circusboy01 Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Does the church teach (believe) that Dinosaurs walked the earth? Don't scientist, that say that Dinosaurs walked the earth, claim that the earth is older then the church teaches? Thanks Brother Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenamarie Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 The church, to my knowledge, doesn't have any official teaching on how old the earth is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circusboy01 Posted May 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 The church, to my knowledge, doesn't have any official teaching on how old the earth is.I wonder why I thought it did? Oh well just one more thing to show me that my memory is fading fast. Thanks Brother Ray;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiJolly Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 I wonder why I thought it did? Oh well just one more thing to show me that my memory is fading fast. Thanks Brother Ray;)You're probably thinking of D&C 77:6-7: Q. What are we to understand by the book which John saw, which was sealed on the back with seven seals?A. We are to understand that it contains the revealed will, mysteries, and the works of God; the hidden things of his economy concerning this earth during the seven thousand years of its continuance, or its temporal existence.Q. What are we to understand by the seven seals with which it was sealed?A. We are to understand that the first seal contains the things of the first thousand years, and the second also of the second thousand years, and so on until the seventh. This site helps explain that this may well not be a literal reference to the age of the earth. Mormons and Evolution: Seven Thousand Years of the Earth's Continuance HiJolly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordorbund Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Genesis 3:14Â And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:Dinosaurs are just snakes with legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circusboy01 Posted May 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 You're probably thinking of D&C 77:6-7: This site helps explain that this may well not be a literal reference to the age of the earth. Mormons and Evolution: Seven Thousand Years of the Earth's Continuance HiJolly7000 years does have a familiar ring. I guess I took it to mean that's how old the earth is.brother Ray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroTypical Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Does the church teach (believe) that Dinosaurs walked the earth?No. But you can't swing a dead cat in a sacrament meeting without hitting a dozen or more people with strong opinions one way or the other. But at the end of the day, the creationist and the evolutionist both sit side by side in the temple.I wonder why I thought it did?Probably because of folks voicing their opinions at you throughout your time in the church. Some have even done it over the pulpit in my time. But no, it's opinion - not doctrine - not revealed truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Genesis 3:14*Dinosaurs are just snakes with legs.I believe you are mistaken. Without going into a lot of detail - Birds are more genetically related to dinosaurs than are snakes.The Traveler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misshalfway Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Genesis 3:14*Dinosaurs are just snakes with legs.I thought they were old men at family parties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annewandering Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 I think most of us believe dinosaurs were real. But that is science so why would the church care? I dont see any reason why we should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misshalfway Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 I think most of us believe dinosaurs were real. But that is science so why would the church care? I dont see any reason why we should.Yeah. I agree. But some people really care about it. Or maybe some just like to speculate. I've been in lots of convo's where people talk about God creating the earth and transplanting Dinosaur bones in the process. This stuff just never made sense to me. I don't have any problem with the earth being old and God being ok with really long creative periods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annewandering Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Me either. And it seems to me that if we havent figured it out then we just can know that someday we will understand it. Nothing really wrong with studying it out and speculating but just not something to worry about. Now if T-Rexes were still alive THEN I would worry. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misshalfway Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 God: Yeah....we gotta create some dinosaurs. Get Michael and get started. Jesus: Really?? How big can I go exactly? Michael and others: God said we could do what?? Totally awesome dudes! This is like the best day ever! LATER..... Jesus: But Dad, You said we could go big! God: (Rolling eyes over his very old specticals) Jesus: I know....I'll clean up the mess. Guys...prepare the meteor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annewandering Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 God: Yeah....we gotta create some dinosaurs. Get Michael and get started.Jesus: Really?? How big can I go exactly?Michael and others: God said we could do what?? Totally awesome dudes! This is like the best day ever!LATER.....Jesus: But Dad, You said we could go big! God: (Rolling eyes over his very old specticals)Jesus: I know....I'll clean up the mess. Guys...prepare the meteor.Well that makes as much sense as some other explanations!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordorbund Posted May 30, 2012 Report Share Posted May 30, 2012 I believe you are mistaken. Without going into a lot of detail - Birds are more genetically related to dinosaurs than are snakes.The TravelerThat makes no sense. Why would God reward the tempting serpent with flight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 That makes no sense. Why would God reward the tempting serpent with flight?You have not kept up to date with what we have discovered concerning dinosaurs. There is greater evidence that dinosaurs were warm blooded and that some had feathers. What basis do you have to think of dinosaurs as being serpent like?The Traveler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted May 31, 2012 Report Share Posted May 31, 2012 ...Now if T-Rexes were still alive THEN I would worry. :)If T-Rex was only a foot tall - I would wager you still would not play with him. The Traveler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 So many theories...It's fun to entertain the different theories. I think it's ok to have personal theories on the matter...especially if you're open to be "proven wrong," aka, consider new evidence. In Alma (i believe), it says all things denote that there is a God. We can be open minded regarding scientific evidences, theories, and proofs...i believe it can actually strengthen our testimony of God, the plan of happiness, etc. There isn't anything in science that contradicts the simple belief of a loving Eternal Father. On the contrary, there are many things that science CANNOT and will never be able to explain. IMO, if it was knowledge that was vital to our salvation, we would know and/or it will be revealed. We'll probably all be blown away when it is revealed...and there'll be a day that it will be perfect understanding. The Holy Ghost can only testify of truth...so if we've received our witness (as to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, Bible, etc), don't doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn_ Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 The core of the problem is that the scriptures and the revelations simply don't talk about dinosaurs, and are inconclusive about whether there was physical death for other