Sunday 18 May 2014

Jurassic Judaism!


Via the BBC -
"Fossilised bones of a dinosaur believed to be the largest creature ever to walk the Earth have been unearthed in Argentina, palaeontologists say.
Based on its huge thigh bones, it was 40m (130ft) long and 20m (65ft) tall.
Weighing in at 77 tonnes, it was as heavy as 14 African elephants, and seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder, Argentinosaurus."

But of course, this doesn't stop people from denying that dinosaurs ever existed; in 0.31 google seconds I came up with 1,220,000 internet articles about 'dinosaurs didn't exist'. More interesting than this  was that some sites suggesting that they are a conspiracy theory to 'prove' evolution. OK, I guess if people wish not to believe in facts  & even though, as the picture shows below it is pretty conclusive that dinosaurs did exist that is up to them.


Site


                                                                   Pause .Oy vey !

For us Orthodox Jews and for the thinking person of any faith, I'd suggest the Judaism & religious belief  has always been compatible, if not comfortable,  with science. Our great Rabbi Maimonides  noted that  seeming conflicts between science and the Bible arise from either a lack of scientific knowledge or a misunderstanding of the Bible; furthermore that  science is one of the primary paths to knowing God which is the reason why the Bible commences with a description of creation . Indeed Chazal of the Talmud always viewed Torah knowledge in light of prevailing scientific theory.

Secondly there is possible reference in the Torah  dinosaurs, as it says: "And God created the giant Tanin" (Genesis 1:21). What is a Tanin? In Exodus 7:10, when Moses throws down his staff before Pharaoh, it turns into a "Tanin," translated as a "snake." Thus a Tanin is in the reptile family. They are also the only creatures in the creation account referred to as "giant," and indeed, dinosaurs were the largest creatures ever to walk the earth. What happened to them? The Talmud (Baba Batra 74b) says that God caused the extinction of the giant Tanin soon after their creation, because had the Tanin been fruitful and multiplied, the world would not have been able to endure before them. And as we know the dinosaurs became extinct, although there are various theories (asteroid, climate change etc) as to why this occurred

Huge, fearsome & magnificent creatures that they were, dinosaurs can't possibly be a threat to the religious Jew. As G-d's creations, they are another example of His wondrous might. There's nothing to be afraid of in acknowledging the fact of dinosaurs or learning about them.

15 comments:

  1. Hi David


    Great stuff. Didn't realise that bit about dinosaurs being in the bible. Right on about science. I see that in my day job all the time.

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  2. Dominique Vasilkovsky18 May 2014 at 09:45

    "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."- Albert Einstein

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  3. Bible and Truth18 May 2014 at 10:00

    I'm so glad you brought this up, and in the manner you did. I have been pondering this for a while myself, and I am starting to doubt dinosaurs for a number of reasons. One of them is our fake history. Another is the questionable biology.

    Even in an expanding Earth theory, where the age of dinosaurs would have featured a smaller Earth, there would apparently be a big question about how some of these monsters' hearts could possibly operate against gravity and get blood up to their heads towering above. However, these biological questions, and even the balance questions you brought up, are invitations for endless debate about circumstances.

    If it is a hoax, it is a double-edged hoax filling the gaps in our knowledge of geology and ancient biology.

    I think there are salient points in that the things are rock-in-rock, tightly controlled areas, slowly 'carved' out of the rock over seemingly endless operations, open to the touring public in the same way that museums dedicated to hoaxes are, and yet students are bombarded with history-book questions like 'How did the dinosaurs die?'

    The dinosaur questions have been posed as anchors for Earth geology and planetary history.

    It's also interesting how many dinosaurs have been constructed from bizarre Frankensteinian methods and have later turned out to be mistakes or hoaxes dressed up as mistakes.

    Again, thanks for the starting the thread. And no thanks to anonjedi for their useless counter-questions thusfar.

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  4. weird, I'm catholic, our religion accepted existence of dinos and evolution many generations ago. don't know where the whole "it's against my religion" stance came from.

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  5. George Monkhouse18 May 2014 at 10:15

    For quite some time now I have found the dinosaur theory to have quite a few holes. The only way that scientist can date the so called dinosaur bones they encounter is radiometric dating, i.e. carbon dating. Only problem is that its not accurate. (Research this and you will find the same) Paleontologists themselves openly admit that they fabricate bones and create what they thought existed. Usually from no more than one bone, or a part of it.The real answer is that dinosaurs were created by the fallen angels when they came to earth before the flood. The fallen angels are called Nephilim, the giants of the Bible. A significant cover-up over the years moved these hybrid humans to the dustbins of history.

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  6. Can't BELIEVE that there are people here opening saying dinosaurs didn't exist/it is a conspiracy/ it is fallen angels!! Come on people!

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  7. David,


    Thanks for sharing. It is just one of the many areas where the very Orthodox like to dig in their heals. I think for me, I became 'radicalised' after the appalling treatment of Rav Slifkin (& before that Rav Louis Jacobs, who, in my eyes at least is as Orthodox as anyone).

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  8. David,

    Thanks for sharing. It is just one of the many areas where the very Orthodox like to dig in their heals. I think for me, I became 'radicalised' after the appalling treatment of Rav Slifkin (& before that Rav Louis Jacobs, who, in my eyes at least is as Orthodox as anyone). Such is life. Hum ho.

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  9. I can't either. Where do these weridos come from?!

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  10. True. The question is why, why is it that the world's religions are growing fastest the more -I hate the word- fundamentalist the bigger/better. Is there something in this I wonder?

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  11. Now that is a brilliant quote Dominique!

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  12. Garnel Ironheart19 May 2014 at 18:17

    > Huge, fearsome & magnificent creatures that they were, dinosaurs can't possibly be a threat to the religious Jew
    Really? Let's put one of us in a pit with a hungry Tyrannosaurus Rex and find out if that's true.

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  13. Hi Sam

    You're showing your age ( :


    Yes the Dinobots are cool! Now I know why you love chemistry, Paleontology & Transformers (G1 only) so much!

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  14. I was of course writing on the philosophical, theological & intellectual issues. I wouldn't want to be a part of T -Rex's meal.

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