When, according to the Bible, did dinosaurs exist? Why did they all perish? Here are the surprising answers.
ONE of the greatest mysteries in historical geology is the extinction of the bizarre dinosaurs. The sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs and other contemporary reptiles has excited scientists and laymen alike. What strange event or events sealed their doom? Why are there none on earth today? Geologists are still perplexed. There seems to be no end to the variety of ideas offered to answer the intriguing question of what happened to these mighty reptiles of the past. Perhaps you have heard some of the most well-known theories like the following.
Arena of Speculation
An early idea was that of climatic change. Perhaps the climate became so cold (or so warm) that the cold-blooded dinosaurs could not survive? This view, although it may sound good, is unacceptable. Why? For the simple reason that the fossil record shows similar climatic patterns on the earth both before, during and immediately after the dinosaur extinction! Very rare fossils of just the teeth, and in a few cases the jaw bones, of rat-size animals have been found in some isolated strata from the dinosaur age. Some scientists assume that these creatures are primitive egg-eating mammals and may have eaten all the eggs of those dinosaurs which reproduced oviparously. If so, why do egg-laying crocodiles and turtles exist today? Furthermore, this idea would not account for the extinction of the other dinosaurs whose young were born alive and not by eggs! The idea of dinosaurs being killed off by rat-size "mammals" somehow doesn't make too much sense anyway. Another suggestion that has been offered is the idea of giantism. This brainstorm has its basis in the lone fact that in many extinct animal groups the last survivors were exceptionally large. But the Great Extinction did not just affect large animals. It wiped out large and small, old and young alike! There is simply no proof that an animal is doomed to extinction merely because it is large. Perhaps great epidemics swept the earth at that time, goes another theory. This solution is also rejected by most scientists, and for good reasons. For one thing, most epidemics are very specific or relatively limited in their effects. One paleontologist acknowledges that "it is stretching credulity far beyond the bounds of reason to suppose that a series of epidemics could have brought about the disappearance of all dinosaurs" (Dinosaurs, Colbert, pp. 255-256). What about a change in the food supply? Could a change in the food supply, assuming that it occurred over millions of years, account for the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs? The fossil record shows that the plants eaten by the dinosaurs were still very much available to them at the time of the Great Extinction. Some have advocated that earth forces, in making mountains, could have wiped out the reptilian hordes. It is a geologic fact that the earth was going through a profound change at that time, called the Laramide Revolution. Geologists reject this explanation on grounds that mountain-making processes, at least according to the theory of uniformity, act at a very slow rate. For this reason, it is difficult for them to believe that any changes on the earth itself could have been sudden enough to destroy all the dinosaurs and many other contemporary animals.
More than Dinosaurs
All of these theories need to account for the fact that more than just the dinosaurs mysteriously perished at the same time. The great crisis in the history of life at that time also destroyed the great marine reptiles — the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and the mosasaurs. The ichthyosaurs reached a maximum length of about 15 feet and probably lived in the dimly lit depths of the ocean- yet they too all perished! Plesiosaurs were the largest marine reptiles. These monsters of the seas reached the length of 40 to 50 feet. Yet, the doom of the dinosaurs on the land was their destiny as well. The 35-foot-long marine lizards, the mosasaurs, found in Cretaceous rocks, died out simultaneously all around the earth! Other types of life in the sea, and in the air as well, also totally perished. The great winged dragons, the Pterosaurs, had the amazing wingspread of 23 to 25 feet. The final remains of these flying reptiles are found along with the dinosaurs. Their fate was the same. No wonder this period has been called "the time of the great dying." Some worldwide event affected life in the air, on the land, and even in the depths of the oceans! This great anomaly confounds all the ideas of evolutionary scientists! Edwin H. Colbert, one of the world's most eminent paleontologists, explains that "the GREAT EXTINCTION that wiped out ALL of the dinosaurs, large and small, in ALL parts of the world, and at the same time brought to an end various other lines of reptilian evolution, was one of the OUTSTANDING EVENTS in the history of life and in the history of the earth. It forms one of the MAJOR LINES OF DEMARCATION in the record of the rocks... " (The Age of Reptiles, Colbert, p. 191, emphasis ours throughout the article).
