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This question seems to assume that christians take the Bible word-by-word, so I will start with that part first: Most christians do not take the Bible literally. The term christian has been hijacked by politically-motivated special interest groups and by the so-called new-born-christians. But they do not represent, nor do they speak for all christians.From that perspective, your answer could have two distinct answers, potentially more.For Catholics, for example, the Catholic Church based in Rome and represented by the Pope, interprets the scripture for its followers. That is, Catholics accept (whether they realize it or not) that the Church has the last word on the meaning of Bible passages. Now this will immediately evoke for some people images of the Spanish Inquisition, or Galileo Galilei being forced to recant and sentenced to house arrest, but the Catholic Church will be the first to recognize that those were not its finest hours. Today, there are some very well educated people, some of them leading scientists, that are the doctors of the canon law and they are in charge of researching and advising the Pope on the current meaning of any given passage. The Pope, as head of the Church, publishes those decisions, sometimes adding nuance to old interpretations, sometimes reversing them. I don't think that you'll find anyone in the Vatican that will have reservations about the existence of dinosaurs, and you'll probably find some people who have actually excavated dinosaur bones, if they are not off on an assignment doing something like that.For other christians (called protestants, after they separated from the Catholic Church), the interpretation of the scripture is up to themselves. This can be very liberating for one's faith, but it can also lead to poor interpretations. They may be well meaning, but some passages can be taken out of context and made to look like quite the opposite of what they really mean. This is compounded by the fact that some texts in the Bible are translations of translations of translations of transcriptions of oral traditions (everyone has played "telephone", right?). These people are those who can easily run into trouble trying to explain things that are not explicitly said in the Bible, unless they chose to separate their religious life from their scientific beliefs.I personally see it this way, although I do not speak for any group in particular. I put myself in the position of someone who got tapped by God to go down to earth to explain to humans how the Universe was created. Pretentious, I know, but this is just an exercise to show my point of view. Now, I have been tasked with this, I do my research and prepare my PowerPoints, etc and then I arrive to meet my audience and find out that they are a bunch of desert nomads, who don't know yet how to write and who don't even have a word for "Physics". What do I do? Well, I could train them on science, right? But that won't do them any good. I just throw my presentation aside and sit by the fire one night and tell them a story about this all powerful being that created heaven and earth. They have no concept of centuries or millennia, much less 13.2 Billion years, so I tell them that the universe was created in 7 days and that we are living on the 7th day. And you may be more or less familiar with the rest of the story. The point is, that anyone with a knowledge of how the universe works, would have adapted the story to its audience. Moreover, the story would have been shaped (or misshaped) by the nomads' understanding of things. This is how we need to understand the Bible, as a great story told through the eyes of many people, some of whom may not have completely understood its meaning. In this context, we are doing ourselves a great disservice by taking the Bible literally because we may be missing the big picture and the book's greater purpose.Finally, I just need to say that I am one of the majority of christians who understand that Dinosaurs existed before humans and that there is no conflict with the Bible at all.

city of zermattSuch a beautiful country and nice people. Zermatt, Gstaad, Geneva, Bern, Zürich , Les Deliberates , all are lovely cities except the last one is a hill station, There is a cable car which takes to the mountain covered with snow at 25,000 ft with temperatures of -30 degrees.Chris & Sue's Excellent(?) Adventures - WordPress.comGlacier 3000 in mid-summer, Les DiableretsHere are some facts about Switzerland,About 600,000 years ago, temperatures sank and Europe was covered by glaciers almost completely. In Lucerne, Central Switzerland, the thickness of the ice reached as much as about 1 km (3000 ft).Until about 30,000 years ago, several cold and warm periods followed, animals and men came to Europe and had to leave again. The focus of cultural development remained for thousands of years in the Middle East (Sumer, Babylon, Egypt), however. Traces of early hunters (weapons and tools made from stone splinters, bones of prey animals) can be found in several natural caves in Switzerland. Later, around 3000 B.C. lake-dwellers erected their houses made of wood and clay on posts at the shores of Switzerland's lakes.Bronze AgeMetals, first copper, then bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) were introduced in Europe around 2000 B.C. Bronze age tools and weapons were first just copies of the most advanced late stone age products.Iron