My People Perish
The Bible does say, “without a vision, the people perish,” a verse we often hear and for good reason. But it also says, “ My people perish for lack of knowledge.”
I was speaking to the elder Sunday School class at my church this past week, just on the basic information about dinosaurs in scripture. We creation science educators tend to forget how sparse is the exposure to even the simplest of topics to cover in our area – even in our own fellowships. So, here are a few helps from the Bible and from other sources.
In the Bible, you can find the word “dragon” with your concordance and look up a wealth of knowledge, though the Hebrew word “tanniyn” can just mean “large monster-like creatures,” and indeed is translated as “great whales” in Genesis 1. You can find specific types of dragons mentioned as the “behemoth” in Job 40 and the “leviathan” in Job 41. These are examples of the giant walking sauropod “long-neck” dinosaurs and of the giant swimming reptiles. Both of these are thought to be extinct today, along with the pterodactyla reptiles (“flying serpents of the air”) mentioned in Isaiah (especially Isa 30:6).
The best primer book on dinosaurs would be Dr. G. Thomas Sharp’s book, “Rocks, Fossils, and Dinosaurs.” The best short set of overall lessons for an 6-week course for Bible Study or Sunday School would be “A Primer on Biblical Worldview” by Dr. Sharp and Michelle Holland (a middle school science teacher). The best overall book written on the middle school reading level was by a youth pastor named Patrick Marks, “Someone’s Making a Monkey Out of You!” (only the first edition has errors in it – the new editions are fine). Unfortunately, we don’t carry this book. It is available at other online stores. On the high school reading level is Dr. Gary Parker’s book, “Creation: Facts of Life.” And on the college level would be Dr. David A. DeWitt’s little book, “Unraveling the Origins Controversy.” All of these are short, age-appropriate readers, easy to understand and inexpensive to buy.
If anyone wants to go on a little further in their knowledge or skills, there are many fine books by reputable creation authors. If you want more info on astronomy and the Creation model alternative to the Big Bang, “Starlight and Time,” by Dr. D. Russell Humphreys is good. And for better debate and logic skills, UCLA law professor Phillip Johnson’s book, “Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds” is just a can’t-put-it-down intro to that.
Please visit our website www.creationtruth.com or call our offices at 888-57TRUTH (578-7884) (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm CST). I hope this helps. God bless you and – keep thinking! DrJ
