Q: Where do dinosaurs come into God’s creation?
A: Ah yes, the ultimate FAQ – the dinosaur question! Several people asked the question in different ways.
Since the Bible’s main objective is to tell the story of God’s history of redemption (and not the history of our planet), it is not obligated to cover material that is irrelevant to the development of that story. In all likelihood, dinosaurs were extinct long before Adam & Eve. That doesn’t mean the Bible is completely silent on the matter. Genesis 1:21 tells about Day 5 of creation and mentions the taninim gedolim. It gets translated a number of different ways. Gedolim meant “big” and taninim was a category of animal. This word is used elsewhere in the Old Testament and it is always a...
reptile. So, you could translate this verse, “And God created the big reptiles…” Since the author is mentioning animals only known to people at the time of writing, it would have been inconsistent in his writing style to mention something they would not have been familiar with. But, it is a hint; and perhaps that’s all it is.
Underlying the dinosaur question, often, is the notion that their existence somehow proves the Bible wrong. The existence of dinosaurs is only a problem if you are a “young earth creationist,” meaning you interpret from Genesis that the earth is only about 6,000 years old. That is a minority position within the Christian community. Old Earth Creationists believe the earth is millions of years old, though the story of God’s redemption of the world spans the past 6000. There are also “theistic evolutionists,” those who believe in God and accept the theory of evolution. Folks in these latter two camps have no trouble reconciling dinosaurs and the Bible.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Dinosaurs!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Chosen
Q: Why did God have a “chosen” people considering he created people to begin with?
A: It is a little difficult to understand the concept of “chosen.” However, it is important to understand that God chose Israel as part of a strategic plan to bless all nations on earth. It is in the covenant God made with Abram, in Genesis 12:1-3, that we can better understand all of the Bible and God’s purpose. God didn’t choose Israel in order to keep the promise with them, but as a way to reach out to all people.
“The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
The answer to your question is found here in verse 3, “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God chose Abraham to be the father of a great nation and it was through that nation that God was going to bless the entire world. It was God’s plan that through Israel everyone would be introduced to him. I think too often people forget the last part of the promise God made with Israel, the part that illuminates for us his grand purpose – that all people on earth will be blessed through God’s chosen. It was through the nation of Israel that Christ came into the world as the means of salvation for all people. Christ is the way for all of us to be grafted into the promise.