AgeIron was known in the Middle East as early as around 3000 B.C. but came to Europe relatively late. The early Iron Age period in Europe (800 - 450 B.C.) is named after Hallstatt, a village in Austria.Celtic tribes in SwitzerlandCeltic tribes colonized Europe from the east. Around 500 B.C. they had reached Switzerland and eastern France. Their culture is known as the La Tène period (450 - 50 B.C.) of the Iron Age. This name comes from an excavation in western Switzerland (Lake of Neuchâtel). At this time, Switzerland's relatively flat midlands from Lake Geneva to Zurich were the territory of a celtic tribe named Helvetians.The name of the Helvetians lives on as a keyword for everything that needs a short name not depending on one of the four official languages spoken in different parts of Switzerland. The label "HELVETIA" can be found on coins and postal stamps. while the Swiss top level internet domain ".ch" stands for "Confoederatio Helvetica", the latin version of "Swiss Confederation".Age of the RomansWhen the Helvetians attempted to move south to Southern France they were stopped by the Roman commander and subsequent emperor C. Julius Cesar in 58 B.C. They were forced to return to Switzerland. The Romans controlled Switzerland's territory until about to about A.D. 400. Roman military camps and forts were erected at the northern Rhine frontier towards Germany. Several major Swiss cities and towns were founded by the Romans, among others Basel, Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne and Chur.The Roman military command and bureaucracy was established at the Old Swiss Capital Aventicum (Avenches, western Switzerland), which is today but a small village, howeverThe total population of Switzerland at the time amounted to only about 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitans. They settled where the soil was easy to cultivate and the climate not to cold (especially in winter). - preferably in the Mittelland region and in a few major alpine valleys. Large areas remained a wilderness covered by forests.Migration of NationsGermanic Tribes in Western EuropeA widely accepted theory assumes, that most European peoples have a common origin somewhere in Central asia. Their languages (Greek, Latin, Old German/Old English, Slavonian) are quite similar to each other and even to Persian (Iran) and Sanskrit (India!). For reasons we do not know, they decided to move to the regions of the world where they settle now. While southern Europeans arrived in Greece and Italy several thousand years B.C.. Germanic tribes first moved to the north (Poland, Scandinavia) and from there to the west and south (France, Great Britain, Germany). Slavonians came last.Smaller incidents between Roman troops and Germanic tribes did not change a balance of power for several centuries until about A.D. 400. But then the Roman Empire was challenged by severe attacks and raids carried forth to the south of the Alps. So the Romans withdrew troops from their territories north of the Alps (including Switzerland). But they could not prevent the decline of their empire. The western Germanic tribe of the Franks invaded France, and settled near Paris. They adopted much of the Roman culture and even their language Latin, which was gradually transformed into what is known today as French. Much the same was true for the Burgundians settling along the Jura mountain chain in France (Burgundy) and western (French speaking) Switzerland.The southern Germanic tribe called Alamannen settled in southern Germany and northern Switzerland. Recent excavations in Switzerland do not support the older theory of a violent conquest. It seems much more probable, that the Alamannen were not quite interested in Roman towns, nor Roman culture. They rather infiltrated in small groups, cleared woodland and erected their own small villages. They stuck to their German language as did the northern Germanic tribes settling in northern Germany and Scandinavia.Todays border between German and French language in Switzerland is more or less the border between Burgundians and Alamannen. While the original Celtic population kept up at least parts of their culture in some parts of France, Spain, Ireland and Great Britain, the original Celtic population in Switzerland completely melted with the newcomers in the course of the centuries. So there is no area with special Celtic influence nor any significant remains of their language in Switzerland except for a few geographical names.Middle AgesFeudal System and MonasteriesIn the Middle Ages the Feudal System was developed in Europe: The king was primarily a warlord and had power to distribute land conquered by his troops among the dukes. these gave it to the knights. Money barely existed. there was no economical ground to raise taxes in significant amounts.As both German and Celtic tribes had little experience in writing, science and arts, Europe took several centuries to regain the knowledge of the Greek and Roman culture. This work was performed by literate monks in the monasteries. Interestingly enough, the task of preaching the gospel to Germanic people in Switzerland was not taken over by Romans or people from Constantinople, but rather by wandering Irish monks. One of them, Gallus, settled near St Gallen (eastern Switzerland) early in the 7th century. A.D. 820 an influential monastery was founded there. Monasteries were also leading in agricultural progress (e.g. fruit-growing) and business affairs (e.g. model business treaties from St Gallen A.D. 888).Monasteries were founded by kings and noblemen for political, social and religious purposes (power politics, bad conscience and fear of supernatural powers, public relations and placement for children).Monasteries in the Middle AgesJurisdiction is one of the dark sides of the Middle Ages: torture to extort a confession, cruel sentences and judicial murder (especially burning of so-called witches and heretics) were widespread. Awareness of the shameful wrong done to thousands of innocent women and men lead to the abolition of the death penalty all over western Europe.The Old Swiss ConfederacyFrom the 11th to the 13thcenturies, many cities (among them the federal capital Berne, Lucerne, Fribourg) were founded. Skilled craftsmen specialized in production of high quality goods and trade became more important. So did the roads crossing the Alps.St Gotthard route: "Teufelsbrücke" [devil's bridge] over Schöllenen canyon(The bridges of stone shown here were built in the 13th and 20thcenturies, but they might give an impression of the difficulties to be overcome 700 years ago.)At the same time, people from the upper part of canton Wallis developed means to suspend wooden water pipes and catwalks in steep rocks. People from Wallis settled in upper Uri and Graubünden [Grisons] around A.D. 1200. So the Schöllenen canyon in Uri, that had blocked to way to St Gotthard pass, was overcome and a trade route developed.The new route made those regions far from the centers of power look interesting for the counts of Habsburg who were trying at the time to strengthen their dynastic power. German king Friedrich II exempted Uri (1231) and Schwyz (1240) from the powers of counts and made them subjects to the king alone as a reward for help in several war expeditions to Italy. When king Rudolf of Habsburg, the first German Emperor from this house, died in 1291, people from Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden feared that the counts of Habsburg would try to regain influence in their territories. So they swore to help each other against anyone trying to subject them.This is the background of the legend of William Tell, the Swiss national hero. The counts of Habsburg tried to reach their goals by military force but were defeated several times and finally had to leave their native castle in Switzerland, while they were strong enough at the same time to gain the German kingdom from their new seat in Austria.The ReformationCorruption had deprived the Roman Catholic Church from its credibility during the last centuries of the Middle Ages. Numerous attempts of reforms within the system (e.g. orders of mendicant friars, councils) had not produced longterm results. When Renaissance scholars discovered ancient handwritings of the Bible in the original Greek (instead of the Latin) language and began to study them as well as early comments by bishop Augustine (A.D. 354 - 430), they found a new approach to the christian religion: sola scriptura (only the Bible instead of church tradition) and sola fide (only faith instead of religious exercises).What Martin Luther preached in Germany, Huldrych Zwingli taught in Zurich, and even more radical. Johannes (John) Calvin organized the reformed church in Geneva, Oekolampad in Basel.The Reformation in Switzerland split the country in two fractions: the progressive cities like Zurich, Basel, Berne, Neuchâtel, Geneva turned to the new confession. whereas the conservative, rural areas in Central Switzerland (including Lucerne) remained catholic. When the Pope started an inner reform to regain influence, Lucerne gladly accepted the opportunity and called in the Jesuit order to organize its schools.The Age of EnlightmentScience, economy, philosophy and arts had all set out for new shores. only the political system remained as it was. or to be more precise, medieval feudalism culminated in absolutistic forms of kingdom (especially in France and Austria). Political philosophy, especially in France, reacted with new ideas on society and political organization. Among those was Jean Jacques Rousseau, born in Geneva, living most of his life in France.The Helvetic periodSwitzerland occupied by NapoleonFor centuries, young Swiss men, especially from Central Switzerland fought in mercenary troops for French kings and Italian dukes. During the French Revolution a detachment of 800 Swiss mercenaries tried to defend the king against the radical Montagnards assaulting the Tuileries castle in 1792. All mercenaries were killed. The Lion Monument in Lucerne reminds of the infamous end of the once formidable Swiss military force.Lion Monument (Löwendenkmal), LucerneInspired by the French Revolution, liberal people in western Switzerland, revolted against the undemocratic reign of the old members of the Swiss Confederacy over other parts of the country and called for French support in 1798. Napoleon Bonaparte's troops occupied Switzerland and a central government was introduced. But soon (1803) he was obliged to reestablish some federal elements.After Napoleon was defeated in Russia and at Waterloo, Switzerland returned to extremely federal structures in 1815. However, the cantons [federal states] St Gallen, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva became full and free members of the confederation instead of their former status of partial members or even subject territories.Switzerland's Way to Modern DemocracyThe Federal Constitution