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Dating Dinosaurs
Interest in dinosaurs can be traced back to 1810 when Mary Anning discovered the first complete skeleton of an Icthyosaurus in the cliffs at Lyme Regis, England. In 1824, in the same Dorset cliffs, she found the fossilized remains of a Plesiosauros and four years later she uncovered the first English Pteradactyl.
The term 'dinosaur' was first coined in 1841 by Sir Richard Owen, a well known English anatomist and palaeontologist. It comes from two Greek words: 'deinos' meaning terrible, and 'sauros' meaning lizard - and so 'terrible lizard'.
Evolutionists tell us that dinosaurs died out some 70 million years ago. As the fossils do not come out of the ground with dating labels attached to them how then do palaeontologists date their fossil finds?
"Scientists determine when fossils were formed by finding out the age of the rocks in which they lie." S. Welles: Fossils - World Book Encyclopedia Vol.7 (1978) p. 364
"Palaeontology (the study of fossils) is important in the study of geology. The age of the rocks may be determined by the fossils found in them." S. Welles: Palaeontology - World Book Encyclopedia Vol.15 (1978) p. 85
Samuel Welles was Research Associate, Museum of Palaeontology, University of California, Berkley.
So the fossils are dated by the rocks and the rocks are dated by the fossils. This is a classic example of circular reasoning!!
"It cannot be denied that from a strictly philosophical standpoint geologists are here reasoning in a circle. The succession of organisms has been determined by a study of their remains embedded in the rocks, and the relative ages of the rocks are determined by the remains of organisms that they contain."
R. Rastall (Cambridge geologist): 'Geology' Encyclopedia Britannica Vol. 10 1949.
Since the word 'dinosaur' only originated in 1841 we would not expect to find this specific word in the Bible. However the Bible does refer to a creature known as 'behemoth'.
"Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moveth his tail like a cedar ... His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God" - Job 40:15.
Some suggest that this passage is describing an elephant or hippopotamus but their tiny tails could never be likened to the mighty, majestic, cedar tree. More than likely Job is describing a creature such as an Apatosaurus or the huge Brachiosaurus.
Creationists believe that all creatures, dinosaurs included, were created on day 5 and day 6 of the creation week and were therefore contemporary with humans. During the flood they were to be found on board Noah's ark. The remaining dinosaurs, along with all flesh, perished during the flood, many of them becoming fossils in the sedimentary rocks found in many parts of the world: places such as Alaska, Antarctica, USA, China, Mongolia, Europe, Africa, Mexico, South America and Australia.
"After the flood, reptilian dinosaurs found themselves confined to a comparatively narrow belt near the equator, and thus in most cases became extinct during the subsequent centuries of struggle for existence against the more versatile and adaptable mammals."
John Whitcomb: The Early Earth p.156
"A fantastic mystery has developed over a set of cave paintings found in the Gorozornzi Hills, 25 miles from Salisbury. For the paintings include a brontosaurus -- the 67-foot, 30 ton-like creature scientists believed became extinct millions of years before man appeared on the earth ... Yet the bushmen who did the paintings ruled Rhodesia from only 1500 B.C. until a couple of hundred years ago. And experts agree that the bushmen always painted from life ... This belief is borne out by other Gorozomzi Hills cave paintings -- accurate representations of the elephant, hippo, buck and giraffe."
Evening News, January 1, 1970
(quoted by H. Morris in That Their Words May Be Used Against Them p.252)
What to do with the dates?
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