Here’s something I bet you didn’t know: Dinosaurs didn’t actually live hundreds of millions of years ago. No. Rather, they were around as recently as about 6000 years ago, when the world was created out of chaos. In fact, dinosaurs lived in the Garden of Eden with Adam, Eve and all the other animals.
At least that’s the story according to the Creation Museum–a 65,000 square foot facility that opened in Hebron, Kentucky in 2007. The Museum’s mission is to, well, here’s how the website puts it:
“Be prepared to experience history in a completely unprecedented way.
The state-of-the-art 65,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil … Walk through the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Life, central to the garden, stretches out its branches, laden with ripened fruits. Come face-to-face with a sauropod, a dinosaur of incredible dimensions. His monstrous frame moves through the low-lying thicket as he grazes on plants. Introduce yourself to our chameleons. Examine bones, a clutch of eggs from a dinosaur, an exceptional fossil collection, and a mineral collection. Walk through the Cave of Sorrows and see the horrific effects of the Fall of man. Sounds of a sin-ravaged world echo through the room. Finally, see the sacrificial Lamb on the cross, and the hope of redemption.”
Wow. What’s important to understand here is the brazen conflation of history and mythology, science and theology. And I’m not saying that the Bible is a-historical. Contemporary biblical scholarship has shown that the Hebrew Bible, at least (I’m less familiar with the New Testament), includes many historical elements, i.e., things that can be verified via outside sources such as covalent documents and archaeology. But the story of the Garden of Eden is not one of the historical sections of the bible. It’s a creation myth of great power and beauty and theological significance. But it’s not history.
In any case, the truly remarkable moment in the above passage is the one describing dinosaurs happily munching leaves in the paradisiacal garden. Because here’s were we’re made to understand that the Creation Museum is attempting not only to merge history and mythology but also science and religion.
In fact, dinosaurs are a big deal at the Creation Museum, with good reason. Because if dinosaurs really lived millions of years ago, then the earth can’t be only 6000 years old (as per literal interpretations of the Bible). And if the Bible is wrong on the age of the earth, then it may be wrong on other things, too. It’s a slippery slope. So the Creation Museum offers an alternate story. God created dinosaurs on the 6th day of creation–the same day that God created Adam and Eve. (Proof offered for this theory is Genesis 1:20-25, 31–”Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind’; and it was so.”) Later, some dinosaurs were stowed away aboard Noah’s ark during the global flood. Those not aboard were drowned. Their remains became the fossils we see in museums today. Those that were on the ark eventually went extinct due to the changed climate and ecology of the post-flood earth.
Does this make any sense? It depends who you are, obviously. And my point isn’t to debate the merits of biblical literalism vs. other types of biblical interpretation. My point isn’t even to debunk the pseudo-scientific offerings on display at the Creation Museum.
My intention is to point up a serious and disturbing trend in the United States to blend science and theology toward obviously ideological ends. A few weeks ago in this space I wrote about Ben Stein’s upcoming propaganda movie aimed at smearing evolutionary science as racist and elitist. The Creation Museum is part of the same movement.
Now, you may argue that while they may be wacky, things like Stein’s movie and the Creation Museum are so obviously propagandistic and wrong on so many counts that they’re of no consequence. But I’d argue otherwise. These things matter. The Creation Museum drew more than 300,000 visitors in its first year. It’s a state of the art facility with the latest technology. And it feeds a growing anti-intellectual, anti-scientific sentiment in the US. As a science writer, this alarms me. And it should alarm anyone who cares about science and ideas.
So I encourage everyone to check out the Creation Museum online. Or read a review that appeared in the New York Times. Better yet, if you live in the area, visit the museum in person. And let me know what you think.
Thanks for this and other posts related to religion and science. You do an impressive job of being fair, while at the same time not giving the impression that all arguments and viewpoints are supported equally by the evidence!
This may seem like an odd question, but is there any information — on the web or in print — that addresses how long it takes for a dinosaur to get to what we think of as dinosaur-size? Would they grow to full size in a few years or less, like a dog? Or would it take a hundred years or more? I’ve never heard this addressed by anyone (creationist or evolutionist or anywhere in between), but it seems like an important piece of the puzzle. Anyway, I was hoping you, Jeremy, or one of your readers could enlighten me on this. Thanks.
Thank You!
Very nice Animals Visit blog
Hi Jeremy,
You make an underlying assumption that theology and science are mutually exclusive and should not be mixed. If Creationists ARE actually right, then a Creator would also have created the “laws of science”, which means His theology could be “scientific” in parts, if He wanted. I’m just pointing out that their logic is valid, even if we cant agree on our premises.
Science should not be held on such a high pedestal. Mankind has been using science for its benefit since the very first invention. It is nothing more than finding patterns in our observations. Technology is nothing more than making clever use of the predictability of those patterns.
My point is, science is only as powerful as the prevalence and simplicity of evidences we can observe. Gravity is an easy one to demonstrate and believe in, atomic theory is not.
Thus when the evidence available is scarce and difficult to interpret (i.e. has multiple valid interpretations), as it is with fossil evidence, for example, then we cant be so sure we’ve got it right. On either side of the interpretation - in this case Creation vs Evolution. If you look into this topic further you will find that, sadly (for both sides), there is not enough evidence to prove or disprove either argument. Educated evolutionists accept that there is mounting evidence that doesn’t fit the theory, even if they don’t accept the alternative interpretations.
So, at this point in time at least, we are stuck in the position where neither side can actually claim the other is anti-intellectual or anti-scientific. To the contrary, both sides appear to be striving to use science to prove something that I doubt will ever be provable. In the meantime the blanks are being filled in with creative (even if logical) interpretation.