"The Time of the Great Dying"
Notice this statement from the well-known geology book, Historical Geology, by Carl O. Dunbar. Here is what he says about the extinction of dinosaurs. "The end of the Cretaceous, like the close of the Paleozoic, proved to be a great crisis in the history of life.... For example, the dinosaurs were highly varied and apparently adaptive right up to the end of Laramie Time, yet not one is known to have lived to see the dawn of the Cenozoic Era [the modern era].... The marine invertebrates did not escape the crisis. "It is difficult to account for the simultaneous extinction of great tribes of animals so diverse in relationships and in habitats of life.... Whatever the cause, the latest Mesozoic was a time of trial when many of the hosts were 'tried in the balance and found wanting' - wanting in adaptiveness to their new environment. Walther has picturesquely called it 'the time of the great dying'" (Historical Geology, pages 345, 348). Naturally, this evolutionist has couched the "time of trial" and "great dying" in evolutionary language. But the fact remains that great tribes of animals SUDDENLY disappear from the geological record in the last of the Mesozoic rocks without any gradual extinction as the theory of evolution would require. The dinosaurs are an outstanding example of this. Entire books have been written attempting to put forth reasons for the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs. "At the present time we can therefore only look upon the problem of extinction of the dinosaurs as a hard fact, as a closing of a most spectacular chapter in the history of life on the earth" (Dinosaurs, Colbert, page 259). The "hard fact" and "problem" of the extinction of the dinosaurs as well as many other forms of life during the time Mesozoic rocks were deposited is indeed a problem for the theory of evolution. For, the theory does not allow for any sudden appearance or disappearance of life forms! Yet, the facts of science show this very thing has happened. The FACTS of historical geology do not agree with the theories of evolutionary geology!
SUDDEN Appearance of New Forms of Life
Evolutionary scientists are not only faced with the facts of the sudden disappearance of many varied forms of life, but they also have to account for the sudden appearance of new forms of life. The second edition of Dunbar's book Historical Geology reveals that: "G.G. Simpson has said, that most dramatic and in many respects 'the most puzzling event in the history of life on the earth... is the change from the Mesozoic Age of Reptiles, to the... Age of Mammals. It is as if the curtain were rung down SUDDENLY on a stage where all the leading roles were taken by reptiles, especially dinosaurs, in great numbers and bewildering variety, and rose again IMMEDIATELY to reveal the same setting but an entirely new cast, a cast in which the dinosaurs do not appear at all, other reptiles are mere supernumeraries and the leading parts are all played by mammals... "' (page 426). And on page 404 he states further: "Throughout the long Mesozoic Era — for more than a hundred million years — reptiles completely dominated life on the Earth; but at its close their dynasty SUDDENLY collapsed. Turtles, lizards, snakes, and crocodiles survived, but they are mostly small and restricted in their range, and few are aggressive."
The Bible the Only Basis
Many wonder how the evidence from the rocks fits the Biblical record. Dinosaurs did once exist. There is no denying it. But, when did they live? Were they created with man? There are sincere people who profess Christianity who will tell you "yes." They believe that all physical life was first made when man was made, and that about 6000 years ago. Furthermore, it is commonly assumed that the Flood of Noah's time caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Yet, this explanation overlooks not only geological evidence but, as we shall see, what the Bible itself clearly shows us. As we have seen, the geological record clearly shows a puzzling change in the earth's flora and fauna at the end of the era geologists have called the Mesozoic. Some creationists have tried to say that the reptile-bearing Mesozoic rocks are those of the Flood itself, while those bearing the remains of mammals and man himself were deposited after the Flood. But does this really make sense? If the "Age of Reptiles" were in the time of man and the vast array of mammals we see on earth today, why is there no mixing of these remains? Why are there no human bones or artifacts found with the dinosaurs, marine reptiles, or flying reptiles? If the Flood buried these reptiles, and they lived at the same time as man, why don't the rocks substantiate it? The enigma will be resolved when we again take a close look at the Genesis record and see what it says.
