How do we explain the absence of dinosaurs in creation?

[NothingIsImpossible]

I LOVE dinosaurs ever since I was a kid. Wanted to be a paleontologist... or a time machine maker so I could see them.

But the one question that is hard for me to answer when a non-christian asks where are the dinosaurs in the bible? And even if we ignore the fossil age, shouldn't they still be in the bible?

This is hard because I know the existed. We see the bones. But I believe the earth is only a few thousand years old (what is it like 7,000 some say?). So I'm not sure how to explain where they were if man was around but yet no man seems to have be eaten by dinosaurs in the bible or history really during that time.

I tell people maybe they existed outside safely away from man in other countries until the flood came, which it then wiped them out. It would make sense since most bones are found in places not really near to where Eden is thought to have been. Of course I can't explain the bone age other then to say a man made instrument is what finds the age, so it could be a flawed instrument.

Then you get into "Why were they wiped out if two of every creature was put on the ark?". That also hard to answer. Maybe He didn't intend for them to be around after we went to repopulate earth because they would be big and cause many issues.

As for why they aren't in the bible. I say its because (again) they weren't near man at that time so no one wrote about them since they had never seen them.

The only real thing I can come up with is maybe the earth is older then we think. But then you come right back to the issue of even if the earth was lets say 100,000 years old... if man was created within the 7 days. That means dinosaurs would have been around since the start too. Unless God destroyed them the moment Eve bit the apple because He knew they would destroy us?

So what are your views? I know its not a "end all" thing to not have an answer for. But for non-believers its hard to convince them of what any answer is that would make sense.

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

I LOVE dinosaurs ever since I was a kid. Wanted to be a paleontologist... or a time machine maker so I could see them.

But the one question that is hard for me to answer when a non-christian asks where are the dinosaurs in the bible? And even if we ignore the fossil age, shouldn't they still be in the bible?

This is hard because I know the existed. We see the bones. But I believe the earth is only a few thousand years old (what is it like 7,000 some say?). So I'm not sure how to explain where they were if man was around but yet no man seems to have be eaten by dinosaurs in the bible or history really during that time.

I tell people maybe they existed outside safely away from man in other countries until the flood came, which it then wiped them out. It would make sense since most bones are found in places not really near to where Eden is thought to have been. Of course I can't explain the bone age other then to say a man made instrument is what finds the age, so it could be a flawed instrument.

Then you get into "Why were they wiped out if two of every creature was put on the ark?". That also hard to answer. Maybe He didn't intend for them to be around after we went to repopulate earth because they would be big and cause many issues.

As for why they aren't in the bible. I say its because (again) they weren't near man at that time so no one wrote about them since they had never seen them.

The only real thing I can come up with is maybe the earth is older then we think. But then you come right back to the issue of even if the earth was lets say 100,000 years old... if man was created within the 7 days. That means dinosaurs would have been around since the start too. Unless God destroyed them the moment Eve bit the apple because He knew they would destroy us?

So what are your views? I know its not a "end all" thing to not have an answer for. But for non-believers its hard to convince them of what any answer is that would make sense.

Some of us accept the dinosaurs all died 65 million years ago in a great extinction event.

 

[Daydream Island]

What if God wanted to entertain us with it? I also was fascinated with dinosaurs when I was a kid (and maybe I still am).. they used to help me eat my salad xD just a funny story I have but won't develop here.
What if he wanted to show us other creatures he is able to create so we can have a better perspective in who he is/can do?

And heu.. if the dinosaurs were still alive... I'm not sure us humans would have prospered.

 

[PloverWing]

The existence of the dinosaurs was probably unknown to the human author(s) of Genesis. In writing the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2, the author is affirming that God created the earth and all its creatures by listing lots of the creatures the author knew about, but the author likely did not know to include dinosaurs in that list.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

Some of us accept the dinosaurs all died 65 million years ago in a great extinction event.

