Christians, what are your thoughts on dinosaurs?

I know what you want

God planted the fossils in the ground to confuse silly evolutionists

Happy now, you can stereotype us all as loons

Why didn't someone give the OP the answer he wanted to hear earlier, saved all the replys

a reply to: Rasalghul

I would say that conservative attitudes as we know them today, are not natural traits that a Christian would come by as a matter of faith. Christians influenced only by their faith, rather than by indoctrination and the twists applied to the Bible by unscrupulous usurper priests and preachers, do not take up rigid fundamentalism, because they recognise that the word of Christ boils down to love. It is hard to love your fellow human being, when you falsely sit in judgement of him, against the express instructions of Christ, as right wing fundamentalist Christians have a habit of doing, the typically insane reaction to homosexuality being a very good example.

Christ would not be voting conservative in any of the elections that are coming up, if at all.

However on the subject of dinosaurs, my opinion of the matter is as follows:

First, I find them fascinating, from the smallest to the largest. The larger beasts are amazing simply because of the vast size, and unique mechanical and hydraulic problems that their genes were written to overcome. These huge creatures who ate foliage, or even the massive alpha predators, were simply astounding in their construction, and I have always enjoyed reading of them, and watching documentaries about their lives, not to mention examining exhibits at museums dedicated to the reign of the dinosaurs and other large reptilian and lizard life forms.

I also believe that the Bible, especially the Old Testament, was written by human hands, inspired by God. The trouble is, how could God have communicated the concept of millions of years, to persons who probably were not going to make it past fifty years of age? How could he have described the process by which his people arrived on the world, without referencing things that mankind at that time simply had not the scientific accumen or frame of reference for? By simplification. I believe an awful lot is glossed over, or described poorly, or not at all for the benefit of communication.

Perhaps the scribes who were inspired by the hand of God, to write the passages of the Old Testament, were unable to translate what God told them, into language they could transmit the data with, and so they patched the work as best they could with allegory. It is not for me to know, for I was not there. But there again, I would say that, because I believe that it is reasonable for a person to hold faith for the matters pertaining to the soul, and to retain science for the rest.

a reply to: TrueBrit

Good post. I used to live stegasarous, trisceratops, and Pterodactyls. None of those words are in my spellchecker btw, so...
. But I feel bad for people who have there religious texts censored to exclude the book of Enoch, which in one swoop answers the question.

Were I christian Enoch would be canon, and I would only go to church if I was REALLY bored.

a reply to: Raggedyman

I personally think evolution is a areaming pile of ..it. But I am not a christian.

a reply to: BlueJacket

Ibrahim Zeradust is what the Zoroastrians called him (supposedly). I wouldn't be surprised if Abraham WAS Zarathustra (Zoroaster).

Zarathustra is my favorite prophet. I own the Zend Avesta even.

a reply to: Gabriel69

Awesome. I am just such a literal a hole. I scrutinize everything. Of course God can exist, dinosaurs and, hell, per the Pope, aliens too.

. A non literal approach to the bible is all you can do, so I never would believe Moses even wrote Genesis (were I a christian) so I wouldn't believe God revealed it to him either.

a reply to: TrueBrit

I would disagree with you, but I think that deserves a different thread. If I have time later I will call you out on that, if this is okay with you.

originally posted by: Raggedyman
I know what you want

God planted the fossils in the ground to confuse silly evolutionists

Happy now, you can stereotype us all as loons

Why didn't someone give the OP the answer he wanted to hear earlier, saved all the replys

That's a very negative attitude towards a legitimate question. I am not christian, nor do I believe in Darwin's theory of evolution. Or that the big bang theory is correct.

So from a mainstream perspective, I'M THE LOON. And happy to admit it.

I have no desire to make fun of anyone or stereotype them. Just curious how people rectify this. I haven't heard yet anything that logically does so.

. Which is why I recommend the book of Enoch, because most people love it, and it's considered divine revelation to many Jews and Christians anyway. I am actually trying to help.

But in all honesty I do find scientific theory and the bible can't be made to agree. But if you want to try, go for it.

a reply to: Kitana

If you wish to communicate on the subject further, without potentially derailing the thread, feel free to send me a U2U. I am always happy to discuss philosophy, faith, and metaphysics with people who share an interest in it.

originally posted by: Rasalghul
a reply to: Raggedyman

I personally think evolution is a areaming pile of ..it. But I am not a christian.

