Bill Boehm, USA asks “It seems T. rex has indications that they were carnivorous (National Geographic article a few months ago). I remembered you had said they had shallow teeth that could easily break. Did you read the article? Have you changed your view?”
Editorial Comment: National Geographic June 99 p 46 – 59 again glorified the evolutionary view of Dinosaurs starring T. rex the killer carnivore, and insisted it is “believed to have had the most formidable teeth and powerful jaws of any dinosaur ever known.” (p54) So here’s a biblical perspective on the history of teeth and their use to help you all.
Genesis 1:30-31: And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (KJV)
This tells us all creatures began life as vegetarians regardless of the shape of their teeth.
Genesis 6:12: And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. (KJV)
Around 1600 years after creation the corruption caused by Adam’s sin had now spread to all flesh.
Genesis 6:21-22: And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he. (KJV)
Noah was told to gather food for all to eat – since all creatures could still survive as vegetarians – an easy task.
Genesis 7:2: Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. (KJV)
Creatures are now two types – “clean” which had continued to be vegetarian and the negative connotation “unclean” which had begun to eat dead things and had become scavengers.
Genesis 9:2: And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. (KJV)
After Noah’s Flood all the animals have ‘fear of man’ imposed upon them – probably as a safety measure to preserve them from man who is given permission to now eat them – many of the animals will undoubtedly begin to defend themselves against man’s attack. Those creatures with sharp teeth will have a “cutting edge” in the ‘survival of the fittest’ – a competition which began in earnest at that time and has only become more serious with time due to the long term result of man’s moral decline.
Genesis 9:3: Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. (KJV)
Noah and his descendants were permitted by God to kill creatures and eat them.
Job 41:14 & 27: Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. He esteemeth iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. (KJV)
By Job’s day, several hundred years after the flood, animals had learned to use their sharp teeth in defence, even if they didn’t yet kill with them. Their teeth were regarded with fear as terrible.
Genesis 15:11: And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. (KJV)
Some birds had become carrion eaters by the time of Abraham. From now on any degenerative loss of their crop, which enabled them to eat grain, will doom them to remain scavengers.
Genesis 18:8: And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. (KJV)
Man is recorded as eating cooked ‘domesticated’ meat and animal products.
Genesis 25:28: And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison but Rebekah loved Jacob. (KJV)
Genesis 27:4-7: And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death. (KJV)
Man is now a hunter as well as a farmer.
Genesis 37:20: Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him and we shall see what will become of his dreams. (KJV)
Joseph’s brothers know that wild animals eat people, and that this fact is so well known, they can use it to dispose of their brother. This is the first reference to man-eating animals in Scripture.
Genesis 49:9: Judah is a lion’s whelp from the prey, my son, thou art gone up he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? (KJV)
The first mention of a creature that has killed prey – the lion. By the time of Moses venomous snakes attack people and oxen are known to gore people. (See Exodus – Deuteronomy) By the time of Samson (Judges 14:5) wild animals, such as lions, are known to attack people. By 600BC both the carnivorous killing habits and methods are widespread and well known enough for the prophet Nahum to write in Nahum 2:12: “The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with raven.” (KJV)
In summary: T. rex, like all creatures, began life as a vegetarian. By Noah’s flood some creatures had become scavengers. After the flood, some creatures became carnivores. At present we have only two known dinosaurs with remains of bones of other land dwelling creatures inside their fossil rib cage – the implication being they had eaten them dead or alive. T. rex is not one of these. The majority of fossil dinosaur droppings analysed also point to a bulk of vegetarians, and don’t indicate if any meat eaten was scavenged or killed. (Ref. teeth, diet, carnivores)
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