My oldest boy is 7 years old and is in first grade at a Christian school. They are teaching him the "right" things about the bible, as I would expect, including Genesis, Adam and Eve and Creation. He has accepted that God created the world and the man and the animals as described in the bible.

My boy, as many 7 year olds are, is into dinosaurs. He is constantly reading books and watching documentaries and, god love him, wants to be a palaeontologist.

All was fine with the world until the other day when he asked me a question.

If God made man and all the animals when he made the world, and dinosaurs were extinct before man was around then when did he make the dinosaurs and why aren’t they in the bible?

It is a simple enough question I guess but how do you answer it without compromising what he is being taught at school and my main point is, isn’t it about time we start educating our kids with reality instead of outdated fairytales? I mean, the Genesis story was being taught way before Hayden found his first skeleton. Schools are adapting and modifying what they teach as discoveries are made. After all, they teach that the world is in fact round now don’t they.

Is there good reason for omitting basic facts about the world? If a 7 year old boy can question this isn’t it time to rethink what we are teaching them?

Being a proponent of a dogmaless society, I cannot give you advice.

The only thought I might have is that the Bible is metaphorical at best. But I suspect that "believers" won't accept that as an answer. [shrug]

Back when I was a kid I asked that same question to my pastor and he told me that man was around from the very beginning same time as dinosaurs....I believed him.

Asked my parents they said God didn't feel like mentioning it in the bible to busy with writing other stuff.

Hope that helps? Haha tough one.

Sit him down... and explain how its normal for kids his age to have imaginary friends... but someday he'll grow out of it...

Explain that some adults still talk to their imaginary friends, but for the most part, its a little immature...

Then tell him the truth.

He'll feel like a grown up kid when he see's his friends talk about their imaginary friend, and he's already ditched his...

Your mistake is sending him to a Christian School...

Yeah that's a good point. Why is he at a Christian school?

That kind of religious conformity is dangerous, especially to children.

Here is another angle to try:

Explain that much like dinosaurs we are still learning things about our past and its completely possible that parts of what is today called the Bible could have been lost over the many years of human existence and possibly with them the knowledge they contained (ie information about dinosaurs, etc). Its not an outright lie nor is it hard concrete fact, much like everything else in the world. In fact if I were a christian I would probably put some weight in the possibility of lost texts containing such information as well as much much more.

I am always surprised by adults who insist on "The Truth" for kids, especially their brand of the truth. No Virginia there isn't a Santa Claus. Yes, Johnny there was a tooth fairy but she got pregnant and is now looking after her octuplets.

I believe in the Bible and I believe in God, and I am not ashamed of that. So in the light of the that let's look at the Bible for the answer to your question:

Genesis 1:

19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 20 And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens." 21 So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and everything that creeps upon the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

So how do we explain that God created man the day after he created the animals of the earth. Let's look again at the Bible.

2 Peter 3:8–9 reads:

‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’

So for a thousand years ( or a very long time) there were birds and creatures of the sea and no animals on the soil of Earth. Then God created all those animals that would live upon the the continents , which would include dinosaurs, lions, lizards, e etc and then only, then many centuries later did God create man. Many of these initial creatures had died out by the time the Bible was written. And the men who wrote the Bible never saw dinosaurs and that is why dinosaurs are not recorded in the Bible.


I hope that helps a little. Thet truth as I see it.

I am so amazed that atheists feel that Christians and other religions impinge on their freedom to not believe? When they are the ones constantly beating up on other peoples faith. If you can't respect my faith , how about you respect me as a person? Your behavior is pretty nasty and aggressive.

[edit on 18-2-2009 by Mynaeris]