It’s not only that I don’t like the idea of giant “thunder lizards” that tore each other to pieces with giant claws and razor sharp teeth. I don’t like that they came.. and they went. Why? What purpose did they serve? Was God just thinking, “You know what would be really cool?” and then POOF! Dinosaurs. And then one day he decided that they were a bad idea and then BOOM! Gone. It’s hard to fit that into a classic creationist paradigm. We prefer to think of God lovingly crafting little bunnies and then setting them free in the garden.
So, I think this is one aspect of God everyone would agree to change. No dinosaurs. I would like to think that there is some good logical reason for them. Here are a few ideas that have absolutely no basis in reality other then that they came from my head:
- They were part of the “chaos” in the beginning. You can make a case that God creates out of chaos and they were part of a more messy view of creation.
- They lived in the “wilderness” outside of the garden of Eden and weren’t really meant to be interacted with.
- Humanity was meant to live with dinosaurs in peace. Who knows.. maybe “Dinotopia” had it right.
- Perhaps the flood was part of a larger event such as an ice comet impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. Of course, I kind of cringe even typing this as it’s pure speculation.
- Dinosaurs are a good reminder of the sorts of creatures we COULD be dealing with. Maybe it’s God’s grace that we only have sharks and tigers to deal with, which seem quite tame compared with the velociraptors.
- Maybe Satan has some creation powers of his own. That would explain yellow jackets and mosquitoes as well.
I do feel more comfortable with the idea of God creating out of chaos as that seems to fit the human experience fairly well. We see brokenness all around but God brings order out of it for his own joy. Though, chaos/mess is just a term we often apply when we can’t see the big picture. If you look closely at impressionist painting… or looking a the stacks of papers on my bookkeeper’s desk.. or the sea of stars.. or maybe even Pi. It could easily be a part of a picture we can’t fully grasp yet.