Creationist perspectives on dinosaurs

    Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that first appeared on Earth approximately 230 million years ago, according to the scientific interpretation of the global fossil record and data obtained through methods such as radiometric dating. Scientific evidence also shows that at the end of the Cretaceous Period, 65 million years ago, a catastrophic event caused the extinction of numerous dinosaur species, such as the famous giant Sauropods.

    Groups that believe in an inerrant interpretation of religious scripture may propose different interpretations of natural history, and thus of dinosaurs, in order to align the observable natural world more closely with their reading of sacred texts. Some religious groups state that evolution conflicts with their interpretation of sacred texts. Biblical literalists, for example, believe that the Earth was created only 6 to 10 thousand years ago and that all original kinds (of living things) were created by God within six days, in a form similar to their present one.

Introduction

    The origin of fossil animals was a subject of speculation in antiquity. Xenophon (570 – 480 BC), who posited a single deity that energized the world, described the belief that fossils indicated periodic flooding by the sea that wiped out mankind in the process. And proposed that the evidence of such fossils indicated a different distribution of sea and land in ages past. The French playwright Voltaire suggested that fossil fish on mountain peaks were the remains of rotten fish dropped by pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. It has been argued that the giant and hybrid creatures that populated the myths of antiquity, and formed in part the religious beliefs of the Greeks and Romans, have as their origin the fossil remains of ancient animals. This theory proposes that the discovery of fossil bone collections in antiquity, containing the remains of more than one creature, led the ancients to believe that they formed the skeleton of hybrid animals such as the Griffin and the Minotaur. Since it was self-evident that these creatures no longer existed, it led the ancients to believe that life was not fixed and that species could indeed become extinct. It is argued that the conventional interpretation of Aristotle's works on the fixity of the species, an idea that found support in Christianity, is based on a limited reading of his works. Claims have also been made that dragon myths, which form part of many cultures' religious beliefs, have their roots in dinosaur fossils.

    However, the belief that fossils were the remains of extinct animals was by no means universal in early historic times. An influential position, held by neoplatonists, saw the whole of the cosmos being held in related affinities that was expressed in strong similarities between living and non-living objects. The force that gave shape and life to the animate also shaped and molded "likeness's in the earth", i.e fossils. This belief found support with Christians who saw in the theory a means to deal with apparent contradictions in the biblical account of creation.

    Early Christian observers were Tertullian (ca. 155–230 AD), who in recognising their organic origin saw evidence of the flood, and Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 275 – May 30, 339 AD). Little attention appears to have been paid to the phenomena in in the Middle ages, the general opinion being that they were manifestations of the earths creative force. Later Albert Magus and Leonardo Da Vinci held views that would in part be compatible to modern scientific interpretations. Conrad Gessner published the first engravings of fossils in 1565. The organic origin of fossils was maintained by Robert Hook and John Ray in the 17th century. The consensus during this period, Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, being a prominent proponent, was that the evidence of fossils supported the biblical account of the flood. In time modern measurement techniques would result in fossils being used as evidence against a literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation in contrast to their use from the time of the early church fathers as proof of the flood.

    Many religious bodies have offered explanations that attempt to reconcile the conflict between their religion's dating of the earth and the dating of dinosaur fossils. Other religious groups have found no conflict between traditional religious beliefs and modern scientific timelines, seeing the latter as adding a further dimension to the former, without contradicting the belief of "God as Creator".

Christianity

Biblical Inerrancy

    Some Christians, mainly evangelical and fundamentalist, seek to maintain an inerrant and literal interpretation of scriptures, and believe that dinosaurs are mentioned in the Old Testament, regarding this as evidence that the animals were still alive during early human history, thereby contradicting scientific teaching that dinosaurs pre-dated humankind. The significance of this issue has its roots in a biblical interpretation of the fall of man that results in sin bringing death into the world, not just for mankind but for all creatures. This would be contradicted if whole species came and went, as fossil evidence suggests, long before man appeared.