organisms before Adam and Eve's fall. This leaves each person to decide for themselves how the fossils we have discovered fit into the timeline of the plan of salvation. There several possible solutions that have been adopted by intelligent, faithful Latter-day Saints: Some have concluded that dinosaurs never existed, that the bones we've found are actually from other planets, and that they ended up here when the earth was created from material previously used to create other planets. Others have reasoned that there was no death before the Fall, so the dinosaurs must have lived alongside Adam and the early patriarchs, perhaps dying in (maybe even after) the Flood. (See: Death before the fall main article FAIRWiki link.) Still others have taken the approach that the earth is very old, that there was death before the Fall, and that the dinosaurs lived and died in a era long before the story of Adam and Eve begins. The three important points to get across to your students are: The scriptures — especially the creation accounts in Genesis, Moses, Abraham, and the temple endowment — are not concerned with laying out a comprehensive history of the earth. They are concerned with telling the story of God's covenant relationship with men, a covenant he first established with Adam and Eve. Anything outside this story is simply not relevant to the issue the scriptures are dealing with. Latter-day Saints are ultimately interested in truth, whatever and wherever it may be. We should not be afraid of learning new things that may contradict our previous assumptions, and we should not be overly dogmatic about things that are peripheral to the gospel message (that message being Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was a true prophet, the Book of Mormon was divinely revealed, the keys of the priesthood are on the earth). In other words, have an open mind, but not a gaping one. Ultimately, our salvation does not depend on when we believed the dinosaurs lived, or even if we believe there was (or was not) death before the Fall. Our salvation lies in hearing the word the Lord and then doing it.Mormonism and science/Dinosaurs - FAIRMormon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mordorbund Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 You have not kept up to date with what we have discovered concerning dinosaurs. There is greater evidence that dinosaurs were warm blooded and that some had feathers. What basis do you have to think of dinosaurs as being serpent like?The TravelerNo basis at all. Just a flight of fancy I take. I also like to imagine that dinosaurs were actually engineered by some non-carbon life form to function as their machines. Think of some alien looking down on our planet, trying to determine what the dominant life form is. Why it's those steel-based creatures that vroom everywhere. And it looks like they alternate nesting socially around those large static steel things and individually (or in pairs) around those smaller carbon miniatures of the large steel "nesters". Presumably, they constructed the carbon structures to imitate the large nesters. There's also a carbon parasite that's involved somehow.Now fast forward several years into into the future after the robot revolution. The evolved steel robots scarcely remember their origin as manufactured tools created by the hand of carbon-based humans. In an effort to discover their origins, they find this race of giants - Eniac and such - as well as related creatures that tower over them. I'm sure it would be natural to assume that skyscrapers were some sort of older life form long since extinct.Now rewind several million years and assume that dinosaurs had some similar parasite (I don't know, maybe nitrogen based or something). After building their civilization with carbon materials they found around them, and even advancing in some levels of artificial intelligence, they still managed to nuke themselves out of existence (or lasso'd an asteroid right down on themselved). The remaining AI forms propogated and eventually became advanced enough to wonder about the old creations while knowing nothing about the old creators.Fun stuff like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) You left out the part were for a time the dinosaurs tried to survive by transferring themselves to metal bodies:Sadly the war continued and the race of metal dinosaurs, or what I like to call 'Dinobots', was not to last. Edited June 1, 2012 by Dravin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 No basis at all. Just a flight of fancy I take. I also like to imagine that dinosaurs were actually engineered by some non-carbon life form to function as their machines. Think of some alien looking down on our planet, trying to determine what the dominant life form is. Why it's those steel-based creatures that vroom everywhere. And it looks like they alternate nesting socially around those large static steel things and individually (or in pairs) around those smaller carbon miniatures of the large steel "nesters". Presumably, they constructed the carbon structures to imitate the large nesters. There's also a carbon parasite that's involved somehow.Now fast forward several years into into the future after the robot revolution. The evolved steel robots scarcely remember their origin as manufactured tools created by the hand of carbon-based humans. In an effort to discover their origins, they find this race of giants - Eniac and such - as well as related creatures that tower over them. I'm sure it would be natural to assume that skyscrapers were some sort of older life form long since extinct.Now rewind several million years and assume that dinosaurs had some similar parasite (I don't know, maybe nitrogen based or something). After building their civilization with carbon materials they found around them, and even advancing in some levels of artificial intelligence, they still managed to nuke themselves out of existence (or lasso'd an asteroid right down on themselved). The remaining AI forms propogated and eventually became advanced enough to wonder about the old creations while knowing nothing about the old creators.Fun stuff like that.As a consultant engineer and scientist in the field of automation, robots and artificial intelligence I find you flight of fantasy fun but I really think the great problem of future civilization will be trying to determine the religious significances of cheerios the the ancient Mormons had as part of their worship services. The Traveler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seminarysnoozer Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 As a consultant engineer and scientist in the field of automation, robots and artificial intelligence I find you flight of fantasy fun but I really think the great problem of future civilization will be trying to determine the religious significances of cheerios the the ancient Mormons had as part of their worship services. The TravelerYeah, especially if they happen to notice that none of our artistic renderings of divine beings have halos. There might be some implied significance given to the circular food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 And wouldn't they all be thrown in for a loop when they uncover that in one particular archeological dig site at a suspected Mormon worship gathering somewhere in Florida, there were different colors in their cheerios with higher sugar content... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annewandering Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 God: Yeah....we gotta create some dinosaurs. Get Michael and get started.Jesus: Really?? How big can I go exactly?Michael and others: God said we could do what?? Totally awesome dudes! This is like the best day ever!LATER.....Jesus: But Dad, You said we could go big! God: (Rolling eyes over his very old specticals)Jesus: I know....I'll clean up the mess. Guys...prepare the meteor.Just want you to know I stole this and posted on facebook. Dont kill me!! hides from flying tomatoes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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