"In the Beginning..."
Genesis 1:1 tells us the basic truth that in the beginning of the material universe God was already present. He existed before all what we can see came into existence. He is the One who created matter. When did God first create the world, the sun, the whole universe? Was it about the time man was created? Some believe so. But, as we have seen, this belief does not make sense when we examine what the fossil record has to say. And, even more importantly, the Bible itself does not say that God created the universe about the time He created man and the plants and animals described in Genesis 1. Notice Genesis 1:2, in the King James Version. "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Compare this with Isaiah 45:18. "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it NOT in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else." The Hebrew words for "without form and void" in Genesis 1:2 are tohu and bohu. They have the English meaning of "waste, empty, confusion, and chaos." The Hebrew word translated "in vain" in Isaiah 45:18 is also tohu, the very same word used in Genesis 1:2. So we see that God did not create the earth in a state of tohu, but rather it had become that way. In the beginning the earth was not created in chaos. Something happened, however, that made it a chaos. Genesis 1, verse 2 reveals what most creationists do not understand. The earth was no longer in a state of order. It was (or had become) in a state of utter confusion and waste. Now consider this: the Hebrew word translated "was" in Genesis 1:2 is hayah and can have the meaning of "became." The Rotherham translation of Genesis 1:2 is "Now the earth had become waste and empty." So the Bible does tell us that in the beginning God did not create the earth in tohu, but that it was now, as a result of some catastrophic event, in a state of tohu and bohu — confusion. How did it get that way? God is not the author of confusion (I Cor. 14:33). Then who is?
Earth Ruled by Angels
At the time when God originally created the earth (Gen. 1:1), angels were already in existence. Job 38:4-9 shows that they shouted for joy when God created the earth. And, well they could, for God had given them a charge to keep it and preserve it, just as He later would tell man to properly preserve the creation He made for man. But something went wrong. The angels failed to preserve the earth. They let it degenerate. And, as a result of a climactic act of rebellion against God, the earth came to be in a state of utter waste. Notice how The Amplified New Testament more clearly renders Jude 6: "And angels that did not keep (care for, guard and hold to) their own first place of power but abandoned their proper dwelling place, He has reserved in custody in eternal chains (bonds) under the thick gloom of utter darkness until the judgment and doom of the great day." Angels who were given a charge to care for the earth failed to do so. They abandoned their original abode. Other scriptures such as Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-15 give us more details about this angelic rebellion against God. They reveal how the perfect cherub Lucifer fell from a state of perfection and became Satan. Satan is the author of confusion. (This is more fully explained in our FREE article entitled "Did God Create a Devil?" Please request a copy, if you do not already have one.) The sin of the angels brought destruction to the surface of the earth. Now, let's go back again to the Genesis account.
