Dear Christians, How can I reconcile the prehistoric era with the Bible? Very Confused?

Question

Hello everybody. I am a christian and have always been one. However, I always wonder how the dinosaurs and the years thousands of years ago agree with the Bible. Didn't Jesus live 2000 years ago? And doesn't the book of Matthew trace back Jesus' lineage to Adam? If this is so, than how are the ancient dinosaur bones explained, or rocks that existed millions of years ago? This is confusing and I appreciate anybody who can give me a VALID answer or a link. Please don't tell me "God is a myth" because I know what I believe. Thanks again!

Answer 1

I am also a Christian and have always been one.



Do not let the small groups of Atheists and Creationists make you believe that you have to choose between God and humanity's ongoing discovery of God's Creation through Science. This is not true.



Most Jews and Christians do not take the stories of creation in the Bible literally. We believe the stories included in first 11 chapters of Genesis tell religious truth but not necessarily historical fact.



One of the religious truths is that God created everything and declared all was good.



Catholics can believe in the theories of the big bang or evolution or both or neither.



On August 12, 1950 Pope Pius XII said in his encyclical Humani generis:



The Teaching Authority of the Church does not forbid that, in conformity with the present state of human sciences and sacred theology, research and discussions, on the part of men experienced in both fields, take place with regard to the doctrine of evolution, in as far as it inquires into the origin of the human body as coming from pre-existent and living matter - for the Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.



Here is the complete encyclical: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_xii/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_12081950_humani-generis_en.html



And here is the Address of Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on October 22, 1996 speaking of the Theory of Evolution: http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_jp02tc.htm



Here is an interesting article about Pope John Paul II's opinion in the matter: http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=4627



The Church supports science in the discovery of God's creation. At this time, the big bang and evolution are the most logical scientific explanations.



As long as we believe that God started the whole thing, both the Bible and responsible modern science can live in harmony.



Here is a nice list of Christian thinkers in science: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_thinkers_in_science



The Clergy Letter Project an open letter endorsing the Theory of Evolution signed by over 12,000 clergy from many different Christian denominations: http://theclergyletterproject.org/



I suggest you read "New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy" by Robert J. Spitzer http://www.amazon.com/New-Proofs-Existence-God-Contributions/dp/0802863833



http://www.magisreasonfaith.org/



With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Nowhere does the Bible encourage the rape of women. Nowhere does it encourage men to rape the women and murder the children of a nation upon which they have made war. Nowhere does the Bible condone stoning people for various "petty crimes." Nowhere does the Bible state that women are not allowed to be teachers (though it does state that women are not allowed to take the lead in teaching in the congregation). It is helpful to get an understanding of these scriptures before condemning them. It is also helpful to remember that personal standards do not rise to the superior level of the standards of God. To illustrate: At Exodus 22:16, 17 and Deuteronomy 22:28, 29, we find this law. Quite naturally, many feel this is insensitive. Indeed, some here on the board find it repulsive, absurd, deplorable. That is understandable, and as a woman, I might feel the same at first blush. Actually, however, this law encouraged a high moral standard for both men and women. Why do we say that? Deuteronomy Chapter 22 presented various domestic laws. For instance, it dealt with the situation wherein a man didn’t love his wife anymore and claimed that she had not been a virgin when they married. It also gives God’s laws respecting adultery and rape. Then we come to verse 28 and 29: “In case a man finds a girl, a virgin who has not been engaged, and he actually seizes her and lies down with her, and they have been found out, the man who lay down with her must also give the girl’s father fifty silver shekels, and she will become his wife due to the fact that he humiliated her. He will not be allowed to divorce her all his days.” Verse 28 reads this way in the New International Version: “If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered . . .” Verse 28 reads this way in the King James Version: “and they be found . . .” Verse 28 in the English Standard Version reads: “and they are found . . .” Did you notice the phrase ‘and THEY are found out’? Apparently, this was a case of pressured seduction and/or fornication. If an unprincipled man felt free to have sex relations with a virgin, SHE would be the primary loser. Moreover, there was a possibility that she might have an illegitimate baby; if so, then her value as a bride was diminished. Why? Many Israelites might not want to marry her once she was no longer a virgin. But what would strongly discourage a man from taking such liberties with a virgin? God’s “holy and righteous and good” Law would. Romans 7:12. This law was taught to the entire nation of Israel. The men would be aware of what would happen if they did such a thing. They would have to pay the father, they would have to marry a woman from whom they could never obtain a divorce. At the very least of it, it would make an Israelite man think twice and even more often. Hannah J Paul

Answer 3

The Bible does not use the term “caveman” or “Neanderthals,” and according to the Bible there is no such thing as “prehistoric” man. The term “prehistoric” means “belonging to the era before recorded history.” It presupposes that the biblical account is merely a fabrication, because the book of Genesis records events which precede the creation of man (namely, the first five days of creation—man was created on the sixth day). The Bible is clear that Adam and Eve were perfect humans from the time of their creation and did not evolve from lower life forms.



