Did the dinosaur era really exist when you look at things from a Christian/Jewish perspective?

Question

According to the Bible,in the beginning God created heaven and earth.A few days later He created man.From this it seems as if the dinosaur era never existed.The Bible does not make provision for the dinosaur era as well as the pre-historic era.But scientists and geologists have proof that dinosaurs did really exist millions of years ago.According to the Bible the earth is not millions of years old.So,scientists,theologians and religious people,who is wrong and who is right or is there a way of explaining the dinosaur era without anyone being wrong in this religion or science.To God be the glory.

Answer 1

I've never really thought about that.

But ofcourse dinosaurs used to exist, scientists have proved it, and ofcourse all the bones and skeletons they've discovered.

But for people who wish to believe in the bible, how come dinosaurs were never mentioned

Answer 2

Your best source to many of these answers would be to visit an apologetics site. Apologetics is the defense of a belief, the term is used by Christian's a lot.

I recommend-http://www.answersingenesis.org/

Answer 3

My perspective is that of a Roman Catholic (a Christian).  Roman Catholicism believes that the Bible must be read with great care because some of its passages are symbolic of a higher truth but not literally true.  The account of the creation in Genesis is such a passage.  It is not a literal account of the creation of the universe but a symbolic one which tell us that God is the creator of everything and that God's creative act has many dimensions including a human dimension in which we share in the image of God.

The fact that it does not mention dinosaurs does not suggest that scientific theory is wrong nor that the moral content of the Bible is wrong.

I believe that dinosaurs existed and that the Earth is several billions of years old, and I don't think this poses a problem with my religious beliefs.

Problems arise when people adopt simplistic religious views such as Biblical literalism.  Problems also arise when people have an overly simplistic understanding of scientific theories.  People would do better to take more care in both their study of religion and science.

Answer 4

Here's the 2 standard explanations of that, Catholic and Protestant:

1)Catholic - My own pastor likes to say, 'We're not here to tell you how the heavens go, but how to go to heaven.'  The Bible's not meant to be a science textbook.  Not accepting things literally - eg, not accepting that the act of Creation took 7 days - does not mean questioning faith in God, because Creation is not a one-time event; it's the continuous unfolding of God's will in the universe.

2)Protestant - God can do anything he wants.  It wouldn't be impossible for him to make the entire fossil record, total and complete and looking like it was made billions of years ago, in just 7 days.  (There are sometimes also some real wierd questioning of Carbon-14 dating and the science involved; such that pastors looking like scientists embarass themselves.)  Why God would do this is not for us to judge (as good or bad); only God knows why.

Answer 5

there's no such thing as dinosaurs. i've been alive for 33 years and haven't seen any dinosaurs. it's just a big hoax put on by the evil world conglomerate. giant lizards, that's just ridiculous. next thing you know, you'll be telling me that man has walked on the moon.

Answer 6

You have a problem only if you believe that every single word in the Bible is true. Or you believe (as most Christians do outside the US) that the Bible is symbolic rather than factual just as Brandon stated above and that as long as God is at the source of it all Earth can be billions of years old and dinosaurs existed before mankind.

I cannot answer for a Jewish perspective but if I take my Jewish friends as a sample I believe most have the same pragmatic view.  

Answer 7

In the begining how long was a day? I believe in God and the Genesis story with my whole heart but there is no evidence to show that a day was only twenty-four hours. So who's to say that a day wasn't hundreds of years long. There is also plenty of evidence that later dinosaurs coexisted with humans. Plus the Bible never says how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before they were kicked out. So why couldn't all of this other stuff have been occuring while these two were living there.

This may be a ignorant answer but this how I see it.  

Answer 8

I'm a Roman Catholic, too, and feel it's fruitless to read the Bible on a literal level.  I think the rabbinc tradition of PaRDeS (which also means "paradise") in biblical exegesis provides the best analogy for the different ways to interpret the Bible (and any text in general):

Peshat (פְּשָׁט): the literal meaning

Remez (רֶמֶז): allegorical truth

Derash (דְּרַשׁ): comparitive meaning, as you'd do with the midrashim (biblical commentary written by interpreters for centuries)

Sod (סוֹד): the "secret," mystical, inarticulable meaning behind the text

With the realization that the Bible can be read on so many levels does it really seem contradictory that dinosaurs existed?  God gave us the tools to discover reality, new tools and systems of thought that allow us to see the world in a whole new light.  To me the Creation story has no more weight than ancient Germanic, Classical, Aztec, or whatever creation myths.  

Answer 9

you are falling into the trap of trying to take these bible stories literally.  many religious branches do not take these stories literally, even including some catholics.  they seem them as stories created to describe the beginning of the world in a symbolic sense only.  because of this, it is perfectly acceptable to include evolutionary theory into creationist theory.

Answer 10

The conflict comes up only if you assume that every word in the Bible is literally true.  That's one way of reading the scripture, but by no means the only one.  Even then, it isn't necessary to assume that the Hebrew word for day, yom, has to mean a period of 24 hours.  It can be used that way, or to mean an era of time, much like the English word day.

The dinosaur era did exist, and that's a truth that can't be evaded.  It need not conflict with the scriptures, unless you make a point of reading the scriptures as narrowly as possible to deny other forms of knowledge.