From Ancient Dinosaurs to Biblical Truth

Tommy and his wife Martha stand on one of the beautiful beaches north of Tel Aviv, Israel during AiG’s tour of Jordan and Israel in April 2009.

Picture a blonde-haired little boy sitting quietly in his bedroom. Lost in a world of dinosaurs, he is attentively gluing together his latest model.

I was that little boy, absorbed in a world of creatures with names like Diplodocus, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops. Though big words, my young mind eagerly soaked them in. I wanted every dinosaur toy Mom and Dad would allow. I accumulated dinosaur robots, models, books, and even a few reels of dinosaur pictures for my View-Master. Dinosaurs were not my whole life, but they did capture my imagination.

As a child, I was free to discover the world I lived in, oblivious to any dangers. One of the greatest dangers to my childhood exploration was being unable to filter out images and stories that were not true. Hidden within my dinosaur books, movies, and visits to museums was a misleading philosophy, telling me the world was very old and that life evolved “naturally” if given enough time. To my young mind, this sounded reasonable enough.

Evolution = Time + Chance—Really?

The philosophy planted in my mind was the story of evolution, which claims millions of years as its greatest ally. The “poster child” for this propaganda is dinosaurs. In science halls and academia across America and throughout the world, dinosaurs are presented as a prehistoric proof of evolution.

As a child, I assimilated statements like “long, long ago,” “millions of years ago,” and “when dinosaurs ruled the earth” as fact, unaware I was building a worldview that was against God’s Word.

But Where Was the Church?

At the age of nine, I asked Jesus Christ to be Lord of my life, and heaven became my future eternal home. Although I was raised in a Christian home and attended church regularly, I was never taught about dinosaurs from a biblical perspective.

Unguided at home and church, my belief about the age of the earth and the history of dinosaurs consisted of what I learned through my education and entertainment. I believed that scientists and paleontologists, backed by college educations and hours of fieldwork, were unbiased and open-minded. Therefore, I believed dinosaurs lived and died over 65 million years ago and that dinosaurs and man, separated by millions of years, never lived together.

Christianity and evolution were separate parts of my life. I did not realize the underlying humanist worldview of evolution rejected God as Creator and Sustainer of all life.

Battle of the Worldviews . . . Help!

At their most elemental levels, there are only two worldviews with which one can evaluate all aspects of life. One is biblical; the other is humanist. The first accepts God and His Word; the latter rejects Him. There is no real middle ground.

I was seventeen when my worldviews collided. I believed dinosaurs had evolved over long ages (4.6 billion years), while also believing God spoke everything into existence in six 24-hour days. Not only were these worldviews inconsistent, I also realized they were incompatible! Seeking the help and advice of my pastor, I asked him, “Where do you put millions of years and dinosaurs into the Bible?”

While I do not remember his exact words, the essence of the pastor’s polite response was, “I don’t know.” Assuming this was one of the “mysteries of God,” I walked away from the conversation—and a most important part of the Bible: the foundational book of Genesis. I continued attending church, but I failed to grow as a disciple of Christ. Still seeing the inconsistencies between the two worldviews, I was spiritually unequipped to defend the Bible and refute humanism.

It is well documented that the battle of worldviews causes some to reject the Bible and follow the teaching of secular science, while others simply slide into apathy. Inevitably, one worldview will dominate our thinking. Sadly, man’s fallible opinion often wins.

Back to the Bible

God brought me back to His Word in an unusual and unorthodox manner. In 1993, a movie was released called Jurassic Park. Because of my childhood interest with dinosaurs, I went to see it. Though the plot teaches evolution, I reflected on the movie and realized there was more to dinosaurs than I had been taught. They were not a mystery; they were merely animals!

Driven to find the truth, I began studying the Bible in earnest, starting with the book of Genesis. God revealed my need to have a biblical worldview about every area of life, standing on the authority of God’s Word “from the very first verse.” I am so thankful for the resources He provided, including the book The Beginning of the World by Dr. Henry Morris of ICR, and the incredible (new-at-the-time) ministry of Answers in Genesis, which is focused on rebuilding the foundation of God’s Word by honoring its absolute authority.

No longer a book of unconnected “stories,” I began to read the Bible as the true history of the world, and dinosaurs became simple to understand. According to John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16, God created everything. Recognizing that dinosaurs were land animals, I returned to the creation account in Genesis 1 and realized the simple truth that God created these fascinating animals on the sixth day of creation; they did not evolve.

God’s Call

After attending AiG’s Creation College 2 in 2006, God led me to start a creation apologetics ministry. The purpose of Creation Connection Ministries is to visit churches and teach people to recognize the worldview battle, the spiritual impact it has, and the need to stand upon the authority of God’s Word. When we use the Bible as our foundation, we can trust God to be faithful to His Word in every aspect of our life.

As AiG so often proclaims on this website, 1 Peter 3:15 teaches us: “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”