Dinosaurs are a gripping subject for most elementary students, and media has been adding to the hype for decades. They are fascinating creatures. It is the biggest ones we are talking about, which are extinct. But not all ancient creatures are extinct. Some smaller living things today look nearly identical to what is in the fossil record, which leads to other questions. The article below is the last of a series on questions that come from the young. Dinosaur questions are fairly common when we talk about how things began and ancient history.
The article is a bit long, but short compared to the resource we developed and the seminars we often conduct. You are welcome to copy it, but we really recommend the resource, which is in the form of a free application for cell phones.
What Happened to the Dinosaurs?
We start with the short answer: these fascinating creatures were created by God on the 6th day of creation a few thousand years ago. They most certainly existed but they became extinct in the centuries after the Genesis Flood and the resulting Ice Age. The fossil record, which was caused from the effects of the Genesis Flood, shows many kinds of small as well as big living things that were created. Most recently, DNA has been recovered from incompletely fossilized remains, which is a surprise to evolutionists, but not a surprise to those who believe the Bible’s history. All this usually gets some surprised looks because the biblical world view is not as popular as evolution. So, we talk about the biblical view in our resources quite a bit to lay the foundation for understanding dinosaurs.
The Biblical Context.
Genesis 1 points to the beginning of the earth about 6000 years ago. The biblical record lists enough information on the generations to track history back to the creation week (Day 1 through Day 6 as listed in Genesis 1). Dinosaurs (large living creatures that lived on land) and other land creatures were created on Day 6. So, they did not evolve into their memorable features as commonly taught and based on evolution. Rather, they were created in “kinds” by their Creator at the beginning. During that week, kinds of vegetation were created on Day 3, kinds of flying creatures and sea life on Day 5, and finally living things on earth’s surface on Day 6. The crown of that creation is people (like us) who were created last on Day 6. The Bible states that we are uniquely created in His image and with His breath. All of this, of course, shows the handiwork of the God of Bible, who is powerful and eternal with a consistent character.
Genesis 2 concentrates on man as God puts us in the scene to tell us about the creation of Adam and Woman (later named Eve). All the information puts dinosaurs living on earth at the same time as man. In a still larger context, the biblical history not only starts with creation, but the rest of Genesis covers the entrance of sin (Genesis 3), a degradation of the culture affected by sin, the resulting God-commanded worldwide Genesis Flood, and the following history of the generations that repopulated the earth. The remainder of the Old Testament centers around Israel, which includes the prophets foretelling the coming of Christ. Of course, the first books of the New Testament record the birth, life, death, resurrection of Christ, and so on.
The Genesis Flood.
Multiple places in the New Testament mention creation and the Genesis Flood. Key characters from the first book in the Bible are also mentioned. They are marked by their faith (Hebrews 11). The Flood event is also mentioned in the New Testament, like Matthew 24:37-39 and Luke 18:26-27. 2 Peter 3:4-6 speaks of the parallel of the coming of the Flood to the surprise when Jesus returns. What is the point? We have a reliable history from a reliable source, and the dinosaur story fits within it.
As we tell them, within this biblical world view context, dinosaurs existed but took a drastic neck-down in population from the Genesis Flood. Key kinds, which were selected by God to be on the Ark with Noah and his family, survived. However, the biggest ones went extinct over time after the Flood. Here are some highlights we often include:
- We know some of the biggest dinosaurs survived because at least one is referenced in Job 40, where God presents the created details of the Behemoth. A sea creature (the Leviathan), which would have been created on Day 5 of creation, is also part of the conversation with Job in chapter 41. While big and notorious, the Leviathan is not a land-breathing dinosaur but lived in the sea. Nevertheless, both ancient creatures were not only created in the creation week, but God also uses them as examples of his power and creative ability when He is talking to Job. Job would have been aware of their existence, or it would not have made sense to mention them. Job lived in the generations after the Genesis Flood. The bottom line is that some ancient creatures, who were also on the Ark, survived the aftermath of the Genesis Flood after leaving the Ark.
- The basis of popular beliefs of dinosaurs, derived from an evolutionary world view and lots of media, means millions of years of development before man set foot or emerged from the evolutionary process. We point to the fallacies of this philosophy, which assumes both timelines and developments that cannot be confirmed, whereas the Bible’s archeological and historical detail has been verified many times. Even dating techniques, often touted as factual, have far-reaching assumptions that come from an evolutionary belief system. This usually leads to discussions about process of evolution as written by man (star dust to primordial soup to life to modern man) and takes billions of years. The creative process, where God makes the creatures in kinds and finally man as stated in Genesis, is entirely different. We remind them that the Bible is written by people who were moved by the Holy Spirit to write down what we find in the books of the Bible today. In contrast, men’s ideas and writings change. God does not, and neither does His Word.