My assertion here is that neither side has enough evidence to ridicule the other. Don’t take my word for it, look into for yourself, like a true scientist. But the most important virtue scientists should strive for is that of neutrality and objectivity. Approach every claim, no matter how outlandish it may appear at first glance, with an open mind. Consider as long as it deserves, but no longer. Just don’t close your mind to alternatives, for that IS a form of elitism or arrogance.
Regards,
Bruce.
Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is what constitutes pseudo-science, mythology, and propaganda. My dictionatry defines propaganda as the “methodical propagation of a particular doctrine or of allegations reflecting its views and interests.”
Under this definition, the point of view of the Creation Museum would certainly qualify as propaganda as does the views I am hereby expressing and so does the commentary by Jeremy Shere.
The fact of the matter is that there is considerable evidence for the view that the dinosaurs existed in relatively recent, historical times. In truth, some scientists believe birds are modern-day dinosaurs and to me some lizards such as Komodo dragons and Gila monsters look a lot like scaled-down versions of dinosaurs.
As for the larger beasts, consider the following:
1. The various tales of dinosaur-like creatures called dragons that come to us from all over the world.
2. The existence of dinosaur-like petrogylphs in Hava Supai,Canyon, Arizona; Natural Bridges, National Monument Utah; and other places.
3. The discovery of many artifacts from ancient cultures such as China that depict dinosaur-like creatures. See the Web site http://s8int.com/dino1.html
4. The descriptions in the Bible of huge creatures called a behemoth (Job 40) and leviathan (Job 41) which don’t seem to describe modern animals.
And what should be the final crushing blow to the notion that dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago…
5. The discovery of red blood cells and SOFT tissue in T-rex dinosaurs (See http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0325Dino_tissue.asp and http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070412-dino-tissues.html.
I believe the pressure is now on the Old-Earthers to prove that dinosaurs did not live in recent times even though the larger ones may now be extinct.
ust as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is what constitutes pseudo-science, mythology, and propaganda. My dictionary defines propaganda as the “methodical propagation of a particular doctrine or of allegations reflecting its views and interests.”
Under this definition, the point of view of the Creation Museum would certainly qualify as propaganda as does the views I am hereby expressing and so does the commentary by Jeremy Shere.
The fact of the matter is that there is considerable evidence for the view that the dinosaurs existed in relatively recent, historical times. In truth, some scientists believe birds are modern-day dinosaurs and to me some lizards such as Komodo dragons and Gila monsters look a lot like scaled-down versions of dinosaurs.
As for the larger beasts, consider the following:
1. The various tales of dinosaur-like creatures called dragons that come to us from all over the world.
2. The existence of dinosaur-like petrogylphs in Hava Supai,Canyon, Arizona; Natural Bridges, National Monument Utah; and other places.
3. The discovery of many artifacts from ancient cultures such as China that depict dinosaur-like creatures. See the Web site http://s8int.com/dino1.html
4. The descriptions in the Bible of huge creatures called a behemoth (Job 40) and leviathan (Job 41) which don’t seem to describe modern animals.
And what should be the final crushing blow to the notion that dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago…
5. The discovery of red blood cells and SOFT tissue in T-rex dinosaurs (See http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2005/0325Dino_tissue.asp and http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070412-dino-tissues.html.
I believe the pressure is now on the Old-Earthers to prove that dinosaurs did not live in recent times even though the larger ones may now be extinct.
Thank you for the article, it was to the point and well-reasoned. I’m glad to see more and more people start pointing out this trend of blurring science and history with religion.
But alas, at the end of the day you’ll still be called ignorant and accused of trying to smother the truth. It’s sad really…
Let’s ignore the evidence of fossils! Folks like the Creation Museum folks are trying to refit the world into their mold; and that’s pretty moldy!
People in other countries already joke about how dumb Americans are. It’s a stereotype that seems to have taken over from the loud and arrogant stereotype of the past. Of course, we all know these stereotypes are inaccurate. However, they had to start somewhere, and if a stereotype persists, it is because certain groups uphold it with their behavior.
When people around the world see what the Christian morons are up to in America, it only adds to the perception that Americans are insular, ignorant and not very smart. These Christian idiots with their childish ideas and crackpot reasoning bring shame upon the country.
Hi Zeph
So, we meet again! From my understanding, the Creation Museum is a venture of Answers in Genesis - this is a group of evangelical Christians whose views I do not whole-heartedly share, but which has quite a number of PhD scientists on its contribution team. I often visit their site, however, to find out what these scientists have to offer - and their writings are generally very good (they try their best to be ‘mocking-free’ when referring to their critics - an attribute their critics make absolutely no effort to achieve). They claim that ALL science is based on pre-suppositions, and that they simply use the Bible-as-history as theirs. If that is what they truly believe then, as with your own beliefs, so be it. From the articles I have read, this group seems, in fact, to be VERY pro-science (but VERY anti-Darwinism, which may upset those of the Darwinism ‘faith’). The TRUTH is that so many accept the totally impossible scenarios of a mythical Big Bang, followed by spontaneous life, followed by logical thought (eventually - but so many seem incapable of it today). It’s sad really…
Why is my earlier comment still “awaiting moderation”?
Hi Everyone,
I have to apologize for not approving all the comments sooner. There’s been something slightly off with the blog site. Normally I’m notified by email when there are comments to approve, but for some reason that didn’t happen for the past several weeks. I’ve now approved all the comments and you can see that we’ve got another lively discussion on an important and interesting topic.
So, again, I apologize for the delay. Please check back and keep the comments coming.