Every time we talk about creation, the beginnings of the Earth, and Genesis, we wonder about dinosaurs and where they fit into the creation narrative in Genesis. This is one of the questions that has been asked and so we will try to answer it today.

The first thing I would say is, “I don’t know.” Now by saying that I mean there is so much we don’t know concerning dinosaurs and their extinction and science doesn’t know either. I love the Jurassic Park movies, but much of what we think we know about dinosaurs is conjecture and speculation.  A simple Google search reveals all kind of theories concerning how long ago they existed and why and how they are no longer with us. Much of science wants to act like they existed long (millions of years) before mammals and other creatures we know of today but there are fossil records that refute these claims. So, there is much we don’t know concerning dinosaurs and much of what we claim to know as fact is speculation. That being said, there are some things I think we can say from Scripture.

Dinosaurs were created by God during the six days of creation recorded in Scripture. Regardless of how you interpret the “six days of creation” (I hold to a literal 24-hour day view), we know that God was the creative agent behind everything we know and see in the universe. This means he created dinosaurs when he created other beings of the same kind and type. They didn’t evolve from one thing and morph into something else, they were created by God. Dinosaurs do not pose a problem for the Christian, creation world view. God made them, just as he made every other animal and part of creation.

Their extinction is a bit of a mystery as well. I would tend to think that most of them were destroyed in the flood described in Genesis 6 and climate changes after the flood led to their extinction. Answers in Genesis and Creation.com have some good and interesting information on this. All of things considered, dinosaurs are part of God’s original creation which means they were good and existed for His glory. Questions like these are part of the many we look forward to being answered one day in heaven.

For His glory and your joy,

Pastor Charlie