- We usually review evidence of the worldwide Flood, such as huge canyons, the widespread fossil record (where dinosaur fossils can be found), sedimentary rock over most of the earth’s surface, and giant uplifts as well as deepened seas. We mention huge surfaces on continents that we see today (planation surfaces) that were developed from sheet flow of receding flood waters from new uplifted areas to lower areas as the Flood waters receded. Anyone can also see effects of the Great Flood today in the extensive fossil record that came from the rapid burial process during the early stages of the Flood. Of course, this is in light of biblical history as opposed to evolutionary history, which is man’s interpretation of billions of years. In evolution, God is rejected, and no creation as represented in Genesis is acceptable. In short, the general theory of evolution is quite simple: we came from star dust to soup to a microbiologist in the end with no oversight, planning, or purpose. Such a process is contrary to the character of the God of the Bible as well as what is written in it. God did not take millions of years to make the first decent quality soul. If He did, death and suffering reigned for millions of years until God got it right. The Bible shows no such time line and describes how sin spoiled the creation. The Bible does not show a weak, experimenting God.
- So what happened to the dinosaurs that came off the Ark? We explain that the aftermath of the Flood included a single Ice Age which best understood by specialists, who begin with the record of the Genesis Flood and have modeled its effects. We remind them of the surviving pairs of kinds of dinosaurs (probably young, small, healthy ones) that were preserved on the Ark and left it with other animals. But factors worked against their survival when they stepped on the changed earth’s surface. First, climactic stresses took several centuries to settle. The Ice Age, which was caused by widespread volcanism that blocked sunlight, very warm waters, and colder new lands, was a significant factor. At middle latitudes and a few other places, this led to heavy precipitation, cold summers, and lots of snow that built up. We have a very good idea today where the boundaries of the ice were, and they covered about a third of the earth’s surface. As near as we can tell, it took several centuries for that age to come and go. It was not an easy time, especially for the biggest living creatures. Second, the biggest dinosaurs were probably a threat and viewed as a source of food for humans. Third, humans like to hunt and often manage ‘game’ poorly. The net result was extinction after several centuries.
- We have evidence of their survival on different continents from stories, carvings, paintings and a few general descriptions – all well before the word ‘dinosaur’ was invented in the 1800s. So, some big creatures indeed survived for a period, but they had a tough time. Extinction was still the result for the ones that are so popular in media today.
We often include a quick summary of technical reports from the last few years, where incomplete fossilization and the presence of organic material have been found in the ‘fossil’ record of dinosaurs. There is even some limited DNA that has been analyzed, but we remind them that it is not likely to show up in any of their textbooks because it does not fit the evolutionary picture of millions of years. However, it is consistent with a biblical time line of a few thousand years. Over a hundred technical reports have been published in recent years, and the number continues to go up.
The bottom line is that dinosaurs are real, they lived when men lived in early history, and some of the largest and most threatening died out or were killed in the centuries following the global flood period. Extinction events, of course, occur today because of the similar pressures.
The Bible’s Big Context.
The largest picture is the most important, and we eventually review it with our audience. God means what He says. He made us and He oversees us. We are broken from the sin that came through the first generation of people He created, but it is not His will that we remain bound by it. The Old Testament preserves the record of what happened and records the history of a special people that kept the record (Old Testament) that also predicted the coming of the Messiah – the One who can solve our ‘sin’ problem and restore our relationship to God. The record and modern history show that we stay broken on our own – unable to close the gap between us and God effectively. We govern poorly and treat each other badly. History shows it. However, the Good News of the New Testament, in keeping with the prophets of the Old Testament, reveals a redeemer, Christ, the Messiah. His birth, life, death, and resurrection are well documented. The Bible also points to His return. John 1-3, Acts 17:24-27, Hebrews 1:1-4 show Christ is the Creator and He is also the Redeemer for those who call on Him to be rescued from sin. He wants a ‘people’ to love and gives them the gift of eternal life if we choose to believe and walk accordingly. He wanted that from the beginning.
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Need more information? Get the free cell phone application, or research the ministries that are cited below. Our phone applications (in Spanish and English) for Apple or Android phones provide more detail in a course for anyone with a 10th grade reading level. The course also compares the biblical world view with the most popular evolutionary world view. A hardcopy book or eEook can also be ordered from Amazon or other retailers in the US.
In the US and other nations with wealth and access to resources, ministries like creation.com, icr.org, and AiG.org have much more detail than what is in our course, but access to these resources is usually not possible where we usually go on mission trips. We especially recommend creation.com because of its international offices and extensive online library that anyone can use. The website has a wonderful search window for lots of questions.
We are available for training using our resources. Contact us for more information.
A Study of God’s Creation filled with Purpose, Direction, and Consequence, Second Edition for High School Level, Author: Roland K. Beard III, published by RJ Beard Publishing, 2020 ISBN 978-1-952267-00-0
