Nashville Educators Try to Reconcile Dinosaurs and the Bible

Tennesean.com:Group wants to reconcile dinosaurs, Bible Some Adventists say science flawed, call for discussion Tuesday, 08/08/06

Two years ago, Seventh-day Adventists reaffirmed their belief that the "seven days of the Creation account were literal 24-hour days forming a week identical in time to what we now experience as a week; and that the flood was global in nature."

You may remember those Science and Faith Conferences and the committee of those who affirmed the traditional view of Creation in the SDA church quite apart from any consensus of those involved in any of the conferences. Their final line in the Response to an Affirmation of Creation being

We call on all members of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist family to proclaim and teach the church’s understanding of the biblical doctrine of Creation, living in its light, rejoicing in our status as sons and daughters of God, and praising our Lord Jesus Christ—our Creator and Redeemer.

You can see some of this so called Biblical view in some of the comments of the teachers at the NAD meeting reported in the Tennesean.

Dinosaurs, according to some Seventh-day Adventist theories, either never existed, their bones were scattered by Satan on earth to confuse people, or they were animals created by God but altered by Satan after the fall of the Garden of Eden.

But a growing number of adherents believe they must do better at offering an explanation for dinosaurs that is faithful to scientific data and supportive of biblical beliefs.

Connie Reynolds, principal of A.W. Spalding Elementary School in Chattanooga, says she was picking up a copy of Kennedy's book not only to help guide the education of her students, but to help her when she is challenged by her 15-year-old son to provide answers to natural phenomenon not easily explained by the Bible.

Reynolds says she believes dinosaurs were originally created in some form by God but were warped by Satan, and they died in the great flood described in the Bible.

Although in reality the Bible says nothing about Satan warping animals into dinosaurs (or anything else) or Satan scattering their bones around to confuse us or that they never existed. Of course if they were destroyed in the worldwide flood it is really amazing for us to see their fossil tracks and nests. It appears that it is not really to the Bible that many find their beliefs about such things but to their interpretation of what the Bible is trying to say. And what it is trying to say is based upon their traditional views, just as their traditional views were affirmed by Faith and Science Conferences which offered scholarly articles of many views and developed no consensus report, no majority report and no minority report. Just a reaffirmation of what we already believed by a seperate and unrelated committee. Rather like a committee in charge of the parking for political convention who after the convention reaffirms the convention platform of 4 years earlier.