Frequently Asked Questions About Christianity, Answered Honestly!

Are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?

by Tony Warren

ecause dinosaurs became extinct long ago, many people are naturally curious about the fossil remains that have been found. In conjunction with this and the well oiled myths and theories that usually go along with them, some people wonder if the supposition about evolution could possibly be true. Indeed, there is a constant bombardment of propaganda from evolutionists, nature shows and Paleontologists so that this confusion is somewhat understandable. But this can never be an excuse for a Christian to start to doubt Scripture. One of the problems with people is their fallen nature, so that when they hear the same teaching presented as fact over and over again, they will inevitably start to believe it. Particularly when they never hear an opposing viewpoint or the other side of the story. That being the case, it is difficult for them to realize that the theory of dinosaurs predating man is like a house that is built upon sand. In other words, it has no firm or solid foundation and therefore cannot stand the test of shaking. As long as no one carefully examines what is being stated as fact, and no shaking comes along to test this structure and demonstrate its faultiness, it appears to be standing on solid ground.

The simple truth is, "if someone's assumptions are wrong, then their conclusions will also be wrong." When Christians begin to put more faith in the words of men than they do in the Word of God, then not only their faith, but their loyalties are askew. More than that, in effect they have abrogated their allegiance to the word of God, and put their trust in the words of men.

Psalms 18:30

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him."

A lot of Christians trust what they hear from men who make uneasy statements on this issue about dinosaurs because they assume that there is overwhelming scientific evidence. Evidence not only about the age of our planet, but also about the time when dinosaurs and man came upon the scene. This is the great evolutionary deception of the scientific community. True science is based solidly on facts, not held together by biased assumptions, presuppositions and theories. Of course there are a few obligatory facts thrown in, but what holds their theory together is the assumptions and presuppositions, not the facts. Without these assumptions, the facts just lay there, meaningless. What many do not understand is that carbon dating relies heavily on assumption and presupposition of things such as the consistent rate of decay over time, the starting makeup, etc. They are assuming things that they don't know in order to arrive at where they want to be.

A Christian believing in evolution has to either, (1)Not know what evolution means, (2)Not understand what Christianity means, or (3)Both. Either God was not telling the truth when he said all the animals and man were created on the same day, or dinosaurs and man co-existed. One or the other is true, but not both.

Romans 3:4

"God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged."

Christians are by definition obligated to trust in the Word of the Lord. Of course, paleontologists and nature shows don't give equal time to any facts that contradict whatever theory they are professing is the truth, and most don't even call evolution a theory anymore. It's almost impossible to get any unbiased information from any of the nature information shows. Still it is presented as, and labeled science. At best we can read their papers ourselves in an attempt to understand the other side of the story. On the other hand, few people enjoy reading these days, and who really has the time to sift through scientific journals? We are blessed with a few Christian scientists who give us the other side of the story, but in general America (and indeed the world) gets its information from standard educational facilities, television shows and reports produced by secular scientists. Therein lies the problem of how this theory is now expounded upon as if it were fact. When you only have points and no counterpoints, it's easy to get people to buy into whatever you are claiming is established truth. In reality, in order to make a real educated decision on what is true, you not only need to hear what they say is occurring, but also what others are saying about their theories, flawed methodology and assumptions. You need to hear just how and why it is scientifically untenable. That is exactly what you don't hear, at least not from the standard widely accepted sources.

Matthew 24:4

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you."

Be they false prophets, false teachers or evolutionists, do not be deceived by man's half-truths, smooth words and self-serving arguments. For example, are you aware that there were dinosaur footprints found in the same stream bed as that of man? And yet as the years have passed, there are now concerted efforts by some to proclaim these footprints must be some kind of anomaly, mistake, or that they were made by an ape man. It has even been floated that perhaps the dating process was wrong. Some scientists have now concluded that it's not a man's footprint at all. Why? It's simple--because they've already come to their conclusions, and so they will not allow themselves to be confused by the facts. The thought of a man's footprint with dinosaurs contradicts all that they stand for and have proclaimed for years, and so it automatically must be wrong. Therefore, rather than set out to scientifically examine it, they set out with the mission to prove it wrong. As the old adage goes, you always find what you're looking for, even when it's not there.

Unfortunately, many christians parrot the line put forth by many of these people, accepting their words as fact because it "seems" right in their eyes. They succumb to a blind faith to believe that what these scientists and paleontologists claim is true (since they're not scientists themselves). This is not documented truth, it is misplaced faith in the words of men. People tend to repeat things they hear that sound good, almost like they were parrots. That's why we have so many false doctrines being accepted in the church today as truth by so many deceived followers. Because they don't really bother to try the spirits or to test anything they hear to see if it is true. They simply reason, "..that sounds reasonable, so it must be right." They accept it simply because they've heard it proclaimed as truth enough times, without even hearing or any consideration of the opposing arguments.

Proverbs 18:13

"He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."

