#aigbju

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The 1920s Ku Klux Klan thought of itself as the Messiah for the culture war against white supremacy.

Sound familiar?

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Did you notice who was missing from this year’s Hamapalooza Bible Conference? 

Two years ago, he was front and center. 

But this year?

Where is he?

There’s not a Jones anywhere!

Oh wait. . . .

There he is!

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That’s an #alternativefact, Pettit. Somebody else just did this in 2012. 

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Dinosaur Dialogue from Faith for the Family, 1978

by Ruth Beechick

Dinosaurs? In the Bible? You're kidding!

Dinosaurs are never mentioned in the Bible," he said to me.

"I think they are. I think God Himself talked about dinosaurs."

"God? Where in the Bible is that?"

"In Job. Remember the monsters behemoth and leviathan? I think they could be dinosaurs."

"Oh, them. They can't be dinosaurs because dinosaurs didn't live in Job's time; they lived long before man."

"Who says so, the Bible or someone else?"

"Well, everyone knows that dinosaurs were long before men, and the Bible doesn't talk about them at all."

"What do you think this behemoth is that eats grass, moves his tail like a cedar, has bones like brass and iron, and is the chief of God's creation?"

"Could be an elephant."

"Maybe. But this animal cannot be caught in snares. We catch elephants. Also, he lies in the reeds and drinks up a raging river."

"Could be a hippopotamus."

"Maybe. But this elephant-hippopotamus is so great that only the one who made him is able to approach him with a sword. Do you think this could possibly be describing a dinosaur?"

"It could. Sounds like a sauropod, the plant-eating, land-dwelling dinosaur."

"And how about the leviathan?"

"Most commentators say the leviathan is a crocodile."

"But this monster has fire coming out of his mouth and smoke from his nostrils. Does that sound like a crocodile?"

"No. That must be poetic."

"And this monster is so great that no one dares battle with him. He has terrible teeth so that iron spears are just like straws to him. And he has tough, closed-up scales so that stones and arrows just bounce off him. When he is in the water he stirs it up like a boiling pot. Does he sound like a dinosaur?"

"Yes, he does. He sounds like a meat-eating theropod. Could even be a tyrannosaurus, the largest of them all. Hmmm. I wonder if dinosaurs really spit fire. It's a strange thing; that's what the dragons in ancient mythology did."

"So you think maybe the Bible talks about dinosaurs?"

"Oh, no. That's not what I said."

"You agree that these monsters in Job sound like dinosaurs?"

"Yes, they do sound like them."

"And you agree they don't seem like any animals we have now?"

"Not much like our animals. Could be poetic. . . ."

"For what purpose? Why would God describe an animal as more fierce than it is?"

"I don't know."

"Then what do you think these animals are?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I think they're dinosaurs."

"They can't be dinosaurs."

"Why not?"

"Because dinosaurs didn't live in Job's time."

"Who says so, the Bible or someone else?"

"Well, everyone knows. . . ."

Reprinted from FAITH for the Family (1978).

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Why did you take this statement down after March 4, 2016, Bob Jones University? 

The "gap theory" was popularized among fundamental Bible-believing Christians by C.I. Scofield in the notes to his reference Bible. Through over half of the twentieth century it remained a standard interpretation held by a number of leaders within biblical Fundamentalism. With the publication of The Genesis Flood by Whitcomb and Morris in February of 1961 and the subsequent birth of the modern creationist movement, there began a shift toward a more straightforward reading of Genesis 1 and the gap theory quickly fell out of favor. The "gap theory" is, in its simplest form, a biblically based belief that there is a time gap of indeterminate length between the first two verses of Genesis, after the original creation of the universe but before "day one" of Genesis 1:3.

Supporters of the gap theory point to Genesis 1:2 which says that the "earth was without form and void" and Isaiah 45:18 which says that the Lord "created [the earth] not in vain" and argue that there is a contradiction between the two statements. Some gap supporters also use Genesis 1:28 where Adam was instructed to "replenish the earth" to imply that there was a pre-adamic race. In recent years, young earth creationists have not found these arguments to be compelling evidence for a gap of millions or even thousands of years between the first two verses of Genesis. Nor have they found the theory helpful in explaining the fossil record from a biblical perspective. They point out that Genesis 1:28 literally means "to fill"; Isaiah 45:18 simply means that God's plan for the earth was that it should be a home for man.

Many fundamentalists of past generations who espoused the gap theory did so out of a sincere attempt to properly interpret Scripture. They held a high view of the inspiration of the Bible and would be horrified to think that anyone today would consider them to be yielding any ground to evolutionists, an archenemy they opposed.

In conclusion, while the faculty of the Division of Natural Science at Bob Jones University understand the gap theory interpretation held by other sincere Bible-believing Christians, especially those of past generations, we see no necessity for it. We believe that the best way to understand both Scripture and the scientific evidence is in terms of an earth that is only 6 to 10 thousand years old. For this reason, none of our faculty either believes or teaches the gap theory.

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Bob Jones University’s annual protestor is back, of course. This year he’s carrying signs that say:

Cross-dressing Creationists.

Ken Ham loves Darwin’s Bible.

Even the Devils believe in Creation.

He’s got a point with that last one. 

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For Bob Jones University students today from Chris Lilley.

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It’s Hopscotch, BJU.