3.415 Moses and the dinosaurs? (35)
Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA)
Thu, 31 Aug 89 00:06:28 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 415. Thursday, 31 Aug 1989.
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 89 08:37:01 CDT
From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM>
Subject: Moses Among the Dinosaurs, or, a New Subject for Source-Hunters
Over the weekend I hired a roofer who turned out to have Pentecostal
inclinations and explained to me that my hot-tar covered roof was a
signature of hell. Among various extraordinary notions advanced by this
fellow was the claim that creationism and evolution could be reconciled
within Biblical time--viz., that there were creatures in the past which are
presently extinct but that periods like the Jurassic etc. occured within
the last 6,000 years. He claimed to have evidence that Moses had either
described or even seen dinosaurs. My questions, therefore, are:
1. Is this a widely diffused notion (part of "contemporary folklore")
or is it an idiosyncratic opinion?
2. What might be the sources, Biblical or otherwise, for such
a remarkable theory?
3. Have their been many other attempts to compress large-scale
natural phenomena within the time limits of Christian history
(here I refer to attempts which affirm the truth of scientific
discoveries, not those, say, like Bishop Burnet's, which attempt to
manipulate evidence, or those like those found in pamphlets in
airport restrooms, which rely on sheer assertion or denial of
evidence).
Thank you.
KLC