With that said, the Bible does describe a period of traumatic upheaval upon the earth—the flood (Genesis 6-9), during which time civilization was utterly destroyed except for eight people. Humanity was forced to start over. It is in this historical context that some scholars believe men lived in caves and made use of stone tools. These men were not primitive; they were simply destitute. And they certainly were not half ape. The fossil evidence is quite clear: cavemen were human—men who lived in caves.



There are some fossilized ape remains which Darwinian paleo-anthropologists interpret as being some sort of transition between ape and men. Most people seem to think of these interpretations when they imagine cavemen. They picture furry half-men, half-ape creatures crouched in a cave next to a fire, drawing on the walls with their newly developed stone tools. This is a common misconception. And as far as Darwinian paleo-anthropology goes, we should keep in mind that these interpretations reflect a peculiar worldview and are not the result of the evidence. In fact, not only is there major opposition to these interpretations within the academic community, the Darwinists themselves do not entirely agree with each other on the details.



Unfortunately, the popular mainstream view promotes this idea that man and ape both evolved from the same ancestor, but this is certainly not the only plausible interpretation of the available evidence. In fact, the evidence in favor of this particular interpretation is lacking.



When God created Adam and Eve, they were fully developed human beings, capable of communication, society, and development (Genesis 2:19-25; 3:1-20; 4:1-12). It is almost entertaining to consider the lengths evolutionary scientists go to prove the existence of prehistoric cavemen. They find a misshapen tooth in a cave and from that create a misshapen human being who lived in a cave, hunched over like an ape. There is no way that science can prove the existence of cavemen by a fossil. Evolutionary scientists simply have a theory, and then they force the evidence to fit the theory. Adam and Eve were the first human beings ever created and were fully-formed, intelligent, and upright.





Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/cavemen.html#ixzz2YY1pVP3a

Answer 4

Genesis 2:4 holds the key. It indicates "Generations" (plural) of the heavens and the earth.



A second key to understanding what is going in is a literary device used in Genesis Chapter 1.. The Inclusio. The inclusio offsets text using key phrases. It acts like a parenthesis only using words instead of a symbol... Each day in Genesis starts with the words "And God said" and ends with the words "It was morning, it was evening Day #"



Notice The First instance of the opening inclusio "And God Said" does not appear until verse 3.



That mans that the events in Verses 1 and 2 happened some undisclosed time before the beginning of the First Day in Genesis 1.



In is in those two verses that the other "generations" of the earth occured - but the Bible is concerned with this current and last generation of the earth when God Created Man and unveiled his plan of salvation.



Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The actual creation some time before the First Day.



Genesis 1:2 and the earth was (literally became) without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep.



Enough time had passed between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 for the sun to burn out -- that is millions or billions of years..



Genesis 1:3 marks the first of six days God used to restore the already existing (and very ancient) earth to support life.



The fossil record including dinosaurs reflects previous generations of the earth.



I hope this helps.

Answer 5

You don't! The Old Testament is the history of the making of the Hebrew nation and peoples.

The New Testament is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love He has for us.



In studying the Old Testament you will find most of the names of places are different than those of the world as we know it. If you do the proper studies you will see the parallel between various societies in the Bible and those of the secular world. It all shows the glory of the Lord God as he brings His people into the promised land.



Dinosaurs are mentioned in Kings 1 or 2 as behemoth Showing man was here when many of the dinosaurs were.



Jesus the Christ is traced back to Adam in Matthew and also in Luke. one is through Joseph and the other through Mary. They were both in the line of David but with different mothers.



Contrary to what many desire you to think, The Lord God is real and so is the Lord Jesus. Never be swayed from this.

Answer 6

The problem here, as many of the creationist responders to your question have shown, is that the promoters of creationism, in their web sites and books, lie and misrepresent the facts, and ignorant, gullible lay creationists just lap up those lies and regurgitate them here.



The fossil record fully supports evolution and refutes the creation flood "model."



Because they are found in a large number of strata, and the strata were laid down with the lowest being the oldest and the uppermost being the latest, the fossils must also be dated accordingly and the sequence of fossils within the strata also therefore follow the sequence oldest to youngest.



Furthermore, the sequences of strata were developed by CREATIONIST geologists long before Darwin came up with his theory, so they could not have been influenced by evolutionary theory.



The oldest strata contain only very simple life forms, and as one progresses through the strata, from the older to the younger, more advanced life forms appear in a specific order that conforms to evolutionary theory.



The fact is that evolutionary theory would be falsified if any of the 5,000 present-day species of mammals, including human, or the 10,000 present-day species of birds were found in the fossil strata where they should not be found (for example, in the same strata with dinosaur fossils). No such finds have been made. And the same could be said for any other appearance of a later species in geological strata that was formed before that species could have evolved.



Creationists totally ignore the stratigraphical context of the fossils in their Bible-based flood "model." Since all species (or "kinds," whatever) currently existing and extinct were supposed have been living at the same time prior to the flood, and the flood resulted in the fossils that are found, there should be a mix of all of those species in a single stratum.



However, as I pointed out above, the fossils are found are found in numerous strata, many of them non-alluvial, and in a sequence that supports evolutionary theory, NOT the creationist model.