Thanks for the constructive post. I really appreciate the fact that you posted in a manner of actually being curious about the answer rather than using it as a tool to look down on and discredit Christians as many do here at ATS. Since you have been very respectable in your post and your questioning, I am inclined to answer. I normally wouldn't do so because so many people are one sided about opinions and personal beliefs. To most, I don't have a right to have an opinion or belief because it's not on par with anyone else's strongly held belief, or it's not based on science, or it's stupid and I'm ignorant because my thoughts are not like theirs. Personally I don't care what other people think. What bothers me is that people scream equality and fair for all, yet they do not allow others to believe what they will and try instantly to smudge them out of partaking in a thinking, rational world.

If I say that I literally believe in a 6 day creation, many if not most people would instantly think that I'm a bible thumper, an idiot, that I'm going to stone them at any chance possible, have an IQ of 1, have no basis for my belief what so ever, shouldn't exist in the world... I mean... Many people would rather see the likes of me dead and murdered simply because I wouldn't believe in evolution, or a 13billion year time table and so forth. The funny of it all is, I would have gone through school, all 12 grades, graduated college with a major in 2ndary education (teaching) and a minor in English, holding an admin tech position at a multinational multi billion dollar company with a salary of 70k a year. (yeah I know.. many wouldn't even believe that) So based on everything OTHER than my beliefs, I would be a standup guy. Mix in my personal beliefs, I instantly become a whak job. Funny how that works.

Though I digress. I wanted to give a little background in the concept before I proceeded.

Dino:
- I don't know, to be honest. I believe they are real. I believe they have existed. I don't know how long ago they existed. I do believe that it's possible that fossils could have been made over a 6+ thousand year period, but I'm not a geologist and I've never had the pleasure of burying a living thing in the ground and waiting around for 6k years to see how it came out.

Existence:
- I believe in a literal 6 day creation. Was each day thousands or millions of years or literally 1 day? I don't have that answer and I don't really contemplate this as important. So I'll just stick with 1 day = 1 day. But without a sun, what does a day really constitute? Was the sun the time clock for the earth or was a day predetermined by God and the sun made as the clock? I believe the latter. I also believe a lot can happen in only a year and even a lifetime. So much happening in only 1 lifetime..... Imagine a lifetime is say... 50 years (I have no idea of an average between current and past life expectancy averages). We've gone through 120 lifetimes. That's quite a bit considering. I kind of think of it as... If you start with 2 people and their children and their children's children and so forth... Remember the idea that if you had a penny every day, and each day you double what you had the day before... after a month, you would have 1 million dollars or something like that. The same idea for generations and people over 6000 years comes to mind, even with all of the plagues and wars considered. Anyways... not quite the topic but more background None of this changes how I live, work, perform duties, or look at others around me. So again... why should it matter what I believe? Do people honestly believe I would try to burn them at the stake or kill atheists? I believe life is important no matter who you are or what you believe.

OT:
- I believe it is the history of the world, though seen only through the eyes and life of a people, not multiple peoples or nations.

NT:
- I believe it is the embodiment of what was foretold in the OT and came to be in the NT. I believe it is prophecy fulfilled and a new covenant for all instead of one people as in the OT.

The Bible:
- I look at the bible in the way that the creator was perhaps teaching a people to become teachers, not by words or direction but by living the lessons to prepare the world for a world wide sized classroom. Do I take it literally? Yes. Though, there are many metaphors to learn from that are simply metaphors, because people in those days needed them to learn. Telling them out right might have confused them. The same is true today. We just call them philosophies. Some things were necessary in the OT for reasons beyond my wisdom no matter how cruel they may have seemed. I don't have the answers, I just have faith in the purpose and reason and know that it's not all like that today. I wouldn't expect to see every detail played out today as it was in those days. Some religions do try and I don't believe it's right, but there is purpose in their actions, just the punishment outweighs the crime to me... Life is precious... Still... At the same time, I can see the anguish and destruction those crimes can do to a person and their lives. So maybe the punishment does fit the crime? We can't see the bigger picture. We can only see from our eyes... Our level... Our plane of existence.