of 1848From 1815 to 1848 liberals and conservatives debated about the structure of Switzerland after the French Revolution. Step by step the liberals could put through small innovations on the cantonal level. There were liberals as well as conservatives in every canton. the majority of one or the other side was mostly quite small. so that government changed from time to time in many cantons. When the cantons with conservative governments made a secret treaty with Austria against the liberals in 1846, civil war ("Sonderbundskrieg") was inevitable. Thanks to Henri Dufour, general of the liberal troops, it lasted only a few days and cost only 86 dead and some 500 wounded soldiers.After this, the way was free for a new political system: The loose confederacy, almost without common structures was replaced by a confederation of 25 (today: 26) relatively autonomous cantons [federal states] with enforced central structures after the model of the United States of America.The new principles were outlined in the 1848 Federal Swiss Constitution - basically still valid despite of two "total revisions" in 1874 an 1999:From 1848 to 1874 some instruments unique to the Swiss form of so-called direct democracy with frequent referendums on many affairs (several per year) and the possibility for citizens to demand a change of the constitution by collecting signatures were developed. Again it was the overreaction of conservative representatives and the catholic church in particular that brought about both some restrictions on church influence and the necessary majority in public opinion for the revised constitution.Switzerland's Way to DemocracyThe International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)Henri Dunant, a Swiss merchant, was shocked when he learned about the fate of wounded soldiers in the battle of Solferino (1859, Austrian-French war). In 1862 he wrote a book about it. and in 1864 the Swiss government organized an international conference on humanitarian aspects during war. 12 nations signed the Geneva conventions and established the International Committee of the Red Cross as a permanent, neutral institution to take care of military and civil persons wounded or imprisoned in war.Switzerland during the World WarsSince the 1815 Vienna conference on international affairs after Napoleons defeat, Switzerland is obliged to be neutral in any conflicts between other nations. During World War I (1914-1918), it was relatively clear, what this obligation meant. In World War II (1939-1945), Switzerland was surrounded by troops of or loyal to the German Nazi regime disregarding any international rules. From today's point of view, it seems that Switzerland could and should have done more in favour of jewish refugees. It is also clear that accepting gold from the Nazis while knowing they stole it from murdered jews was a big mistake. Today's Swiss government has appointed an international Independent Commission of Experts (ICE) to conduct an inquiry on Switzerlands role in World War II.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was critized for not having intervened on behalf of the Jews in World War II. In fact, though the 4th Geneva Convention protecting civilians during wartime was only established after the war in 1949, the ICRC has admitted that it did neglect a moral duty. Those who are criticizing the ICRC for its legalistic omissions in World War II are kindly invited to support it now, when it demands e.g. that El Qaida terrorists being detained on Guantanamo U.S. base are either treated as civilians (with full legal rights, including fair trial within reasonable time) or at least as prisoners of war.Switzerland during World War IIA society in prosperityAfter World War II, technical progress and economic growth reached a new dimension particularly in Western Europe, North America and South East Asia. Switzerland with its tradition in machine building, chemical and pharmaceutical processes and financial services could establish itself as an important player on global markets. Political stability is based a broad coalition of four parties: Liberals, Conservatives, Social Democrats and People's Party (farmers/craftsmen), improved government programs for social security and a negotiated partnership between employers and t rade unions helped to increase both productivity and prosperity for all inhabitants.Switzerland, though not member, takes part in many scientific programs of the European Union. Among others, it hosts the European Nuclear Research Center (Centre Européen de Recherche Nucleaire, CERN "where the Internet was born", when Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 designed Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) as a simple and effective means to link text and graphics independent of proprietary standards).Society has changed following the 1968 student's protest movement in Europe. Religious and moral traditions have become less important to people; on the other hand, problems are discussed more frankly. The Swiss "Stop Aids" - campaign, a cooperation between a self-help association and the federal office for health, is an excellent example of this new spirit.Some Facts about SwitzerlandCoffee in Zurich is the most expensive in the world – costing an average CHF3.65 (USD 3.65) in the Coffee Price Index 2016, with Copenhagen, Basel, Bern, and Geneva rounding out the top five respectively. Switzerland was also the origin of instant coffee when the