Devilution, Pt. 9—Dates, Deluge, and Dinosaurs
I. Dates…This was the 1st question, next…
II. Deluge...(THE EVIDENCE FOR A GLOBAL FLOOD)
God’s Tsunami made this look like a squirt gun!
1. The Bible clearly describes a GLOBAL flood, not merely a LOCAL flood.
2. There is strong HISTORICAL evidence supporting the flood.
Do you know that archeologists have discovered 250 different flood legends from 250 different ancient cultures.
3. There is strong GEOLOGICAL evidence supporting the flood.
• Grand Canyon Mount Ararat, 17,000 feet in the air has produced Marine Fossils.
In the Himalayas, 20,000 feet in the air, marine fossils have been discovered.
4. There is much FOSSIL evidence supporting the flood.
5. Prior to the flood many believe the world was surrounded with a VAPOR canopy.
Dinosaurs (reptiles never stop growing as long as they live. So they lived long, protected from the harmful affects of radiation. Perhaps this is why they grew so big...maybe they are just old lizards!)
III. DINOSAURS....( THE BIBLE’S RECORD OF THE DINOSAURS)
1. Dinosaurs lived along with MAN.
a. Yes, dinosaurs did live and they lived at the same time as man.
b. There is more and more evidence to support this. Dinosaur bones have been found along with human bones. And fossilized human foot prints have been found inside fossilized dinosaur foot prints.
c. I believe God created the dinosaurs when he created the earth.
d. I believe Noah took some dinosaurs on the ark with him. (He only had to take two of each kind [about 110] and he could take young, small dinosaurs so they could have a longer reproducing cycle once the ark landed on dry ground)
e. Dinosaurs became extinct long after the flood. There are some written records that would lead us to believe there were a few dinosaurs still living up until rather recent time. In fact some scientist believe there are still some dinosaurs living.
EX. The Catholic Bible has two extra chapters to the book of Daniel, and in one of those chapters it is recorded that Nebuchadnezzar had a dragon in his court at 600 BC. And it is stated the Daniel killed the dragon. (Could this have been a dinosaur still living they captured)
EX. Alexander the Great, in 300 BC claimed that a dragon more than one hundred feet long stuck its head out of a cave in India and hissed at his soldiers. (Could this have been a dinosaur still living?)
NOTE: Remember the term “Dinosaur” which means “big lizard” was not coined until 1831!
2. The Bible describes dinosaur-like creatures...
Job 40:15-24--behemoth
Job 41:1-34--leviathan
a. I believe dinosaurs existed and most of them died in the flood, as did the rest of the animals on earth.
b. But some survived the flood and came off the ark and reproduces and lived with man up until very recent history, when they gradually became extinct for any number of reasons.
Just this week…Fox News:
Villagers digging in China’s rich fossil beds have uncovered the preserved remains of a tiny dinosaur in the belly of a mammal, a startling discovery for scientists who have long believed early mammals couldn’t possibly attack and eat a dinosaur.
Scientists say the animal’s last meal probably is the first proof that mammals hunted small dinosaurs some 130 million years ago. It contradicts conventional evolutionary theory (search) that early mammals were timid, chipmunk-sized creatures that scurried in the looming shadow of the giant reptiles.
In this case, the mammal was about the size of a large opossum (search), and the victim was a 5-inch "parrot dinosaur."
A second mammal fossil found at the same site claims the distinction of being the largest early mammal ever found. It’s about the size of a modern dog, a breathtaking 20 times larger than most mammals living in the early Cretaceous Period (search).
Considering the specimens in tandem, scientists suggest the period in which these animals lived may have been much different than is commonly understood as the Age of Dinosaurs — a time dominated by long-necked, 85-ton plant-eaters and the emergence of terrifying theropod hunters with bladelike teeth and sickle claws.
It appears that at least some smaller dinosaurs had to look over their shoulders for snarling, meat-eating mammals claiming the same turf.
"This new evidence gives us a drastically new picture," said paleontologist Meng Jin of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, a co-author of the study in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.
Other scientists who did not work on the bones described the discoveries as "exhilarating."
"This size range really has surprised everybody," said Zhexi Luo of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, who digs in the same area of northeast China. "It dispels the conventional wisdom."
The fossils were found more than two years ago in Liaoning province. The specimens were taken to a Beijing lab, where they were cleaned and analyzed by Chinese and American scientists.
The dinosaur-eater belongs to a species called Repenomamus robustus, known previously from skull fragments.
This squat, toothy specimen is more complete; lying on its side, it measures a little less than 2 feet long, and probably weighed about 15 pounds.
On R. robustus’ left side and under the ribs in the location of its stomach are the fragmented remains of a very young Psittacosaurus.
This common, fast-moving plant-eater is known as the "parrot dinosaur" because it had a small head with a curved, horny beak. Its arms were much shorter than its legs. Adults grew to be 6 feet long, but the one that was devoured was just 5 inches.
The remains still are recognizable, indicating that R. robustus ripped its prey like a crocodile, but probably had not developed the ability to chew food like more advanced mammals.
"We can still see articulated limb bones," Meng said. "It must have swallowed food in large hunks without being chewed."
The larger, second fossil also is a Repenomamus, but considerably larger. It measures more than 3 feet long and probably weighed more than 30 pounds. Scientists have named it R. giganticus.
It weighed 20 times more than most of the 290 known early mammal species, Meng said. Its head is 50 percent larger than R. robustus and its body was larger than some dinosaurs living in the region.
Being so much larger means that R. giganticus probably behaved differently than most other early mammals, which ate insects and seeds. A larger mammal could roam and hunt aggressively, preying on young dinosaurs.
"Giganticus is in a league by itself," Luo said. "It’s the world champion so far for body mass in any Mesozoic mammal."
This new class of predatory mammals has set off new speculation.
Originally, scientists believed that mammals remained small because larger dinosaurs were hunting them. Only after dinosaurs went extinct by 65 million years ago did surviving mammals begin to grow larger, they reasoned.
Now, the presence of larger mammals is reversing some of the speculation. The Liaoning region already is famous for its trove of small feathered dinosaurs and early birds.
"Maybe small dinosaurs got larger — or got off the ground — to avoid rapacious mammals," wonders Duke University paleontologist Anne Weil.
Equally mysterious is how these specimens died in the same area at the same time. Neither show evidence of being hunted themselves.
The Yixian rock formation in which their bones were encased was a combination of river sediments and volcanic ash called tuff. The formation also includes the fossils of insects, frogs and other creatures, suggesting a mass die-off.
"It’s possible that poisonous volcanic gas killed the animals when they were sleeping," Meng said. "Then there was a catastrophic explosion that buried the whole thing."
I have tried to give you the Bible’s answer to the 3 most often asked questions of creationists....
I. DATES...(THE AGE OF THE EARTH)
II. DELUGE...(THE GLOBAL FLOOD)
III. DINOSAURS…(THE BIBLE’S RECORD OF DINOSAURS)
I hope this will help you as you encounter evolutionary thinking in your life.
I hope it will give you confidence in the Bible...
I really believe the Bible is the inspired word of God... And it is perfectly true and accurate. And science will always verify the Bible, whenever it catches up and has all the information.
The main message of the Bible, is that this creator God, came to earth one day, to be the Savior of the world...His name is Jesus Christ.
• He lived a perfect life
• He died for your sins
• He arose from the dead
• He invites you to come to him for salvation and a personal relationship
• He is coming again someday
You need to be prepared....would you trust Him today?