But the question still remains.... if we were created within 7 days.... where do the dinos fit in? Though thinking about it I do know some people believe everything wasn't created in 7 days as a literal term. But over time. Which confuses me and brings up more questions then answers. Like if we took a day to make, does that mean we didn't? Did we take thousand of years to form from dust? And how did others things survive if other aspects of earth weren't finished yet?

And doesn't saying we have been around 65 million years mean we limit the power of God by saying He can't create things in 7 days? Its really hard for me to grasp such a long time. Actually I'd be more willing to accept the shorter spans people guess like earth is 20,000 years old. At least it would make more sense that like 10,000 years were while he was creating things. And 7,000 years ago we were created after the dinos were gone.

But... why did man at the time not see the after effects of the asteroid? Like the ice age that would have happened from all the stuff flying into the air for eons? And why would God even bother with the dinos if were never going to see them? Why would He create them just to kill them all for no real reason? Just so we could be confused about the past? Or maybe its all just a test and they never really existed. He just put bones down to see if we would side with the world instead and believe what they tell us happened?

What if God wanted to entertain us with it? I also was fascinated with dinosaurs when I was a kid (and maybe I still am).. they used to help me eat my salad xD just a funny story I have but won't develop here.
What if he wanted to show us other creatures he is able to create so we can have a better perspective in who he is/can do?

And heu.. if the dinosaurs were still alive... I'm not sure us humans would have prospered.

Well entertainment could be useful. I'd love to have a pet T-Rex to play fetch with. Or a raptor to ride around.

 

[NothingIsImpossible]

The existence of the dinosaurs was probably unknown to the human author(s) of Genesis. In writing the creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2, the author is affirming that God created the earth and all its creatures by listing lots of the creatures the author knew about, but the author likely did not know to include dinosaurs in that list.

Hmm. Never thought about it like that.

 

[Daydream Island]

Same here !! XD

 

[Daydream Island]

and apparently, I do know how to use the 'quote' function x)

 

[ValleyGal]

I don't know how old the earth is, but the Bible mentions dinosaurs - just not using the word "dinosaurs". I think some versions use the word "Leviathan". The Hebrew word has been translated in a number of ways, each describing some sort of huge reptile. Because I believe in a God of miracles, creation was imho a miracle, in which he created all things in full formation rather than some algae that crawled out of the ocean, evolved into apes and then apes evolved into humans. If God created plants and animals in full formation, perhaps he created dinosaurs as though they were already hundreds of years old. I think (don't quote me on this) that reptiles never stop growing, so a 500 year old lizard would look like a giant dinosaur. But since the flood wiped everything out, nothing lives as long as pre-flood, and reptiles do not grow big enough to be classified as dinosaurs. I believe man and the giant creatures the Bible refers to, co-existed pre-flood - I just don't know how. The flood happened pretty early in history, too, so their co-existence likely didn't last long.

 

[Widlast]

But the question still remains.... if we were created within 7 days.... where do the dinos fit in? Though thinking about it I do know some people believe everything wasn't created in 7 days as a literal term. But over time. Which confuses me and brings up more questions then answers. Like if we took a day to make, does that mean we didn't? Did we take thousand of years to form from dust? And how did others things survive if other aspects of earth weren't finished yet?

And doesn't saying we have been around 65 million years mean we limit the power of God by saying He can't create things in 7 days? Its really hard for me to grasp such a long time. Actually I'd be more willing to accept the shorter spans people guess like earth is 20,000 years old. At least it would make more sense that like 10,000 years were while he was creating things. And 7,000 years ago we were created after the dinos were gone.

But... why did man at the time not see the after effects of the asteroid? Like the ice age that would have happened from all the stuff flying into the air for eons? And why would God even bother with the dinos if were never going to see them? Why would He create them just to kill them all for no real reason? Just so we could be confused about the past? Or maybe its all just a test and they never really existed. He just put bones down to see if we would side with the world instead and believe what they tell us happened?


Well entertainment could be useful. I'd love to have a pet T-Rex to play fetch with. Or a raptor to ride around.

