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Dinosaurs and the Bible
Having a hard time reconciling dinosaurs with Biblical creation? Don't worry, says this group, the Bible supports the idea of dinosaurs, and they even tagged along with Noah.
As you know (if you've been reading the site regularly), I've been maintaining there is no conflict between science and religion, but that the intertwining between the two is often too complicated to fully understand, acting as we are with incomplete knowledge.
Not so, says the Institute for Creation Research, who insist the Bible is the only source for spiritual AND scientific information the world needs, and basic Bible stories provide more knowledge than any scientific experiment or textbook ever could.
"Science tries to take [theories about Creation] outside the Bible", says Brett Davis--asst. pastor of SLC's Calvary Chapel.
"No one has all the answers" says ICR president John Morris, "but the Bible is much better than science."
Um...since when is the Bible supposed to be a comprehensive scientific manual? It's one thing to say the things in the Bible are all true, but quite another to say that the Bible contains 'all truth' (if it's not expressly stated in the Bible, it's therefore NOT true...)
In the Douglas Adams book of the same name, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an electronic encyclopedia covering all areas of knowledge within the galaxy. It's in electronic form because, as Adams notes, if it were in printed form it would 'require several inconveniently large buildings to carry it around in'. How silly is it to assume all human knowledge related to this Earth and the universe could be printed in a 1,500 page book...
The Bible is a guide for mankind to understand the gospel and the keys to eternal salvation and progression--nothing more and nothing less. The Bible does not discuss dinosaurs because dinosaurs have no relevance to my personal salvation, nor anyone else's. It's sad, though, that many people will block themselves off from avenues of truth simply because of an 'if it were really true, it would be in the Bible' attitude...
May 13, 2004 in Religion | Permalink
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Comments
Do we in the Church sometimes risk the same fallacy: "If it were true, President Hinckley would be teaching it" or "If it were true, it would be in the scriptures"? Is it just as silly to believe that all spiritual truth is contained in scripture/prophetic statement as it is to believe that all scientific truth is?
Posted by: Grasshopper | May 13, 2004 12:37:37 PM
"if it's not expressly stated in the Bible, it's therefore NOT true"
Of course, this statement itself is not expressly stated in the Bible, nor is the statement that "the Bible contains 'all truth'". This seems to be a self-refuting claim... :-)
Posted by: Grasshopper | May 13, 2004 12:39:06 PM
The idea that the Bible contains all the information we need reminds me of the (apocryphal) story of the destruction of the library at Alexandria:
In 640 AD the Moslems took the city of Alexandria. Upon learning of "a great library containing all the knowledge of the world" the conquering general supposedly asked Caliph Omar for instructions. The Caliph has been quoted as saying of the Library's holdings, "they will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous." So, allegedly, all the texts were destroyed by using them as tinder for the bathhouses of the city.
(Several other's have been blamed for the destruction of the library as well ... but the story fits so well that I couldn't pass it up.)
-pate
Posted by: Pat Eyler | May 13, 2004 2:31:47 PM
For that matter, "Bible" isn't in the Bible.
I don't buy the premise of the Institute for Creation Research that the dinosaurs were all young. After all, the bible doesn't say that.
Posted by: Kim Siever | May 13, 2004 3:24:32 PM
Grasshopper asked:
"Do we in the Church sometimes risk the same fallacy: "If it were true, President Hinckley would be teaching it" or "If it were true, it would be in the scriptures"? Is it just as silly to believe that all spiritual truth is contained in scripture/prophetic statement as it is to believe that all scientific truth is?"
I don't think we do that in the Church, actually. We do, however, say, "If it were IMPORTANT, the prophet/the scriptures would say something about it."
(That danged Grasshopper... always asking questions...)
Posted by: Nathan | May 14, 2004 12:29:33 PM
I belive in a young earth and I also belive that God, the ONE and ONLY, created you and me and all living things today, and in the past. If you have any objections, then check out Kent Hovind and his dino movies. You can't take a stand if you can't support your opinion, so do some research.
Posted by: patches | Apr 5, 2008 2:31:06 PM
