water vapour in the atmosphere before the Flood created a cause a worldwide mild, warm climate
There are 3 gases in our atmosphere today that are responsible for the absorption and retention of heat from the sun. These gases are ozone, carbon dioxide, and water vapour. Of these, water vapour is the most important. If there were much more water vapour in the atmosphere before the Flood than there is today, that water vapour would have absorbed and held in much more heat from the sun than the atmosphere does today. This would create what is called a "greenhouse" effect, and would cause a worldwide mild, warm climate. Lush vegetation would cover the earth. It would be mildly warm, even at the North and South Poles.
7.2.4 The atmosphere lost most of its water vapour at the time of the Flood and this caused a drastic change in the climate
The atmosphere lost most of its water vapour at the time of the Flood. This caused a drastic change in the climate on the earth. The worldwide, uniform mild climate of pre-Flood days was replaced by present conditions, with climatic zones that include the frigid Arctic and Antarctic zones, a temperature zone, and a tropical zone. Vast deserts now cover areas which once were covered with lush vegetation and forests. Thus, when the dinosaurs and all other creatures emerged from the Ark, they came out into a world that was drastically different from that in which they had flourished before. Many of these creatures, including the dinosaurs, failed to survive in the new world. How long did it take them to die out? A year? 10 years? 50 years? Longer? We don't know, but it is certain that they did, indeed, die out. When these creatures died, no fossils were formed. The fossils of dinosaurs that we find today were likely formed at the time of the Flood.
7.2.5 Much geological evidence exists that the earth had a worldwide mild climate at one time
Much geological evidence exists that the earth had a worldwide mild climate at one time. Fossils of palm trees and ferns are found on Greenland, so although it is now covered all year with ice and snow, at one time Greenland had a climate similar to the Caribbean. The fossil graveyard of duck-billed dinosaurs, found recently on the north shore of Alaska, is evidence that this part of the world enjoyed a much milder climate when it was home to these animals. Other fossils of animals that now live only in the tropics have been found above the Arctic Circle.
Evolutionary geologists do not know what could have caused these tremendous changes in the climate of the earth. This is because they cannot believe what the Bible says about the Flood. If they do, they would have to believe what it says about creation.
7.3 It is possible for Noah to put different species of Dinosaurs on the Ark
Did all the animals fit on the Ark, including the dinosaurs? How could Noah put millions of species of animals on the Ark? Where would he put a 50-foot high, 80-ton Brachiosaurus? It is possible for Noah to do so due to the following reasons:
It was not necessary to put huge, adult dinosaurs on the Ark. The preservation of the kinds was served just as well by preserving baby dinosaurs. This would greatly simplify the size issue.
No need to put sea animals on the Ark and it saves a lot of spaces on the Ark.
The Bible tells us that God said two of each "kind" of land-dwelling, air-breathing creatures were to be placed on the Ark. Today, there are about 20,000 species of land-dwelling, air-breathing creatures in existence (i.e. mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians). If we assume that another 20,000 species have become extinct, then 40,000 species, or approx. 80,000 animals had to fit on the Ark.
Many of them, like baby dinosaurs, lizards, rats, and birds, are quite small. The average size of all these animals would be approx. equivalent to the size of sheep. The Ark was about 450 feet long, 45 feet high, and 75 feet wide. That means that, with its 3 decks, the Ark had slightly more than 100,000 square feet of floor space. These 80,000 animals could be caged in an area of approx. 50,000 square feet, leaving half the Ark's space for storage of food, air space, living space for Noah and his family, etc. (note: For further information on the calculation of available spaces, please read Chapter 11 of this course.)
It is possible God caused most of the animals to hibernate, in oder to minimize the problems involved in their care.
7.4 Conclusion
The Flood was an event brought upon the earth by God, and it was His will that Noah, his family, and two of every land-dwelling, air-breathing creature should survive, including the "terrible lizards!"
8. REFERENCES AND RECOMMENDATION FOR FURTHER STUDY
The Amazing Story of Creation from Science and the Bible, Institute for Creation Research, 1990, by Duane T. Gish, PhD.
The Young Earth, Master Books, Creation-Life Publishers, 1994, by Morris D. John, PhD.
Scientific Creationism, Master Books, Institute for Creation Research, 2nd Edition, 1985, by Morris M. Henry, PhD.
What is Creation Science, Master Books, Creation-Life Publishers, Revised Edition, 1987, by Morris M. Henry and Parker E. Gary.
The Genesis Flood, The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 39th Printing, 1995, by Whitcomb C. John, and Morris M. Henry, PhD.
The World That Perished, Grand Rapids, Baker House, Revised Edition, 1988, by Whitcomb C. John.
The Genesis Record, A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings, Grand Rapids, Baker House, 26th Printing, 1994, by Morris M. Henry, PhD.