Pat Robertson Says Dinosaurs Prove Young Earth Creationists Are Wrong
"The 700 Club" co-host Pat Robertson has voiced his disagreement with Young Earth Creationists by recently stating on his show that he believes the existence of dinosaurs proves that the earth is not 6,000 years old, as some conservative Christians believe.
"I know people will probably lynch me for this, but Bishop (James) Ussher, God bless him, wasn't inspired by the Lord when he said it all took 6,000 years. It just didn't," Robertson said, referring to the 17th century Irish clergyman who first argued that the earth was created in 4004 BC.
On "The 700 Club" Tuesday, a mother identified as Michelle reveals in a letter that her young sons are questioning the Bible and asking her to explain the existence of dinosaurs. The woman says that her husband agrees with them, and she fears that she might not have him or her children with her when she enters the Kingdom of God.
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According to many Young Earth Creationists, dinosaurs lived alongside humans 6,000 years ago, before the great flood described in Genesis 6-9. Some Christians dispute the existence of dinosaurs all together, claiming that bones excavated by scientists are a ruse meant to cause confusion among believers.
"You go back in time, you have carbon dating, all these things, and you have the carcasses of dinosaurs frozen in time." Robertson explained on his program. "They are out there. And so there was a time when these giant raptors were on the earth and it was before the time of the Bible. So don't try to cover it up and make like everything was 6,000 years, that's not the Bible."
He concluded by suggesting that the inquiring mother just tell her children the "way it really is."
Earlier this year, scientist Bill Nye stirred up the debate on evolution versus creationism after he released a video called "Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children", arguing that it is dangerous to believe the earth is only 6,000 or 10,000 years old, and pointed to statistics showing that America is the only western country where almost half of the population still believes in such theories.
The Creation Museum, an organization overseen by Answers in Genesis (AiG), has defended conservative positions on creation, which it holds unfolded over six days as described in the Bible and that dinosaurs were created on the same day as Adam and Eve.
Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, writes in an article titled "What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?" that the Bible helps explain the existence of dinosaurs.
"Dinosaurs are used more than almost anything else to indoctrinate children and adults in the idea of millions of years of earth history," Ham writes. "However, the Bible gives us a framework for explaining dinosaurs in terms of thousands of years of history, including the mystery of when they lived and what happened to them. Two key texts are Genesis 1:24–25 and Job 40:15–24."
He concludes in his argument, "If we accept God's Word, beginning with Genesis, as being true and authoritative, then we can explain dinosaurs and make sense of the evidence we observe in the world around us."
