On Dinosaurs, Evolution, & the Scripture

"Evolutionists believe in dinosaurs, right?" "Right." "And you, as a creationist, believe that Darwinian macro-evolutionary theory is incorrect, right?" "Right." "Then what do you do with dinosaurs?" "I do the same thing with dinosaurs that I do with hot fudge sundaes." "You do what?!" "Friend, to my knowledge, most evolutionists also 'believe in' hot fudge sundaes. But that has never stopped me from also 'believing in' them, as well as thoroughly enjoying them, which is just exactly what I do with the stories of those great, magnificent creatures known as dinosaurs that God once put on this earth." "So you're saying that you believe that God created dinosaurs and that dinosaurs and creationism are not mutually exclusive?" "Of course I'm saying that God created dinosaurs! And of course dinosaurs and creationism are not mutually exclusive." "I've always thought of dinosaurs and evolution as being all wrapped up in the same package." "Not at all. Dinosaurs and naturalistic evolution are no more co-dependent than hard boiled eggs and the Easter Bunny." "Can you elaborate? What do creationists believe about how dinosaurs came to be?" "Read on . . ." The Bible says that on Day Five of the creation week God brought into being, among other things, the "great sea monsters" (Hebrew = tannin). That must have included "Leviathan" (Job 41:1), an up-to-50-foot-long Super Crocodile. On Day Six God went on to create all of the "beasts of the earth." That most likely included "Behemoth" (Job 40:15), very possibly Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus), Tyrannosaurus Rex, and all sorts of other land-based dinosaurs. For centuries these gigantic (some perhaps as large as seven elephants), fascinating, and rather intimidating 30-ton creatures walked the earth. Some of their 18-inch long three-toed footprints and fossils are still here to prove it. I am privileged to have once personally visited a dinosaur bone excavation site and "working" museum in the western part of our own country. In my opinion, it would take a very naive person with poor eyesight or slow perception (or both) to seriously deny the historical existence of dinosaurs. The Scripture does part company with macro-evolutionary theory, though, in its contention that dinosaurs and humans were all created by an omnipotent God within a week. That would contradict the evolutionary view that dinosaurs preceded men on this earth by millions of years. A straightforward reading of Genesis 1-3 implies that humans and dinosaurs lived simultaneously on this planet thousands, not millions, of years ago. Any other position on the matter inevitably leads to a conflict with the Biblical chronology of physical death because Scripture makes it clear that sin became a reality only after Adam and Eve were created and humanity subsequently fell into sin (Romans 5:12). But back to dinosaurs, which no longer exist as they once did here on earth. Why? Who knows? Perhaps they were hunted down like so many other endangered species. Perhaps the dramatic changes in climate after the great flood proved too harsh for them. Perhaps it was some other factor. We may never know in this life because no one except God was there when it happened. Perhaps in heaven He will re-stage some sort of time-warped version of the exciting age of the great dinosaurs, and if we are there because of having received Jesus as Savior (John 1:12), we'll get to witness it all from a front row seat!