Added



See also my answer here.



https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20130610172647AA2dwsb

Answer 7

Yes, Jesus lived 2000 years ago, He was the son of David 1000 years earlier, he was a son of Abraham 1000 years earlier, he was a son of Noah 1000 years before that, he was a son of Adam 1000 years before that. The dinosaurs lived on the earth before the flood and they did not make it on the ark, being given over to evil.

There ARE only ~6000 years of earth's history, not millions or billions, that is recent 'new thinking' which the true history proves false.





"Prehistoric" is a false premise - We have an account of all time since "In the beginning..."



'Well what was before[and after] that ?!?'



What was before[and after] 'time'? a. timelessness, w/o time, Moses & David call it 'Everlasting'.



From everlasting to everlasting... Thou art God



WAS[everlasting] IS[eternity-all time{Isa57:15, Ecc3:11}] IS TO COME[everlasting]

Rev1:4, 1:8, 4:8, 11:16, 16:5

Answer 8

The standard for geological age is carbon dating. The standard for carbon dating is the geological column. The standard for ages in the geological column is carbon dating. In other words - it is as old as we say it is. Because they really have no standard at all. A living clam dates to be 30,000 years old etc....



Robert Gentry's book shows how granite rock has polonium halo's embedded in them - which means the rock had to be formed in less than 1/16th of a second in order to capture the halo's in the rock at all. Thus pointing out that rocks were not formed over long periods of time, but rather extremely rapidly.



The dinosaurs - T-rex has been found with a total vegetarian diet in his stomach. Cave drawings and human remains have been found together with dinosours etc.... Trying to reconcile evilution with the Bible is a big mistake.

Answer 9

.



When you realise that YHWH's Holy Book (the Bible) IS ALL OUR History yot will be close to understanding that God is not the author of confusion.



When YHWH created everything about 6000 years ago, there was only one land mass (like Pangea) surrounded by the seas. Then about 4300 years ago the Flood destroyed all this lush semi-tropical wonderland and rapid (tectonic) plate movement rearranged the land into what we see today



A good book that covers this is "In The Beginning" by Walt Brown and it can be d/l for free - just Google it.



. . .

Answer 10

why do you say dinosaurs lived millions of years ago? Because a scientist who does not believe in God said so? Do you not know they have found dinosaurs with soft tissue intact? That would be impossible over millions of years. Ditto for the rocks. Did God have to invent "new" rocks? Could He not have created rocks that appeared to be billions of years old. Look up Mt St Helens carbon dating and you will see how ridiculously inaccurate dating methods are...good within a hundred billion percent is not good enough for me to put faith in

Answer 11

There are two schools of thought on Origins. Abiogenesis teaches that Nothing created or produced matter, which became complex organic molecules, which then self assembled and self ordered themselves, with no guiding intelligence, into a primitive cell, complete with all parts and organelles, and with genetic information for replicating. Abiogenesis is still an unproven and non-working hypothesis after 150 years.



Then there is Intelligent Design - which fits the evidence much better as the God of the Bible created everything, and then caused it to come to life.



So much in science is assumption, preconceived notion, or just the default position because they cannot even consider "God" in science. It would be unscientific according to them -- even if all evidence points to Him as Creator.

Answer 12

According to Russian Orthodoxy, Jesus will come back to end the flying antichrist's rule when this antichrist conceives a thought in his evil mind that he 666-isotope-ray-lasered everyone. Antichrist's minions came up with Dec. 21 in order to desensitize people to the real events predicted in the Bible. Antichrist is 0% God and 100% man. He's possessed by Satan since he's 12 years old. He flies. He wears gloves to hide long nails. He's pale with red eyes. He's surrounded by demons who appear as angels of light. 666ed people go to permanent hell. 666 is given by lasers (isotope rays) on wrist or forehead when people stretch hands to receive small plastic grey card (world passport). Reject 666. Don't go into a UFO to be healed by demons. Those who reject 666 will go to heaven. Also, their direct ancestors will be saved from hell. Dinosaurs live under our level. They will get out through sinkholes and lakes. To kill them, go for their nerves. Again, 666 is given by isotope rays on wrist or forehead when people stretch hands to receive small plastic grey card (world passport). Police will chip and isotope ray people on highways. Food stores will isotope ray people too. Antichrist will also release prisoners to mark people. Reject 666 at all cost. If you're about to be marked, scream: "Lord, have mercy!" three times. Go hide with Orthodox Christians to escape 666.

Answer 13

God speaks of the dinosaur in Job 40.



There are three earth ages. Dinosaurs were in the first earth age. We are currently in the second earth age where we live in flesh bodies.



Three earth ages studies to consider:



http://www.kjvbible.org/katabole.html



http://www.biblestudygames.com/biblestudies/threeworldages.htm



http://levendwater.org/companion/append146.html

Answer 14

complex matter query using bing and yahoo that could actually help

Answer 15

I have always believed in both. I believe that the process of Creationism went through evolution, until the first humans came into existence.

Answer 16

Go to a real school. God is a myth.

Learn of reality not just of fantasy.

Reality doesn't agree with the bible.

Answer 17

try creation.com they can answer any questions you may have