Dinosaurs have always been a passion of mine, and I continue to be a dinosaur buff to this day. But there’s one thing I’ve noticed over the course of my lifetime that is disheartening. When I was young, dinosaurs were dinosaurs. They were “terrible lizards,” as the name implies. But today they’re… birds. At least according to evolutionists. How did that happen?

Sadly, many have been indoctrinated into evolutionary thinking as a result of movies and television shows. Even cartoons geared towards children persuade them to believe in evolution. Schools and colleges go to great lengths to convince students to accept a secular worldview.

Thankfully, there are plenty of real scientists who reject this kind of thinking, and Creation Today host Eric Hovind interviewed Paleontologist and Geologist, Dr. Gabriela Haynes, about dinosaur to bird evolution.

I have experience discussing and debating dinosaur to bird evolution with experts in the field, and I’ve found that evolutionists are masters of altering definitions, moving the goalpost, questioning what we know, and causing confusion. And these are some of the things Dr. Haynes referenced in her interview. She explains how evolutionists have redefined terms, such as ‘dinosaur’, ‘bird’ and ‘feather’, among other things.

There was a time when these definitions were obvious, and people knew what they meant. But then Darwin published Origin of Species in 1859, and evolutionary indoctrination has increased ever since, blurring meanings.

To combat this, Dr. Haynes recommends we study history to help understand what evolutionists are trying to accomplish. How did they come up with their ideas? When did it start? And why?

Thomas Huxley, Darwin’s “bulldog”, was the first to propose that dinosaurs evolved into birds, and this happened shortly after the publication of Origin of Species, and right after the extinct bird, archaeopteryx, was discovered. Archaeopteryx contained enough similarities to therapod dinosaurs for Huxley to claim there was a link. Then, more than 100 years later, John Ostrom revived that idea while examining Deinonychus, a theropod (carnivorous) dinosaur, which lived well after archaeopteryx, according to evolutionary thinking.

Dr. Haynes explains the reason they did this wasn’t because the evidence demanded it, but because evolutionists needed evolutionary candidates, and both archaeopteryx and deinonychus satisfied that need. The evidence didn’t demonstrate that one evolved into the other, but there was enough speculation for evolutionists to continue pushing the idea. Evolutionists needed to prove evolution, and this was their opportunity. So the idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds came about due to an agenda- an evolutionary worldview, not empirical evidence.

The second point Dr. Haynes made is that evolutionist have literally altered the definition of words in order to influence others. Most people know what a bird or a feather looks like, but secular scientists now refer to dinosaurs as birds, and any type of structure on lizards and reptiles as a feather.

This is true, as I’ve heard many evolutionists refer to structures like collagen fibers or filaments as feathers. In fact, one scientist told me, “Allow me to be perfectly clear. Most Paleontologists support that these structures are feathers”.

Fine. But even we accept the premise that most paleontologists support that these structures are feathers doesn’t mean they’re right, or that we must agree with them. Their conclusion does not represent a consensus, nor is it an empirical fact. It’s nothing more than an evolutionary worldview. They’re imposing their own circular belief system on science.

Thus, if they alter definitions, then they can influence how people think, and if people uncritically accept blurred definitions, then they may unwittingly accept evolution without knowing any better. I’ve seen where this has happened. And this is why it’s so important to understand how evolutionists define terms. Evolutionists will go to great lengths to convince us that these structures are feathers, and they will demand we agree with them, but the evidence, if examined without bias, doesn’t require it.

Another misleading tactic evolutionists use is artistic representations, where non-feathered dinosaurs are drawn with feathers. When I was young, no feathers appeared on Tyrannosaurus Rex or other dinosaurs in the books I read, but now artists draw these same dinosaurs with feathers, and that’s intentional, not because they had feathers, but because this is a way to convince as many people as possible that dinosaurs evolved into birds.

Dr. Haynes points to the magnitude of change required to change a terrestrial animal into one capable of controlled flight. The biological changes necessary to turn a fiber or filament into a feather is astounding, yet evolutionists resort to hand-waving as a mechanism. They don’t consider the radical changes required to alter an organism’s chemistry and physiology. Is this kind of evolution even possible? Entire body structures must be reconfigured: bones, brains, blood, muscles, limbs, lungs, the entire respiratory system, and even behavior. They just insist that it did. No critical thinking.

Evolutionists also point to the similarities found in birds and dinosaurs, as if that were evidence. They point to teeth, claws, beaks and other structures. But just because such similarities exist doesn’t mean dinosaurs are related to birds. This is more evolutionary speculation not demanded by the evidence.

The bottom line is, there’s is no empirical evidence dictating that dinosaurs evolved into birds. It’s entirely evolutionary speculation. When evolutionists point to collagen fibers or filaments, we’re free to reject the idea that they’re feathers or protofeathers, or something evolving into feathers, and we don’t need to believe the secular idea that dinosaurs evolved into birds.

I’d rather accept the biblical claim that God created animals to reproduce after their kind. This is what we observe. And this is what the empirical evidence indicates.

Check out this episode in the link above if you have about 30 minutes.