    As it is a modern coinage derived from Greek, the Bible does not use the word "dinosaur", but the Hebrew word tanniyn has been interpreted as referring to them by some Christians. In English translations, tanniyn may be translated as “sea monster” or “serpent”, but it is usually translated as “dragon”. These creatures are mentioned nearly thirty times in the Old Testament and are found both on land and in the water. At another point, the Bible describes a huge creature called a "behemoth" (Job 40:15-24) that "moves his tail like a cedar"; the behemoth is described as ranking "first among the works of God" and as impossible to capture (vs. 24). Some Biblical scholars identify the behemoth as either an elephant a hippopotamus or a bull, but these animals have very thin tails that are not comparable to a cedar tree. Creationists therefore identify the behemoth with dinosaurs like Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus, and most commonly the Apatosaurus which has a huge, cedar-like tail. Critics point out that the tail is described as moving like a cedar.

    The Leviathan is another creature referred to in the Bible's Old Testament; it is described as having a variety of dinosaur, dragon, and water-serpent-like characteristics. Some scholars identify the Leviathan in Job c. 41 with the crocodile, or point out that it has seven heads and is purely mythical. Some Bible readers, however, have tried to connect the creature with the dinosaurs.

    Young Earth creationism is another position based on a literal interpretation of scripture accounts. Young Earth creationists believe that the Earth is only 6,000 to 10,000 years old. Based on this assumption, they argue that the scientific dating of dinosaur fossils must be flawed. They advance the alternate explanation that most dinosaur fossils date from the Noachian flood, and argue that humans and dinosaurs must have coexisted. Some Young Earth creationists contend that dinosaurs were present on board Noah's Ark, but became extinct because of the Flood or soon after the flood. This belief is demonstrated at the newly opened Creation Museum where life-sized dinosaur models, over 80 of them animatronic, are shown in the Garden of Eden, side-by-side with humans. In one exhibit, a model Triceratops is shown wearing a saddle and another, along with a Stegosaurus, is shown aboard a scale model of Noah's Ark.

    One view proposed by some is that the serpent in the Garden of Eden may have actually been a dinosaur. The serpent was cursed to "crawl on its belly." This curse, according to this view, is the reason of the extinction of the dinosaurs and the now prevalent modern day reptiles. Some people who follow Young Earth Creationism point out that, according to Christian interpretation, God was speaking to the Devil when he cursed the serpent, not an ordinary snake. Some Young Earth creationists claim that dinosaurs survived in Australia, and that Aboriginal legends of reptilian monsters are evidence of this.

    Some Christians who also adopt a literalist position with regard to the Bible believe the Earth was created "with age"; in the same way that Adam was created as a fully grown being, God created the Earth as a fully-developed planet (Omphalos). In this view, Earth was called into being in an already ancient state, with the geological formations, oil deposits, fossils, etc, also known as Ex nihilo. Some religious critics contend that this view is blasphemous as it implies that God is deceitful.

Islam

    The Qur'an lacks a complete set of time markers in its references to creation, other than declaring that it took six days, and that "days" have been interpreted not just as literal twenty-four hour periods but as stages or other periods of time to complete, and therefore is not subject to the same level of debate as the Bible regarding scientific evidence and chronology. Skeptics point out there is no explicit mention of the extinction of whole species long before the creation of man in the Quran, whilst its inspiration is defended on the grounds that it is not a book of science. The Bible is not held to be inerrant by all Muslims and therefore has not presented the same level of difficulties in the Islamic world as in some sections of Christianity outlined above. However, in recent years, a movement has begun to emerge in some Muslim countries promoting themes that have been characteristic of Christian creationists and Bible literalists in the past. Dr Khalid Anees, president of the Islamic Society of Britain, at a conference, Creationism: Science and Faith in Schools, made points including the following: There is no contradiction between what is revealed in the Koran and natural selection and survival of the fittest. However, some Muslims do not agree that one species can develop from another.