The Book Of Enoch:
- Very interesting book. Is it or should it be part of the bible? My personal belief? Yes. Though, I'm not 100% sure because I really don't know if it was made by someone with a great imagination that just tried to explain the unknown. I don't know if it's on the same level as, say, the book of Mormon, or the Bible. I don't believe in the book of Mormon, but hey... it's possible it could be legit. I just don't know and it's too modern for me to accept it without serious caution. The OT and NT and even the book of Enoch has lasted so many thousands of years. Combine that with the message and the subject as well as the same God and Son for so many thousands of years, to me that holds merit and worth considering. So yes, I believe it could very well be a worthy compendium for the bible.

a reply to: StallionDuck

Part 2

My beliefs are my own and I don't use them to encourage others one way or another. If they are wrong, I wont be at fault for leading others astray. If they're right, then I guess I have little to loose in the end one way or the other. It's what makes sense to me, in my life and by the roads I walked. It's what carries me and has shown time and again to exist and what I believe to be more so than simple chance or happenstance. It's more than a coin toss. I've done that... I know the difference. I base all these things from what I've seen and learned and they are too many to count and too hard to explain in to simple words, much like the bible is hard to do since I guess we have to live it to understand it. Simply reading about it may not make much sense so we have to go on faith. What we read and understand is the important sum and what we do not understand, we would not be judged.... UNLESS we judge others when we do not understand them and never have walked in their shoes. Even if we have, we have not in the way in which they have.


Nice OP. S&F because it made me think

a reply to: Rasalghul

I love it when a person talks to themselves.

a reply to: Rasalghul

For a homeless person you sure do own a lot of books.

a reply to: ChesterJohn

That remark of yours was dumb. I chose to reply to myself, it was easier. Do you do anything other than remark about pointlessness.
Get a job or a life and stop making stupid remarks that have no value.

originally posted by: ChesterJohn
a reply to: Rasalghul

For a homeless person you sure do own a lot of books.

:-) A. I am not homeless, never said I was and am home right now. B. I own a ton of books, what of it? C. What is your problem, your angry and taking it out on me. Kind of ignorant, no?

a reply to: StallionDuck

Muchas gracias, your input is much appreciated.

originally posted by: Rasalghul
· I ask this question out of curiosity, I am not a christian. But I am familiar with christianity, and if I were a christian I would go to the book of Enoch. It mentions the Nephilim creating strange beasts. I would go with the flood when it comes to dinosaurs extinction if I were christian. But most conservative christians wont accept anything non canonical so what do you say?

· Or maybe the serpent was of the dinosaurs race and god made the living dinosaur serpents into smaller modern reptiles when he turned the intelligent serpent into a quadroped reptile( which btw excludes the serpent from being satan, what, did god ever say that serpent would be a divine being like satan? No, he said "All the days of your life" that means the serpent is mortal and an animal. How could he end up as satan later on. I mean really?)

As a much lapsed but still believing Christian, I wouldn't reach to the bible to give me an opinion on dinosaurs, why would I? It's not a natural history document and the passages you refer to are if anything analogies that some fundamentals like to take as fact, and some that those who wish to attack the Abrahemic faiths (I notice you refer to the old testament but your title is specific to one of the three faiths that encompasses) by assuming everyone takes it all literally.

originally posted by: chr0naut

originally posted by: BlueJacket
a reply to: chr0naut

Mega fauna and Dinosaurs are not the same thing, at least not that I'm aware of. Mega fauna died off during the younger dryas, 12800 years ago, Dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago. The only correlation being a large astronomical event ending them both.

I would argue that smaller dinosaur descendants exist to this day (in Avains, not Reptiles).

Mega Fauna to me are all those that have excessively large body mass and would find great difficulty surviving in our current environment. This would include dinosaurs.

Alligators and crocodiles could reasonably be classed as existing dinosaurs as they developed fairly much their current form during the time period associated with dinosaurs.

a reply to: uncommitted

If I thought everyone took it literally I wouldn't ask the question. Of course it isn't historically accurate (the bible). Lot's of the tales in Genesis are of greater Mesopotamian origin (Sumer, Babylon, Canaan, Akkadia all had similar tales) and we just have a retelling of them in the bible.

They are not Jewish tales, just Israelite versions of older tales. But if you don't take it literally, I find that odd, you literally believe some, but not all, of the bible. Do you have a process for determining allegory from the literal? If some parts are just mythology, well, then it's not truth. I would have a difficult time with that, as "the word of god" is taken literally by many christians. Scientific discoveries that don't jive with Genesis has forced many to alter biblical interpretation to suit developments in human knowledge.

I can't believe that Enoch is not canonical, it answers the question better than science or re interpretation ever could. It's THE answer.

Are christians afraid of a book that makes it make sense? Enoch is the best book out of all scripture. IMO.

a reply to: uncommitted

I remember as a kid someone found a living dodo bird in the 80's I think. Do you, or anyone else remember that?