2/1/16

"After Reading a Book on Dinosaurs in the Third Grade..." by Kyle Butt, M.Div.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=476

"After Reading a Book on Dinosaurs in the Third Grade..."

by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

On Tuesday, March 16, Kathryn Satterfield published an article titled “A Double Dinosaur Discovery” that was featured in the on-line periodical Time for Kids, an affiliate of Time magazine. In the article, she told about two research teams that each found dinosaur fossils in Antarctica. Interestingly, the finds came less than a week apart. This unprecedented “double discovery” was definitely news in the scientific community. James Martin and William Hammer led the two teams. Hammer’s team found what appears to be a plant-eating sauropod dinosaur that, according to the article, lived 200 million years ago. Martin’s team found what they think to be a theropod, a group that includes meat-eaters like the tyrannosaur. Martin’s dinosaur supposedly lived about 70 million years ago.
While these finds are intriguing, the old ages assigned to them are inaccurate and should be examined with a critical eye. According to this line of thinking, humans did not evolve on the Earth until about 4-6 million years ago, which would separate humans and dinosaurs by about 60 million years. The Bible, however, plainly states that Adam was created on the same day of Creation as all land-dwelling creatures, which would include the dinosaurs (Genesis 1:24-31). Furthermore, much scientific evidence puts humans and dinosaurs on the Earth at the same time in the same locations (Harrub and Thompson, 2003). This article by Satterfield, as well as this entire fossil discovery, is being plied by the evolutionists to teach their false theory.
Think through this critically. This article appeared in a resource for children. Thus, the target audience is children. The author of this article is influencing children to believe in an evolutionary theory that requires millions of years, and runs contrary to what the Bible teaches. What kind of impact will this have on the children who read the article? James Martin, the leader of one of the research teams, tells us in no uncertain terms: “After reading a book on dinosaurs in the third grade, I decided I would work on fossils” (Satterfield, 2004, emp. added).
James Martin read a book on dinosaurs in the third grade that changed his life forever. Will the children who are reading this article one day say the same thing? We must never underestimate the power of books, articles, and the printed page; a power for great good or devastating evil. Furthermore, we must never underestimate how much children are influenced by what they read and hear. Let’s make sure we guard our children from false theories like evolution, and arm them with the truth about the Creator.

REFERENCES

Harrub, Brad and Bert Thompson (2003), “Walking Amidst the Dinosaurs,” Reason and Revelation, [On-line], URLhttps://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=37.
Satterfield, Kathryn (2004), “A Double Dinosaur Discovery,” Time for Kids, [On-line], URL: http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/class/area/newsarticle/0,18077,600802,00.html.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Why not order a copy of our book Dinosaurs Unleashed, so that the book your child reads on dinosaurs will not teach him or her evolution, but instead will bring that child to a better understanding of God and His amazing creation? The book can be ordered via our WebStore, or by calling us toll-free at 800/234-8558.]