Nestlé Company, started by Swiss businessman Henri Nestlé in 1867, created Nescafe in 1938.In Switzerland, citizens can challenge any law passed by Parliament – provided they can gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days. If successful, a national vote is held and voters decide by a simple majority whether to accept or reject the law.Switzerland boasts some of the world’s most famous inventions – they created Velcro, cellophane, the Swiss Army Knife, absinthe, the potato peeler, Helvetica font, LSD, muesli, edible chocolate gold, and milk chocolate to name a few. They were also pioneers in introducing bobsleigh, tobogganing, and luge as a competitive sport to the world. Swiss scientists are also leading research in using LSD to treat mental illness and pain. Switzerland continues to lead the world in innovation, topping the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) ranking in 2017 for the seventh year in a row, ahead of the US (4th) and UK (5th).There are 208 mountains over 3,000m high – with 24 of them over 4,000m. The highest is Monte Rosa (Dufoursptiz) at 4,634m, situated on the Swiss/Italian border.Switzerland’s climate is not all about snowy mountains – cold, snowy winters were historically the norm but freezing temperatures and large snowfalls are less the case today, especially in lowland areas. Many Swiss ski resorts would struggle to survive without artifical snow. During hot summers, temperatures have been known to exceed 30–35°C in some areas. The Alps acts as a climate barrier: northern Switzerland tends to get colder from Atlantic winds, while southern Switzerland has a milder climate influenced by Mediterranean winds.Parents can be overruled on what they call their child – in Switzerland it is prohibited to give a child a name that could damage the child’s interest. This right was exercised when authorities banned Swiss musician Christine Lauterburg from calling her daughter ‘Lexicon’ (an ‘object’, not a name); ‘Djonatan’ (the phonetic spelling of Jonathan) also got the thumbs down, as did ‘J’ as a child’s fourth name based on the potential for it to be misunderstood and pronounced incorrectly in German (as ‘yot’ and not ‘Jay’ as intended).Switzerland is also known as Confoederatio Helvetica – which explains the abbreviation CH. It’s officially named the Swiss Confederation for historical reasons, although modern Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the federal city. The founding of the Swiss Confederation traditionally dates to 1 August 1291 and is celebrated annually as Swiss National Day.Switzerland has a considerable wealth gap between rich and poor – the top 20 percent of the population earn more than four times as much as the bottom 20 percent, according to the OCED.Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rates of industrialized countries despite liberal Swiss gun laws – in 2015 there were only 0.5 gun murders per 100,000 people in Switzerland (around 40 per year), compared to five gun murders per 100,000 people recorded in the US in 2014 (around 30–40 per day). Yet Small Arms Survey estimates Switzerland has around 45.7 guns per 100 residents, the world’s third-highest after the US (88.8) and Yemen (54.8), although Swiss government figures put estimates at one gun per four residents, or around two million guns in a population of 8.3 million. In 2011, Swiss voters rejected stricter gun control including a proposal to ban the purchase of automatic weapons and introduce a firearm licencing system.Military service is still compulsory for male Swiss citizens – Switzerland is one of the last western Europe countries to enforce it, along with Austria. Under the Swiss constitution, male Swiss citizens have to serve in the Swiss army after age 18, while women can opt to volunteer. Military training camps are common across Switzerland as are civilians carrying shotguns over their shoulders. It is also legal to keep personal army-issued guns (semi-automatic rifles) after service, and Switzerland’s high gun ownership is partly due to the Swiss tradition of keeping militia army rifles at home.Albert Einstein developed his famous formula E=MC2 in Switzerland – he developed his theory of relativity while studying and living in Bern, after renouncing his German citizenship to avoid military duty.Swiss politics include an anti-powerpoint presentation party – the party‘s goal is to decrease the use of powerpoint and other presentation software, which it estimates costs Switzerland EUR 2.1 in economic damage.Sundays in Switzerland are protected by a long list of social laws – making it illegal to undertake activities such as mowing, hanging out laundry, washing your car or recycling bottles to ensure peace and beauty is maintained. A peaceful night’s sleep is also guaranteed by building rules that frown upon noisy actions after 10pm, which can include peeing standing up, slamming a car door, flushing a toilet or emptying a bath.Switzerland’s Gotthard tunnel is the longest in the world – measuring 57km in length, located 2.3km under the Alps, it is 7km longer than the Channel tunnel between England and France. It took 17 years to complete and, with a total cost of some EUR 11, it’s also the world’s most expensive tunnel. It cuts 45 minutes off travelling between Zurich and Lugano and boosts the Rhine-Alp corridor that stretches from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, crosses Germany and connects the port of Genoa in Italy.