http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=1504
What’s the Big Deal About Dinosaurs?
| by | Eric Lyons, M.Min. |
From time to time, our readers will notice that we at Apologetics Press write articles regarding dinosaurs. We have even published a children’s book titled Dinosaurs Unleashed. Through the years, many have wondered why we occasionally address this topic. What is so important about dinosaurs that warrants them being the focus of various articles and books written by certain Christian apologists?
The reason that some creationists (including those of us at Apologetics Press) feel compelled to write about these extinct reptiles (which, since 1842, have been called dinosaurs) is largely because dinosaurs are the “poster children” for the theory of evolution. Much could be said about how evolutionary-minded moviemakers and advertisers have used dinosaurs to capture the world’s attention (see Butt, 2004, p. 3[2]:5-R), but one example regarding their status as the foremost icon of evolution should suffice. In the widely used 100-page middle school science textbook titled Evolution—Change Over Time (published by Prentice Hall), attempts are made to establish evolution as a fact by using a variety of alleged proofs. One piece of “evidence,” however, that appears on nearly one out of every three pages centers on dinosaurs. Out of the 100 pages in this textbook, at least 32 of them contain information and/or pictures of these extinct reptiles. The first two chapters in this three-chapter textbook begin with pictures and text about dinosaurs. In several sections of the book (in which the main thrust is not about dinosaurs), students are asked to participate in reading or writing activities that focus on dinosaurs. Truly, the authors and editors of this textbook (which has been used throughout the United States since the mid-1990s) have attempted to indoctrinate young minds with the “truths” of evolution using dinosaurs.
Inarguably, dinosaurs are the “sugar stick” that evolutionists use to capture the attention of both young and old alike. As Christian apologists, we believe it is our responsibility to provide well-researched, logical, biblical, and scientifically accurate materials that counteract and refute the extremely weak “dinosaur-glorified” evolutionary arguments. Obviously, if nearly one-third of the pages in a student’s evolutionary science textbook contain information about dinosaurs, young people are going to have questions about these creatures in light of what the Bible teaches. Did these reptiles evolve millions of years ago, or did God create them? Are humans separated from the time of the dinosaurs by 60 million years, or did God create both humans and dinosaurs on day six of Creation? How could humans have lived with such terrifying creatures? If evolutionists are the only ones answering these kinds of questions, what do you think your children and others throughout the world are going to believe about God, the Bible, and Creation?
Evolutionists have had their way with dinosaurs long enough. It is essential for creationists to dispel the “evolutionary aura” surrounding these creatures, and see them for what they really are—testimonies of an Almighty God Who made them alongside His image-bearers (humans—Genesis 1:26-27) during the Creation week (just like the Bible says!).
REFERENCES
Butt, Kyle (2004), “Dinosaurs: They’re Everywhere! They’re Everywhere!,” Reason & Revelation, 3[2]:5-R, February, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2476.