Think Update #3 - Dinosaurs (October 29, 2019)
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Thanks for signing up for the Think Update. Can you believe this is already the third edition? Oh, you can? And you want me to go ahead and get to the content? Well alright then, let's do this.
This week's theme is those always-lovable, often-terrifying reptilian beasts, dinosaurs. I grew up as a boy in the 1990s absolutely loving dinosaurs. When "Jurassic Park" came out, my family watched it saw multiple times in the actual movie theater (not just on VHS!). I then spent my teenage years combing the internet for obscure information about "living dinosaurs" and evidence from both the Bible and human history that dinosaurs may have existed into the recent past. I couldn't get enough of it.
So for me, this subject is an old one. Maybe it is for you too. Yet if you're like me, some of that old fascination remains, as well as a serious desire to be able to explain to your kids (not to mention your non-Christian friends) just how dinos fit in with the biblical timeline.
We need to be able to bring all our thinking in line with Scripture, and this week's tools will help you do that. The first two come from a Recent Creation perspective, which has me about 90% convinced. The third resource reflects a multiplicity of views which you might find helpful for comparison.
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I hope it makes you think!
LISTEN: What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? with Dr. Brian Thomas
Dr. Brian Thomas is the guy to talk to if you want to learn about dinosaurs from a Biblical/Recent Creation perspective. Interviewing him was a huge privilege. We got into questions like, "Did an aquatic reptile swallow Jonah?" "What historical evidence is there that dinosaurs and humans coexisted?" and "How should we respond to the claim that dinosaurs evolved into birds?" as well as many, many more. Listen to develop your biblical #Worldview.
WATCH: The Historical Documentation of Dinosaurs with Bryan Osborne
This short video will help you answer the inevitable question, "If there were dinosaurs on Noah's ark, then what happened to them--and why didn't anybody record that fact throughout history?" Even if you aren't convinced of this point of view, this video will help you think about it. And we're all about thinking through these issues, right? Watch to develop your #Apologetics.
READ: Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design
I read this book last year and found it extremely helpful in laying out the different views surrounding the creation of the world and the origin and explanation of animal speciation. No, this book doesn't expressly deal with dinosaurs, but where you land in terms of choosing one of these four views will have major implications for how you interpret the evidence in the other two resources in this email.
I'll tip my own hand and say I find the so-called Young Earth Creation (YEC) view most convincing. Intelligent Design is, by my lights, just a soft-peddling of YEC without wanting to expressly say it (someone will squabble with that; that's okay).
Hugh Ross makes a very strong case for Old Earth Creationism, but I find his hermeneutic of Scripture to be flawed.
And as for Theistic Evolutionism (AKA Evolutionary Creationism), that is completely and utterly bogus. I just find nothing of merit in that view. You are, of course, welcome to disagree, but at least read the book and decide for yourself.
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