Did dinosaurs and men live together upon the ancient earth? Creationists answer this question affirmatively, based upon the clear testimony of the Scriptures—and no solid evidence to the contrary. The devotees of Charles Darwin argue negatively, contending that dinosaurs faded from the “geologic column” some sixty-five million years before humankind evolved from a lower form of life.
Unfortunately, many within the world community of “Christendom” have been heavily influenced by the evolutionary ideology of Darwin (1809-82). Hence while attempting to preserve a minimal level of regard for the Bible, they deny that humans and dinosaurs inhabited the early earth at the same time. They have “solved” the problem, at least to their own satisfaction, by manipulating the text of the book of Genesis, forcing it into the mold of evolutionary chronology. Hence they separate humanity and the “terrible lizards” by millions of years.
The methodology involved in this interpretative wizardry either is to: (a) contend that the dinosaurs lived in a “gap period” that mysteriously lies between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2; or else; (b) repudiate a literal view of the creation “days,” as set forth in the Mosaic literature. To contend that either of these theories is correct is to fling literal language and basic logic to the wind. The late Professor Edward J. Young, a renowned Old Testament scholar, declared, “Genesis 1 is not poetry or saga or myth, but straightforward, trustworthy history...” ( p. 105). He argued that: (a) it is in the same style as the remainder of the document; (b) it is lacking the common characteristics of Hebrew poetry; (c) the New Testament authenticates the events mentioned in Genesis 1 as having literally taken place (cf. Mark 10:6; Romans 1:20; 5:14; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14).
Those who view the Scriptures seriously must consider the following points.
Facts to Consider
(1) The so-called “geologic column” exists only on paper, not in fact. It has been assembled artificially on the subjective assumption that the more complex creatures have evolved from the simpler. Evolutionists admit that what they call the “knowledge of evolution” is the basis for identifying and correlating the “lithic [in rock] records of ancient times” (von Engeln and Caster, p. 417). The “theory” is father to the “chronological calendar.” In his popular book Biography of the Earth, Dr. George Gamow declared that the “fossils of different primitive animals in steadily increasing numbers” are employed in “establishing the ‘page sequence’ in the book of Earth’s history” (p.123-124).
(2) Hebrew grammar does not allow for a “gap” between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, accommodating a vast destruction of millions of earth creatures. First, the connective word that begins verse 2 (waw) is a disjunctive term that introduces a circumstantial clause; it is best rendered as, “Now the earth . . .” (NIV). The Greek version (Septuagint) reads: “In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. But the earth....” There is no room for billions of years in the grammatical construction. Second, why would this dramatic, catastrophic era have been passed over in absolute silence when other details, of considerable lesser significance, were included? Third, if such an era of corruption transpired, how could the sacred record possibly have concluded this narrative with: “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (1:31)?
(3) There is no exegetical license to stretch the term day in Genesis 1 into billions of years. While the word day is employed figuratively occasionally, there is absolutely no justification for that rendition in Genesis 1. In point of fact, the “days” clearly are distinguished from “years” in this chapter (vs. 14). The honest expositor must have a compelling contextual reason for converting literal language into a symbolic interpretation. Such does not exist in Genesis 1.
(4) In Exodus 20:9-11, Moses (who also penned Genesis 1) indicated that the days of the creation week were the same sort of days as the Sabbath “day,” i.e., literal days—not symbolic days of millions of years. When a Bible writer provides his own definition of the creation-week “days,” it is the epitome of arrogance to substitute a different sense for the author’s.
(5) Jesus Christ Himself, who was the agent of creation (John 1:1-3, 14), declared that humanity extended all the way back to “the beginning of the creation” (Mark 10:6), which leaves no room for a sixty-five million year gap between the end of the dinosaur era and the commencement of the human regime.
(6) The claim is made that there is no mention of dinosaurs in Genesis 1, hence they must have roamed the earth long before man. The same argument could be made with reference to dogs, horses, and elephants. These creatures are not specifically named in this chapter. But the general categories under which various creatures fall are specified. For example, there were “great sea monsters” (vs. 21), as well as “living creatures,” “cattle,” “creeping things,” and “beasts of the earth” after their kinds (vs. 24-25). Hebrew scholars point out that the original terms are “capable of quite wide interpretation” (Stigers, p. 61).
These various theories and rationalizations, the design of which is to controvert the clear testimony of Scripture and forge a link between theology and pseudoscience, are widely believed in the larger community of Christendom, but they are bereft of a sound exegetical method and a reverence for the written Word of God.
Conclusion
There is no reason to reject the Biblical proposition that all of earth’s basic life “kinds” were created within the same literal week (Genesis 1:11-27; cf. vs. 31; Exodus 20:9-11). There are many reasons (both from science and Scripture) to reject the opposite evolutionary scenario, the transparent design of which is to negate the testimony of the Bible and liberate the “creature” from the moral and religious responsibility he sustains to the “Creator.”
Sources
George Gamow, Biography of the Earth, (New York: Mentor, 1959).
Harold G. Stigers, A Commentary on Genesis, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976).
O. D. von Engeln and Kenneth Caster, Geology, (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill,1952).
Edward J. Young, Studies in Genesis One, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1964).