Earth Remade
In Genesis 1:2 we find that God's Spirit moved above the face of the waters. The earth was already in existence, but its surface and atmosphere were in confusion. Then, after God purified the waters and buried the remaining floating debris of a destroyed world, in six literal twenty-four hour days, God remade the earth into an inhabitable state (Ps. 104:29-30). Life once again flourished on the earth, but this time we find that new kinds of life are introduced — and man. God created Adam, the first man (I Cor. 15:45), out of the dust of the ground and set him over the earth and over the life He had made to live with man. When God made man, He gave man plants and animals which would be useful for him. Man was not given a world filled with reptiles in which to live. To say that the "Age of Reptiles" was in the time of man is contradicted by the fossil record which we have seen clearly shows a major line of demarcation. Man, and the animals associated with him, are not found in the rocks of this prior "Age of Reptiles." Fossil remains of man and his artifacts are found associated with mammals and the useful seed-bearing plants called angiosperms. When Genesis 1 is further examined, we find that this is exactly what we should expect. On the third day God said: "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so" (Gen. 1:11). Now let us examine the geology books again and discover what the facts of science reveal. We will find a direct correlation between the revelation of the Bible and the findings in the rock layers! Notice this amazing quote: "SUDDENLY — and suddenly is the proper word — a rapid diversification and radiation of the flowering plants occurred. Seward called the upper Cretaceous 'the dawn of a new era' and Lesquereux many years ago observed that 'the flora of the globe has become modified as by a NEW CREATION! There has been no adequate explanation for this apparently sudden modernization of the earth's flora. The angiosperms appear in familiar form, not in small variety but in GREAT NUMBERS: of existing families and genera. It is this perplexing paradox which has obscured the origin of the angiosperms" (Principles of Paleobotany, William C. Darrah, page 219). Here then is direct geologic confirmation of the Scriptures! The plants described in Genesis 1:11 appear suddenly in the geologic record. Genesis 1:11 would also include the grasses of the field, vegetables, cereals, and the other seed- and fruit-bearing shrubs, which are known as angiosperms. The following will quickly summarize the usefulness of the plants described in Genesis 1:11-12, which we have noted appeared suddenly in the geologic record. "... They (the angiosperms, or our modern plants J supply nearly all the plant life for the mammals [which also, remember, appear suddenly at this same time] that now dominate all other life upon the earth. Angiosperms provide the nuts and fruits that MAN has cultivated, to say nothing of the flowers that add so much pleasure and inspiration to HUMAN surroundings" (Historical Geology, page 336). When God created man, He also created the necessary animals and plant life to sustain him! God is indeed a good and gracious Provider! Is it only coincidence that all these plants suddenly appear in the geologic record? There are many other "coincidences" when we compare the geological record with the Bible account of Creation in Genesis 1. The fifth day of Creation saw the addition of fish and birds to the earth (Gen. 1:20-23). All geology books assert that fish have been on this earth long before man existed. If this is true, then why are fish included in the Creation account in Genesis? Remember, the animals and plants, in general, as described in Genesis are those which are found associated with man today or with his fossil remains. The plain truth is that when geology books mention fish in the Paleozoic Era, they are not generally referring to the fish which today populate the waters of the earth. "Most of the modern families [of fish] and a few existing genera probably date from the Eocene [a subdivision of the modern era]" (General Zoology, Storer, page 610). This is further substantiated by the following admission from the book Creation by Evolution: "In the following Cretaceous seas there were a few fishes that had the bony support of the tail as well formed as that of most existing bony fishes; indeed the reign of the modern THIN-SCALED bony fishes, completely adapted for rapid movement in water, had begun, and the only subsequent changes were those which have given almost endless variety to this thoroughly efficient race" (page 131). Thus, those fish associated with dinosaurs did not have the thin scales of modern fish, but had hard, enamel-like plates. The modern fish which we have today appeared later, as geological findings validate. As we have already noticed in Genesis 1:20, the bird family was also created on the fifth day. However, this does not include the winged reptile — with wing claws, teeth, and long tail bone — which scientists named Archaeopteryx. (Write for our free booklet explaining this subject if you have wondered about this fossil. It is entitled A Theory for the Birds.) Birds are very useful to man for food — as in domestic birds — and for holding a check on insects, weed seeds, and rodents. The beauty and song of birds were especially designed to please man's senses. The flying reptiles of the pre-Adamic world would hardly appeal to man's tastes or compare to the modern birds in usefulness to man! The importance of mammals to man is immense — in the role of providers of food, clothing, and beasts of burden. The importance of mammals to man cannot be overemphasized! But the same could not be said of animals that existed with the dinosaur in the pre-Adamic world.
