Dinosaurs fossils and Creation

[tateziwin]

Please forgive me if this has been asked a million times before!

How do we as Christians deal with and explain the existance of the fossils that are dated back millions of years with the comparitively recent event of Creation?

Again, sorry but I gotta know.

 

[Karl - Liberal Backslider]

As Christians?

We accept the findings that scientists make by studying God's Creation. We accept that Genesis is not a science text, and that the creation did not occur a few thousand years ago, but rather that the earth has been around for 4.6 billion years, and its current biodiversity is the result of a process of evolution.

We then carry on as Christians and informed, intelligent, scientifically literate individuals. There's no real issue.

 

[tateziwin]

sorry to be a bit dumb about all this but I need a bit more info than your broad explanation of " We accept that Genesis is not a science text, and that the creation did not occur a few thousand years ago,"
How can i reconcile that with the Bible that says God made Adam & Eve etc...where do the dinosaurs fit into this?
And sure i can understand that the geneaology from Adam to Jesus skipped a few generations but millions of years?
Am I to think that from the time when God made the earth to the time that Adam was created that the 7 days were in reality extended periods eg. a day = a thousand days etc.
I bet you are even more irritated now! sorry! ( never said I was real bright )

 

[Karl - Liberal Backslider]

I don't think the days are chronological at all. The purpose of the Genesis account is not to give us a scientifically accurate model of how the universe was created.

I wrote about it here - http://freespace.virgin.net/karl_and.gnome/genesis.htm, so rather than me reinventing the wheel I'd suggest taking a look.

 

[simguy83]

Tatezwini

We can believe that dinosaurs were present before the flood and were wiped out. The bible discusses "dragons" amongst men. The only way to find the age is by the process of carbon dating. Many scientists will aggree that carbon dating is very unreliable.

Remember that evolution is at best a theory - and a bad one at that.

 

[notto]

Tatezwini

We can believe that dinosaurs were present before the flood and were wiped out. The bible discusses "dragons" amongst men. The only way to find the age is by the process of carbon dating. Many scientists will aggree that carbon dating is very unreliable.

Remember that evolution is at best a theory - and a bad one at that.

Carbon Dating would never be used to date dinosaurs. This is a misconception that apparently you picked up from a bad resource. There are several lines of evidence used to date fossils and geologic features that rely on independed phenomena and they all agree quite well with the ages assigned to fossils. There is no significant problem with dating methods.

You say that 'many scientists' will agree that carbon dating is very unreliable. This is simply not true. It is only creationists who have a problem with carbon dating and they do not do it for scientific reasons.

 

[simguy83]

Hi Notto.

I am not denying the age of the Earth. It would not bother me whether it was 6,000 years old or 4.6 billion years.

The point I was trying to make is that there is no way to proove the age of fossils etc.. we can only speculate using our methods.

If we read genesis chapter one verse two it says "And the earth was without form, and void..."

There is a chance that this is where Satan rebelled against God and was cast onto the Earth. this statement could mean that all life was wiped out - the Earth was void. Who is to know what happened before this? It is clear that God has not seem fit to tell us and we can only speculate.

This theory is quite well known but many people believe that many many years went by between Genesis chapter one V1 and V2.

 

[gluadys]

The point I was trying to make is that there is no way to proove the age of fossils etc.. we can only speculate using our methods.

This is not true. There are many ways to reliably date the age of fossils as well as ways to test the reliability of dating systems. The dating systems currently in use can be used with confidence when used correctly. We are not doomed to merely speculate. We can measure.

If we read genesis chapter one verse two it says "And the earth was without form, and void..."

There is a chance that this is where Satan rebelled against God and was cast onto the Earth. this statement could mean that all life was wiped out - the Earth was void. Who is to know what happened before this? It is clear that God has not seem fit to tell us and we can only speculate.

This theory is quite well known but many people believe that many many years went by between Genesis chapter one V1 and V2.

Now that is pure speculation. Is it right? Is it wrong? There is no way to tell because there is no way to test it out. One person's guess is as good as another's.