What does the Bible say about dinosaurs and cavemen?

Bible Question:

Where do the dinosaurs fit in and cavemen?

Bible Answer:

Dinosaurs have existed on planet earth since the fifth and sixth days of God’s creation (Genesis 1:20-31). These creatures were extremely large as was the rest of the creation! History reveals that while extremely large dinosaurs no longer exist, some smaller species of dinosaurs do still exist today. Please visit the suggested resources section below for documentation supporting the above statements.

Dinosaur

The Evidence For Dinosaurs

It is important to note that God has said that men and women did not evolve from other animals. Here is a very insightful passage from 1 Corinthians.

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. 1 Corinthians 15:39-40 (NASB)

The flesh of men, animals, birds, and sea life are all different. God made each one unique. God’s point is simple. The human race did not evolve from other creatures. In addition, only man has a soul. The animals do not have souls. If evolutionists are honest, they will admit they are working with a theory that cannot be proven.

Dinosaurs are part of the animal kingdom. If God is referring to a dinosaur in the following passage when He says, “He is the first of the ways of God,” then dinosaurs were the first of the land animals that God created.

Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold now, his strength in his loins and his power in the muscles of his belly. He bends his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze; his limbs are like bars of iron. He is the first of the ways of God; let his maker bring near his sword. Surely the mountains bring him food, and all the beasts of the field play there. Under the lotus plants he lies down, in the covert of the reeds and the marsh. The lotus plants cover him with shade; the willows of the brook surround him. If a river rages, he is not alarmed; he is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth. Can anyone capture him when he is on watch, with barbs can anyone pierce his nose? (NASB) Job 40:15-24

They were great, large animals. It is clear that God created some very large animals which we today call dinosaurs.

The Evidence For the Extinction of Dinosaurs

Modern evolutionists say that dinosaurs became extinct because a comet hit the earth and created a dust storm which covered the earth and killed the dinosaurs. If this is true, then the rest of the land animals should have died as well, along with all other living creatures. That did not occur, and we reject their view. It is only a theory that a comet hit the earth. Others claim that the climate in which the dinosaurs lived radically changed and, consequently, they died. But how can anyone realistically know the weather changed? Even with our sophisticated weather forecasting satellites, we cannot accurately forecast the weather for tomorrow or in seven days. Additionally, forty years ago scientists claimed that the world was returning to an ice age. Now they claim the world is becoming too warm. How could they possibly know the weather conditions in which the dinosaurs lived?

Significant research conducted by a number of Christian groups supports the theory that the dinosaurs were destroyed during the great flood that came upon the world. The book of Genesis indicates that the flood occurred when water from below the earth burst forth and rain dropped from above the earth. It rained for forty days and nights.

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened. The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. Genesis 7:11-12 (NASB)

From the passage in Genesis, it appears that once there was a canopy of water surrounding the world, creating a hot house effect upon the earth. The canopy does not exist today. Rain would not have been necessary in such an environment. The canopy would also account for the long life spans which are recorded in the Old Testament before the flood. Long life spans would have occurred because the canopy would have protected the people from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. After the flood people did not live for nine hundred years. They started living significantly shorter lives.

It is amazing that there are ancient stories from countries around the globe that a great flood once occurred and covered the planet. The common theme among these ancient stories is the occurrence of a great flood. Most of the stories are of a man who saved his family in a great boat.[1] This common theme in almost every ancient culture supports the Bible’s account of a flood.

The worldwide flood would have resulted in the death of every human and every animal that was not carried into the great boat. According to the book of Genesis, Noah, his family, and a group of animals were rescued from the flood and later re-populated the earth. The baby dinosaurs that were taken into the boat found themselves in a harsher world. With the water canopy gone, the warm, humid climate that they were used to would have been confined to the equator. John C. Whitcomb explains what happened next,

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.[2]

Our Parents Were Not Dumb Cavemen

The concept that our early parents were stupid, clumsy, and unable to talk cannot be proven. It is the fiction of many modern scientists. If stupid cavemen did exist, why have archaeologists found mechanical calculators and clay pot batteries buried along with earth strata thousands of years old? Here is a quote from “www.pilotguides.com.”

