DD, Very good explanation on where I've been thinking wrong for so long. So the fossil records???
StAnn, As a "good JW" I came to the same conclusion about the Big Bang and evolution as you were taught. I've always thought that there was an explainable link between science and the Bible, even when the GB said no. I saw no reason why these couldn't be the tools Jehovah used in creation. Take evolution for instance. If evolution wasn't haphazard, if it was controlled by a higher-power, no longer is it natural-selection, but it is creation through evolution. I realize now that I have absolutely no proof of this but accept it as a real possibility because there is nothing to disprove it.
ObjTruth, I can assure you my question is sincere. I'm a little goofy and that comes across in my posts sometimes. All posts will get an honest read. Behemoth is an excellent example of a creature that existed during man's lifetime. We have no proof as to what this really was. The GB says its a hippo, but the description does sound more like a diplodocus, but could easily have been an undiscovered-to-modern-man descendant of this dinosaur's family, or something entirely else. However, any mention of Behemoth goes hand-in-hand with Leviathan, which sounds much more different than the crocodile that the GB says it is. It evokes images of fear and trembling. If it was also a peaceful herbivore, there would be no reason to depict it as fearsome unless he's using his power to be master of his coconuts. Anyways, my OP is referring more to creation in the millions (billions) of years before human creation for which we have verifiable proof and fossil records, where many of those fossils give evidence that the creature was indeed a vicious hunter and killer. Granted, any rendition of a prehistoric creature is interpretation at best, but some very educated guesses can be made based off of fossil records.