Notes + Questions: Land Before Time

Introduction:

“Why is there something rather than nothing?” ~ Gottfried Willhelm Leibniz (1646-1716)

God is both
• Transcendent = greater than, above, sovereign over
• Immanent = near, interested, personal

Creator - Sovereign over and separate from creation
Creation - Distinct from God, yet always dependent on (as opposed to Pantheism, Panentheism, Dualism, Naturalism)


I. God the Creator:

Genesis 1:1-31

John 1:1-18


II. QUESTIONS:

1. Is Genesis 1-11 historical?
Claim: Genesis 1-11 is myth and an amalgamation of other ancient Near Eastern origin stories.

Jesus and the Apostles considered Genesis chapters 1-11 historical and affirmed its truthfulness;

• Genesis 1-2 — Creation — Luke 11:50
• Genesis 2:24 — Adam and Eve marriage — Matthew 19:4-5; Mak 10:6-8; 1 Corinthians 11:8-9
• Genesis 4 — Cain and Abel — Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51
• Genesis 6-9 — Noah’s Flood — Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-27; Jude, 2 Peter
• Genesis 11:27 — Lot Abraham’s nephew (Sodom and Gomorrah) — Matthew 10:15; Matthew 11:23-24; Luke 10:12; Jude, 1 & 2 Peter

2. What about the Dinosaurs?
Claim: The word is not used in the English translations of our Bible, so is the Bible in conflict with Natural History?

Scientific Exploration:
(3 Eras of time when Dinosaurs roamed the earth)
• Triassic (230 million years ago - went extinct in a cataclysmic event, likely a large asteroid hitting the earth)
• Jurassic (180 million years ago - extinct because of a cataclysmic event)
• Cretaceous (115 million years ago - went extinct 65 million years ago, because of a cataclysmic event that scientist believe took place on the Yucatan Peninsula)

Question: Are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?
Answer: The English translations of the Scriptures do not use the term dinosaur, but the text makes references that could be understood to refer to dinosaurs:
• Isaiah 51:9
- Rahab - Leviathan - Sea Monster
- Dragon - Tannin - Sea Monster / Sea Serpent
• Job 40:15-23
- Behemoth - some interpreters believe this to refer to a Dinosaur, possibly Sauropod
• Job 41:1-3
- Leviathan - A crocodile or something more?
• Job 41:18-34
- Could this be the description of a fire-breathing Dragon?

Your view on whether the Bible mentions Dinosaurs and Dragons will depend on you understanding of the age of the earth.
Old Earth Creationists believe that Dinosaurs lived before mankind was on the earth.
Young Earth Creationists believe that dinosaurs were created on day 5 and 6 of Creation and roamed the earth concurrent with mankind and were extinct because of the flood - a cataclysmic event that changed the habitat for these creatures to the point of making the earth uninhabitable.


3. How old is the Earth?

Old Earth Creationism - 4.5 billion years (agrees with scientific
Young Earth Creationism - 10,000 - 20,000 years

Question: Are the days in Genesis 1 literal 24 hour periods or long periods of time that could be thousands or millions of years in length?

Arguments for Young Earth Creationism:
• Whenever there is a number added to a day it is a literal 24 hour period
• Day 3 could not be 1000’s or millions of years because plants are made and they need the sun, which is not created until day 4.
• While Genesis 1 is poetry and therefore could be interpreted as such Exodus 20 is historical narrative and there we see the statement that God made the earth in 6 days and on the 7th He rested - therefore these are 24 hour periods.
• Adam was created as a full-grown man not a zygote so the appearance of age in creation should not surprise us.
• Literal 24 hour days are the easiest and most straightforward way of reading the biblical text.

Arguments for Old Earth Creationism:
• Yom - the Hebrew word for day can be understood as a long period of time and is so used in many passages.
• Continental drift - Africa and South America are drifting apart at 2 centimeters per year. This is insufficient if the earth is no more than 20,000 years old.
• Coral Reefs - coral reefs are formed by a sea creature called a coral polyp. These attach to each other and build colorful limestone formations. They do this by removing calcium carbonate from the sea-water and depositing it around the lower part of their bodies. when they die their “lime-stone-skeletons” remain behind forming Coral Reefs. The process takes 10’s or 100’s of thousands of years.
• Astronomy - startlight - distances in space - Red-Shift that estimates the age of the Universe at 13.9 billion years
• Radiometric Dating - both geological formations on earth, from the moon, and from meteorites hitting the earth all are dated to 4.5 billion years.


What is our Response?
• Awe
• Wonder
• Gratitude
• Praise
• Worship