Sectarians' Opinion on the Dinosaurs' Origin - Research Paper Example

Dinosaur bones were placed on this earth by Satan to confuse man regarding the existence of God” According to some Christian sects, dinosaur bones were placed on this earth by Satan to confuse man regarding the existence of God. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and Church of Christ’s believers explain their disbelief for the Theory of Evolution and instead believe in the Bible’s account of creation, where God created the world in seven days (Lulu, n.d). They strongly believe this concept of dinosaur bones being placed on earth by Satan because their conceptualization of creation is based on the accounts of the Bible. They point out that the Bible does not make mention of dinosaurs; therefore whatever proof there may be that dinosaurs exist is merely the work of Satan and a test of our faith in God (Warren, 1995). Dinosaur bones are a test of our faith because it leads the people to think that dinosaurs existed a long time ago and that the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin is the accurate account of the birth of our world. Darwin believes that the world was created in stages through his Big Bang Theory where from a single explosion, the world was born (Schwarz, 2002). From such an explosion, the planets and the solar systems came about. With the careful process of time and evolution, more developments in the creation of living things were seen – from the earliest organisms to dinosaurs, then on to mammals and finally to human beings (Schwarz, 2002). These Christian groups however oppose the idea that man evolved from primates and they point out that the missing link has never been discovered (Timmons, 1991). Therefore the idea that man evolved from primates is an inaccurate theory according to these religious groups. Instead, they believe that God created man in seven days. On the first day, God created light. On the second day, he divided the sky and the waters below. On the third day, he gathered the waters and the lands together in separate places. On the fourth day, he created the stars and the heavenly planets. On the fifth day, he created the living creatures of the skies and the seas. On the sixth day, he then created the creatures of the lands, including man. And on the seventh day, he rested (Somers and Christmayer, 2004). As can be seen from the account of creation, dinosaurs have not been created by God. Therefore, they do not and have never existed. These dinosaurs are therefore a product of Satan and a test of our faith in God and his creation of our world. In believing the accounts in the Bible, we are therefore led to believe that the accounts in the Bible are a lie and that God does not even exist. Those who believe in this concept of dinosaur bones being the work of Satan, also point out how the different scientific theories contradict their faith (Warren, 1995). One of these theories is that Satan uses such dinosaurs in order to confuse young Christians about their faith and to turn their faith away from God. When these young Christians go to school and learn about these dinosaurs, they also eventually turn away from God and from the teachings of the Bible (Warren, 1995). Some Christians believe that the dinosaurs are not part of God’s creation because man cannot coexist with these creatures. In the end, man would end up being eaten by these dinosaurs. It is therefore difficult to conceptualize the idea of these dinosaurs actually roaming our earth (Trussville, 2008). Their existence has mostly been proven through fossils and not much else. Proof of their existence beyond the realm of such fossils is impossible to place in a firm footing of believability. The best conclusion which can therefore be drawn is to disbelieve the existence of dinosaurs and consider them as works of Satan. For those who have a strong faith in God and the teachings of the Bible, it would be easier for them to believe that dinosaurs never existed even with proof to the contrary (Trussville, 2008). Instead, the crucial belief is for the support in God’s existence and of God’s creation as narrated in the Bible. Beyond such teachings and theories from scientists and other so-called experts is all part of Satan’s work. The true believer would shun these concepts and reject these to be inaccurate and tempting tests of faith. Dinosaurs never existed because their existence contradicts the existence of God and the existence of his work of creation. Dinosaurs did not live millions of years ago, nor did they die just before man was created because such beliefs are a rejection of the word of God. As was laid out in the account of creation, God made man and beast on the sixth day. Man could not have existed with such beasts on the same day because these beasts, carnivorous as they are would have eaten man (Warren, 1995). According to Genesis (1:25-26) “and God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”. If this account in the Bible was not true, then the entire Bible would be considered a lie. And if the theory about one day extending to billions of years is to be believed then that would make Adam also billions of years old (Warren, 1995). This is virtually an impossible concept to be believed. All these concepts are therefore an attempt to confuse God’s word and place man at the very center of the world with his own version of the truth. In effect, this makes man his own God (Warren, 1995). Other Christian religions like Catholics have a different belief about dinosaur bones. Catholics do not have any issues with the common scientific explanations about dinosaurs. The Catholic Church is permissive in this regard, in the sense that, it allows for different opinions on dinosaurs and on other concepts and scientific ideas, for as long as certain lines are not crossed (West, 2008). The Catholic Church is considered a strong supporter of science and scientific ideas. It teaches that “there can never be any real discrepancy between faith and reason. Since the same God who reveals mysteries and infuses faith has bestowed the light of reason on the human mind, God cannot deny himself, nor can truth ever contradict truth” (West, 2008). The statement about dinosaur bones being put on earth by Satan is therefore not believed by Catholics. They instead support the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin. They believe that such evolution is actually God’s way of creation. For the Muslim people and the Islam religion, they “accept what appears to be true and reject what appears to be false…” (Islam for Today, n.d). They consider their Bible Qur’an to be the standard of their lives. The evidence of dinosaurs is not considered a strong threat to their beliefs. They consider it instead, a confirmation of Allah’s power and his works. In fact, their Bible says that Allah “has created horses and mules for you to ride and show; and He has created others that you don’t know” (16:8). Allah also teaches them that he “created every creature from water. Of them are some that creep on their bellies, some that walk on two legs and some that walk on four. Allah creates what He will for He has power over things” (14: 45). In relation to the statement of this paper, Muslims therefore do not support the idea that Satan planted dinosaur bones to confuse man about God’s existence. In fact, they consider dinosaurs part of Allah’s work. Based on evolutionists, as was already mentioned previously, dinosaurs once roamed the earth, more particularly during the late Triassic period to the end of the Cretaceous period (Colbert, 1984). This was over 65 million years ago when man did not yet exist. Proof of their existence became apparent through fossils and giant footprints unearthed by man. In relation to the statement being discussed in this paper, evolutionists do not believe that these dinosaur bones were placed on earth by Satan to confuse man about God’s existence. Some of these evolutionists consider the dinosaurs to be proof that God does not exist. However, some of them believe that evolution is very much a part of God’s means of creating our earth. Works Cited Colbert, E. “The great dinosaur hunters and their discoveries”. 1984. Ontario: Courier Dover Publications Genesis (1:25-26) Islam for Today. “The Origin of Life - an Islamic Perspective”. (n.d) 01 March 2011 from http://www.islamfortoday.com/emerick16.htm Lulu.com. “A Question of Balance? Part II”. (n.d). California: Lulu Publications Qur’an 16:8; 14:45 Schwarz, H. “Creation”. 2002. Germany: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Somers, G. & Christmayer, S. “Genesis: Part 1: God and His Creation Genesis 1-11”. 2004. New York: Emmaus Road Publishing Timmons: J. “Mysterious Secrets of the Dark Kingdom: The Battle for Planet Earth”. 1991. New York: GabrielKolbe Trussville, A. “Dinosaurs and Faith: Friends or Foes?”. Church of Christ. 2008. 01 March 2011 from http://www.trussvillechurchofchrist.com/Sermon%20Outlines/Dinosaurs.pdf Warren, T. “What about Dinosaurs, are they mentioned in Scripture?” Mountain Retreat. 1995. 01 March 2011 from http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/faq/dino.html West, J. “Catholics/Dinosaurs”. All Experts. 2008. 01 March 2011 from http://en.allexperts.com/q/Catholics-955/2008/9/Dinosaurs-2.htm Read More