Genesis was written 2500 years after the "events" it purports to recount. The author(s) of Genesis were attempting to record the events handed to them by oral tradition in a sensible and cohesive fashion, themselves having NO IDEA what had happened ages ago. Give them a break. It is NOT LITERAL HISTORY.
As is well recorded in physical history the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite strike off the coast of Mexico about 65 million years ago. Truth is they had been fading for 10s of millions of years, the Earth was in a drying phase and hardwood trees were starting to dominate the forests (hardwoods being inedible and hard to move through).
Thank God that this was the case, mankind would not have lasted five minutes with dinosaurs running around.
We are slow and easily digested.

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

But the question still remains.... if we were created within 7 days.... where do the dinos fit in? Though thinking about it I do know some people believe everything wasn't created in 7 days as a literal term. But over time. . . .

Well, I view those time periods as indefinite and as arranged poetically, not sequentially, so that they can overlap.

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

I don't know how old the earth is, but the Bible mentions dinosaurs - just not using the word "dinosaurs". I think some versions use the word "Leviathan". The Hebrew word has been translated in a number of ways, each describing some sort of huge reptile. Because I believe in a God of miracles, creation was imho a miracle, in which he created all things in full formation rather than some algae that crawled out of the ocean, evolved into apes and then apes evolved into humans. If God created plants and animals in full formation, perhaps he created dinosaurs as though they were already hundreds of years old. I think (don't quote me on this) that reptiles never stop growing, so a 500 year old lizard would look like a giant dinosaur. But since the flood wiped everything out, nothing lives as long as pre-flood, and reptiles do not grow big enough to be classified as dinosaurs. I believe man and the giant creatures the Bible refers to, co-existed pre-flood - I just don't know how. The flood happened pretty early in history, too, so their co-existence likely didn't last long.

Dinosaurs were not the same as today's lizards. Many of them had feathers and they were warm blooded.

 

[Sketcher]

If they're in the Bible, they qualify as "beasts of the earth."

If they were included in the ark, perhaps they were babies rather than fully grown.

Or perhaps the Genesis narrative doesn't strictly mean 144 hours of creation and the world is older than a few thousand years. God can take his time, and not everything that he revealed through the Bible has to make sense to us. "It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out." - Prov. 25:2

 

[South Bound]

I LOVE dinosaurs ever since I was a kid. Wanted to be a paleontologist... or a time machine maker so I could see them.

But the one question that is hard for me to answer when a non-christian asks where are the dinosaurs in the bible? And even if we ignore the fossil age, shouldn't they still be in the bible?

This is hard because I know the existed. We see the bones. But I believe the earth is only a few thousand years old (what is it like 7,000 some say?). So I'm not sure how to explain where they were if man was around but yet no man seems to have be eaten by dinosaurs in the bible or history really during that time.

I tell people maybe they existed outside safely away from man in other countries until the flood came, which it then wiped them out. It would make sense since most bones are found in places not really near to where Eden is thought to have been. Of course I can't explain the bone age other then to say a man made instrument is what finds the age, so it could be a flawed instrument.

Then you get into "Why were they wiped out if two of every creature was put on the ark?". That also hard to answer. Maybe He didn't intend for them to be around after we went to repopulate earth because they would be big and cause many issues.

As for why they aren't in the bible. I say its because (again) they weren't near man at that time so no one wrote about them since they had never seen them.

The only real thing I can come up with is maybe the earth is older then we think. But then you come right back to the issue of even if the earth was lets say 100,000 years old... if man was created within the 7 days. That means dinosaurs would have been around since the start too. Unless God destroyed them the moment Eve bit the apple because He knew they would destroy us?

So what are your views? I know its not a "end all" thing to not have an answer for. But for non-believers its hard to convince them of what any answer is that would make sense.