Dinosaur Mystery Made Plain
We have seen that the Bible does not reveal the exact age of the earth, but the Bible does tell us that man has been on the earth about 6000 years. Much unnecessary confusion has arisen because creationists generally have not understood that the earth was created at some unrevealed length of time before man's creation. However, once it is understood that there is a time span between the first two verses of Genesis, it will be clearly seen how there was a time before man's creation when various and different forms of life existed. However, God has not revealed to man the time duration between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. But, we do know that the originally created beautiful earth came to be in a state of abject ruin. The famous six literal days of creation mentioned in Genesis 1 were a time of remaking the earth's surface and atmosphere so that man and other life could live on the earth. If you would like our article about the six days of creation, please request it by title: "How Long Were the Days of Creation?" The events described in Genesis 1 are given from the viewpoint of the earth's surface and what God did to make it suitable for life. That's why, for example, on the fourth day, the atmosphere is once again so clear that the sun, moon, and stars can be clearly seen and cause seasonal changes on earth and be used for keeping track of time. So, as viewed from the earth's surface, the sun became the dominant light of the day and the moon and stars became the lights to rule over the night portion of the globe.
Lesson for Man
There is a lesson — a very valuable lesson — that man should learn from Genesis 1 and the fossil record. Did you ever notice what God told Adam and Eve — actually all generations of mankind — in Genesis 1:27-28? Notice: "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." When God put the first humans in the Garden of Eden, He told them to dress it and keep it (Gen. 2:15). Doesn't this have a familiar ring? Man is now given the chance to rightly rule the earth's creatures and plants. We are to preserve the creation. Have we? What is man's track record? Has man been a faithful steward of this "good earth"? Look around you. Look at the dying oceans. Breathe the polluted air. Eat of the polluted foods filled with various chemicals and processed until much of the food value is gone. An increasing number of people are now speaking out on the vast problems of global pollution, from high-ranking government officials to scientists to concerned groups and individuals. It is becoming more and more evident that man is headed down a dead-end street unless some unseen Hand from somewhere steps in to save him. The earth is once more, as it was before the time of man, coming to the condition of tohu and bohu. Professor Barry Commoner, director of the Center of the Biology of Natural Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, made the following statement at the opening session of the National Conference on Higher Education on March 3, 1968. He warned: "In the eager search for the benefits of modern science and technology we have become enticed into a nearly fatal illusion: That we have at last escaped from the dependence of man on the balance of nature. "The truth is tragically different. We have become, not less dependent on the balance of nature, but more dependent on it. Modern technology has so stressed the web of processes in the living environment at its most vulnerable points that there is little leeway left in the system.... Unless we begin to match our technological power with a deeper understanding of the balance of nature we run the risk of destroying this planet as a suitable place for human habitation." Man has followed the way of Satan and that way is bringing us, day by day, closer to the same end result as in the world before man. Now, as we head towards the climax of man's rule upon the earth, the words of Isaiah written many centuries ago ring true: "The earth is drooping, withering... and the sky wanes with the earth; for earth has been polluted by the dwellers on its face.... Therefore a curse is crushing the earth, alighting on its guilty folk; mortals are dying off, till few are left" (Isa. 24:4-6, Moffatt translation). History has repeated itself. The earth is once more being defiled, but this time by the hand of man, who has been under the influence of the fallen Lucifer. But, Christ gave the good news that God will shorten these days lest man destroy all flesh from the face of the earth (Matt. 24:21-22). For those who will turn to Him, in sincere repentance, seeking His perfect way of life, He promises rulership over the world forever (Heb. 2:5; Rom. 4:13; Matt. 5:5; Dan. 2:44; Rev. 5:10 and many others). Two thirds of the angels chose to follow God and were given a responsibility of helping men attain salvation (Heb. 1:13-14). In similar manner, man is offered a responsibility if he proves faithful. This responsibility is much greater than the one given to the angels. We have the promise of being the sons of God, and this was never promised to any angel. With this overview of the meaning of the "Age of Reptiles" and its collapse, the Genesis account and the fossil record should take on new meaning to us. For, unlike the dinosaurs of old, we need not perish from the face of the earth.
Don't forget to read our free reprints "Did God Create a Devil?" and "How Long Were the Days of Creation?"
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