Dinosaurs and the age of the earth: three intra-Christian views summarized

Mike presents three main views held by genuine Christians: (1) Young Earth Creationism (YEC) — dinosaurs were on Noah's ark as juveniles; the Flood created most fossil layers; radiometric dating is unreliable. Mike held this view when younger but no longer feels bound to it. (2) Old Earth / Progressive Creationism (e.g., Hugh Ross, Reasons to Believe; Stephen Meyer and the Intelligent Design community) — the standard geological dating (~65M years for dinosaurs) is accurate; Genesis days are not 24-hour periods; animal death before Adam is not ruled out by Scripture. (3) Evolutionary creationism — Mike has the most difficulty with this view, though he remains open to compelling exegetical arguments. He also notes William Lane Craig's archetypal-historical reading of Genesis as a fourth option. Leviathan/Behemoth in Job are sometimes cited as evidence dinosaurs coexisted with humans, but Mike argues that even if true it would only demonstrate one or two creatures, not the full dinosaur population. Key pastoral point: Christians must not draw fellowship-breaking lines over these secondary questions, and blaming the other camp for all church problems is unhelpful.