If a non-Christian asked me that I'd say "The Bible isn't a zoology book It's purpose isn't to document every animal but to show us that God provided a way of salvation for sinners in the person and work of Jesus Christ So with that in mind let me ask you a question: If you were to die today would you go to Heaven or Hell and why?"

 

[dhh712]

But the one question that is hard for me to answer when a non-christian asks where are the dinosaurs in the bible? And even if we ignore the fossil age, shouldn't they still be in the bible?

The only real thing I can come up with is maybe the earth is older then we think. But then you come right back to the issue of even if the earth was lets say 100,000 years old... if man was created within the 7 days. That means dinosaurs would have been around since the start too. Unless God destroyed them the moment Eve bit the apple because He knew they would destroy us?

So what are your views? I know its not a "end all" thing to not have an answer for. But for non-believers its hard to convince them of what any answer is that would make sense.

My view is that the Bible isn't a tool to satisfy our curiosity about everything. It's a story about salvation and the description of how God wants his people to live that he graciously condescended to give us.

So God may have left dinosaurs out of his story of creation. Apparently such things existed. How does it all fit in? There may not be an answer.

My personal view is that there are a lot of things left out of the creation story. It is also not apparent when Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. They may have been there for thousands of years. Another possibility is that God created the earth to look millions of years old. He created Adam as a full-grown man; who's to say he hadn't done a similar thing with the earth?

The fact is that we're just not going to know how it all went down while we live here. No one is going to be able to go back in time and witness what went on. We can make speculations about it. However, like you said it shouldn't be an "end all" thing to not have an answer for. Sure atheists may get hung up on it and it may be a huge obstacle for them in pursuing the Christian mindset; it will likely be that way until God softens their heart and they meet Jesus.

 

[RaymondG]

Sometimes a good "I dont know," would suffice. Nothing more harmful than a christian, speaking as God's Truth, the wisdom of man.

 

[LoricaLady]

No doubt someone already has said, or will say, that dinosaurs actually are in the Bible. The thing is, the word dinosaur came along after the Bible was written. We hear about a monstrously huge creature with a tail like a cedar tree, behemoth. Dragons look pretty much like dinos, too, don't they? Even if the dinos had not been mentioned, well, neither is a hippo or a zebra or a platypus, etc. etc. but they still did exist back then.
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Here are some facts that many people do not know about dinosaurs:
Dinos started out in eggs no bigger than footballs. All lizards grow as long as they live. How come, say, crocodiles, don't grow as big as dinos? Well, the world was different back then, pre Flood. They have found tropical plant life, like palm trees, fossilized in places like the Antarctic. This indicates there was a lush tropical climate from pole to pole.
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For such big bodies as dinos had there would have to have been far more plant life and more oxygen. Studies of fossilized amber show that oxygen was much more abundant in the ancient past. This would have increased the plant life that vegetarian dinos had to have in vast quantities. In short, the planet was once hospitable to extremely long life and therefore extreme size in reptiles. And, yes, back then many, many animals reached gigantic proportions. For example dragon flies could be as big as kites. It was a different world. A world where people, too, could live incredibly long lives, as the Bible says.
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Did you know that blood cells, intact blood vessels and stretchy materials have been found more and more in dino bones? Here is some more info: Go to Genesispark to see ancient art depictions of dinos from around the world. My fave is the stegosaurus carved on a 1,000 year old Cambodian temple. That site has lots of info on soft tissues and blood cells being found in dino bones, and historical reports of dino type creatures, including some from the famous historian Herodotus and from Alexander the Great. All information is gleaned from secular sources. Ancient Dinosaur Depictions | Genesis Park

And btw there is no Geologic Column, where dinos fit neatly into Jurassic niches, etc. Fossils are jumbled. In Montana you can find dino bones next to giant shark bones. Whales' fossils are found in the Andes mountains. Deep sea creatures' fossils, like sea shells and trilobites, are found at every level on the planet, deep inland as well as coastally, including on most mountain tops. Now, how did all that sea life, all that sea get everywhere? Hmmmm.... Rhetorical Q.