In 1938, whilst rummaging through the basement of the Baghdad Museum, Austrian archaeologist Dr. Wilhelm Konig made a strange discovery. A 6 inch yellow clay pot with a sheet copper cylinder soldered with lead tin – dating back 2000 years. This was possibly the world’s first battery and an example of a neat soldering job.[3]

Whoever made these devices knew how to make batteries and they knew how to solder. The ability to make batteries and to solder wires together is considered a more modern invention. Another amazing discovery is the Piri Reis map. Experts now agree that the data from which the map was compiled predates 4,000 B.C. Here is a quote from world-mysteries.com.

The Piri Reis map shows the western coast of Africa, the eastern coast of South America, and the northern coast of Antarctica. The northern coastline of Antarctica is perfectly detailed. The most puzzling however is not so much how Piri Reis managed to draw such an accurate map of the Antarctic region 300 years before it was discovered, but that the map shows the coastline under the ice. Geological evidence confirms that the latest date Queen Maud Land could have been charted in an ice-free state is 4000 BC.

In 1953, a Turkish naval officer sent the Piri Reis map to the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Bureau. To evaluate it, M.I. Walters, the Chief Engineer of the Bureau, called for help Arlington H. Mallery, an authority on ancient maps, who had previously worked with him. After a long study, Mallery discovered the projection method used. To check out the accuracy of the map, he made a grid and transferred the Piri Reis map onto a globe: the map was totally accurate. He stated that the only way to draw a map of such accuracy was aerial surveying: but who, 6000 years ago, could have used airplanes to map the earth? The Hydrographic Office couldn’t believe what they saw: they were even able to correct some errors in present day maps! The precision on determining the longitudinal coordinates, on the other hand, shows that to draw the map it was necessary to use the spheroid trigonometry, a process supposedly not known until the middle of the 18th century. Hapgood has proved that the Piri Reis map is plotted out in plane geometry, containing latitudes and longitudes at right angles in a traditional “grid”; yet it is obviously copied from an earlier map that was projected using spherical trigonometry! Not only did the early map makers know that the Earth was round, but they had knowledge of its true circumference to within 50 miles![4]

Whoever made the map knew how to fly and work with spherical trigonometry long before we thought man knew how. Maybe we are wrong about early man?

Since we have been underestimating the abilities of early man, is it possible that there were no cavemen as we think of them? According to Genesis 2-3, Adam and Eve were initially naked. They could speak. After they sinned, they demonstrated that they had skills sufficient to make coverings of fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). They may have lived in caves, but that does not mean they were stupid and unskilled. The truth is we do not know what they did. That does not mean Adam carried a club and used it to hit Eve on the head. That is modern man’s critical and hypothetical idea. No one living today has knowledge of life in those days.

Conclusion:

God made Adam and Eve along with all of the land, air, and sea animals. The great dinosaurs of the past really existed, lived, and most likely died when the great flood occurred. Adam and Eve might have lived in a cave. We do not know. But it does appear that they were probably very intelligent. In fact, God gave Adam the task of naming all the animals. All of this agrees with Genesis 2-3. Unfortunately, they disobeyed God and sinned. When they sinned, they caused us to become sinners who do not deserve to live with God. Therefore, Jesus Christ came 2,000 years ago and died in order to forgive our sins and proved that He was God by returning to life. Do you believe? Read the page “Searching for God” to learn more.

References:

1. Hancock, Graham. Finger Prints of the Gods. Crown Trade Paperbacks, p. 188-199.
2. John C. Whitcomb, Dinosaurs and Men. Winona Lake, IN. Grace Theological Seminary.
3. The Ooparchist, vol. 1, No. 2, Oct-Nov. 1976.
4. Ibid.

Suggested Resources:

John MacKay. The Monsters God Made. Creation Research International. 2008. This is a DVD.

Dragons or Dinosaurs? The Cloud Ten. (www.cloudtenpictures.com) 44 minutes.

Mike Wehner. “Scientists claim dinosaurs still exist — we just call them birds.” New York Post (nypost.com/2018/08/28/scientists-claim-dinosaurs-still-exist-we-just-call-them-birds/)

Katrina Bridgeford. Prehistoric Creatures That Still Exist Today. TheRichest.com (www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJtEGbk_OHc)