22. Question: What about cave men, dinosaurs and the ice age?
Answer: The following explanation of cave men, dinosaurs, the ice age, creation and the flood are the Biblical views of most conservative Christians and most conservative Christian scientists.
God created the world in seven twenty-four hour days. Man was created on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 1:27-31). Dinosaurs were created by God on the fourth and fifth days of His creation (Genesis 1:19-25). Before the fall of man, dinosaurs and all other creation were vegetarians. Man and woman were able to communicate with God and with each other (Genesis 2:19-3:20). After the fall of man, dinosaurs and all creation changed. This is when dinosaurs and many animals became carnivorous (Genesis 3).
Many conservative theologians believe that after the fall of man, many humans regressed spiritually and mentally. Because of mental regression and the consequences of sin, many human tribes lost the ability to communicate and began to live in caves like animals.
On the other hand, Seth and his descendents lived in houses built with human hands. Most in the line and family of Seth lived orderly lives, maintained a relationship with God, progressed spiritually, mentally and even physically while Cain and his descendents lived disorderly lives, continued to reject God, were harmed by the consequences of sin and continued to regress spiritually, mentally and physically. Often you see the same today in our world where some humans live like animals, often as a result of the sin, selfishness and chaos in their lives, while others live lives of order, love and obedience to God. Some humans today resemble the "cave men" of yesterday while most of humanity resembles what we consider the image of "modern man."
Dinosaurs were still living when God commanded Noah to build the ark. God miraculously led all animals, including dinosaurs, birds and "all creeping things" into the ark, two by two, male and female (Genesis 7:7-9). Most conservative Christian theologians and scientists believe that God Himself miraculously compelled every species of young, small, male and female dinosaurs to enter the ark. God miraculously caused all the animals to become passive and vegetarian on the ark. Then in the years after the ark, after the population of creation increased, many animals became carnivorous again.
All animals, including dinosaurs, were created by God to benefit mankind in one way or another. God's exact purpose for the various dinosaurs is still a mystery. Many answers we will not know until we ask God in heaven. This will be part of the joys of heaven. We can make intelligent assumptions based on facts and existing evidence.
Perhaps the larger dinosaurs kept certain types of lush plant life under control and cleared paths through the forest. Using their long necks, some dinosaurs could have eaten foliage at the tops of tall trees. In a thick forest, this would let light come down to the ground so smaller plants would have a chance to grow.
Why did God invent so many different kinds of beautiful, interesting and surprising animals? Perhaps because He wanted to delight Man with His power, wisdom and love.
Part of God's purpose for creating the particular types of dinosaurs that were very large was surely to impress man. Dinosaurs showed the great power of the Creator. No matter how big these creatures were, Adam knew God was always far greater. God designed every part of them, right down to the smallest cell. Even the largest dinosaur was like an obedient puppy in God's wise, powerful hands.
There have been many ideas to explain why dinosaurs became extinct. At least 55 different theories have been suggested and then thrown out because of problems. For instance, a theory that works for the large animals usually does not explain the extinction of the small animals or sea creatures. Whatever happened to dinosaurs, scientists agree, must have affected the entire planet. Many animals and creatures have become extinct since God created them.
There is some evidence that a few dinosaurs and great marine reptiles could still be alive, teetering on the edge of extinction. Scientists are still discovering unknown animals each year. Natives in a very remote jungle in Africa repeatedly told of seeing large animals that looked much like the sauropod dinosaurs. The sauropods included the Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus and others like them. A group of natives claimed to have killed a small one in 1959. Scientists studied the reports and made trips into the deep jungle in hopes of finding a dinosaur still alive. None has been found so far.
There is evidence that the ice age occurred after the time of the Biblical Genesis flood. The climate change following the flood provides a likely catastrophic mechanism for an ice age. The flood was a tremendous tatonic and volcanic event. Large amounts of volcanic aerosols would remain in the atmosphere following the flood, generating a large temperature drop over land by reflecting much solar radiation back to space. Volcanic aerosols would likely be replenished in the atmosphere for hundreds of years following the flood, due to high post-flood volcanism, which is indicated in Pleistocene sediments. The moisture would be provided by strong evaporation from a much warmer ocean following the flood. The warm ocean is a consequence of a warmer pre-flood climate and the release of hot subterranean water during the eruption of "all the fountains of the great deep" (Genesis 7:11).
The Book of Job is the oldest book in the Bible and contains more references to snow, ice and frost than any other book in the Bible. This is despite the fact that Job's homeland was in what is now essentially a desert region. The beautiful phrase "treasures of the snow" (Job 38:22) is just one reference that leads many conservative Christian theologians and Christian scientists to conclude that Job and his contemporaries experienced the ice age during their life span.
The theory of evolution is false and one day all mankind will attest to this fact. The theory of evolution is only a theory. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that the Bible is true, including the fact of creationism. Science keeps finding more and more evidence and facts that continue to change their theories. Science recently stated that some of their theories of the evolution of man were wrong because the human bones were mixed with ape bones. Science continues to find more evidence that proves that the Bible is true. Hopefully one day science will discover what we already know is true. The facts of the Bible will never change and always remain truth.
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