It is a good rule not to agree with someone or express an opinion for or against a judgment until you have had a full opportunity to hear both sides. Far too many people hear something and simply agree with it because it sounds good. So, are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible? Dinosaurs are actually simply exotic animals that have become extinct the same as many others that have been on this planet. Simply because an animal is huge or because it has become extinct long ago doesn't make it a prehistoric beast that must have been a product of evolution. We have all sorts of beasts that would appear prehistoric to us had we never actually been around to witness them before they disappeared. Can you imagine what you would think if you had never in your life seen a rhinoceros because it died off thousands of years ago? Its bones would have become fossilized and when dug up we would be astonished by its appearance. Because we would have never seen the likes of it before, it would strike us as something odd, a great wonder or mystery. Even an elephant (if you had never seen one), would appear an exotic and wondrous beast. If it had died off thousands of years ago and someone dug up a fossil, we would be at the mercy of those scientists who (from just a few bones) would start speculating on how it moved, what its flesh consisted of, and how it lived and died off. They could paint any scenario, like how these creatures camouflaged themselves by standing near rocks, or how they ran rampant killing with their tusks, or that they were docile creatures who spent most of their time in the water. Whatever they said, we'd all look at the picture of this beast they would have constructed and say, "Yes, that looks like an animal that would do that so it must be true." In other words, our ignorant, unconscious blind faith would likely cause us to accept this because a scientist said it. We are at the mercy of whatever theory the can imagine because they don't have to prove a theory. And this is what scientists do with Dinosaurs. They dig up a fossil and they tell you they lived millions of years ago, they tell you how they lived, and what they did, and we take it all in as a matter of fact. We act as if nothing ever becomes extinct when in fact animals and plants are becoming extinct all the time. In the last 200 years right in our back yard the buffalo almost became extinct. Extinction is no great revelation, nor an evidence of anything particularly peculiar.

Despite the claims by some, it is not a fact that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago and died off before man came on the scene. It is a well constructed hoax and a blatant rejection of God's Word as authority. Man and beast were made on the same sixth day according to the Word of God. Who is going to argue with God except Godless scientists wise in their own conceits, and those who follow their words as if they came from an all-knowing deity.

Genesis 1:25-26

"And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

The evening and morning were the sixth day. In other words, the time between a period of darkness and the period of light, meaning a twenty four hour period. So if God didn't make both Adam and the Beasts on the very same sixth day, then the whole Bible is suspect. If these days are extended periods (as some rationalize) of time, then again we have a lie because that would make Adam billions of years old in this (alleged) billion year day. Remember, Adam is still there on the seventh day. So again, it makes God's Word about the fall and of the sin of Adam all just another fable. In man's scenario, if the beasts that were created on the sixth day evolved, then so did Adam who was created on that same sixth day. Else we have confusion. In reality, man didn't evolve, and neither did dinosaurs. The whole sordid theory is an attempt to subvert God's word and place man in the Temple as his own unassailable word of truth--his own god.

It's ironic because they probably wouldn't even be finding so many fossils of dinosaurs had it not been for God sending the great flood of Noah's day, and yet they exclude God from the equation. Still they are hard pressed to coherently explain the great amount of water everywhere that they agree created many of these fossils. The state of preservation of most of these fossils clearly indicates a quick burial and encasement in mud. It was this great deluge and mud that caused most of these fossils. Normally, animals and sea creature's remains don't fossilize. They rot, deteriorate, decay and return to dust. The dinosaurs fossilized because they were quickly buried and trapped in mud under heavy pressure. When the mud compressed and hardened to rock and sandstone, the fossils of these creatures were created.

The question is, do we believe in real science, or in contrived science? If you take a tub full of mud and put a star fish in it, put it in a press, add pressure, and set it out in the sun to harden. You're going to have a fossil some day if you store it away and wait long enough (and it won't take a million years). On the other hand, take a dead starfish throw it in the sea or in the woods, and it will rot, be eaten by insects and worms, and ultimately bacteria will cause it to decay and deteriorate until there is eventually nothing left but the dust from which it originally sprang. Even if you bury it, the same thing will happen. Throw it in the ocean, the same thing will happen. It normally takes an extraordinary cataclysmic event to create fossils. ...like a "Great Flood" that buries and encases things in mud, and then recedes. The Bible answers these simple questions logically and rationally, which man in his zeal to be his own god, will complicate and convolute for his own purposes.

Likewise, God created this earth with the appearance of age, just as He created wine from water instantly with the appearance of age. It normally would take years to create the finest wine, but God did it instantly. Even as He created Adam with the appearance of age, a grown man in one single day. The same with this world of ours, and the stars that are in the heavens. All created instantly:

Hebrews 11:3

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

Things were truly not created as they appear to have been, and as they are explained to have been by scientists. That is what man in his own wisdom and arrogance does not understand. Are we to think that God created the stars, and then sat back and relaxed for a billion years waiting for their light to reach the earth? No, he created the stars instantly with its light in transit where it shown instantly upon the earth. How? By being God!!! A God doesn't need to follow man's laws of the universe, God is the creator of those laws. Those laws are only there because they're His laws. In other words, He is not subject to the laws of the universe, the laws of the universe are subject to Him. He's the God who ordered miracles and supernatural events, He is not relegated to the mundane or ordinary. If He had to follow the laws of creation, then He wouldn't be God, would He? He'd be just like everyone else. He set those laws into existence in one day. When He declared that man and beast were created on the same day, that's His law. The truth of dinosaurs simply being beasts that have become extinct, are not subject to man's obstinate heart in creating fables and myths contrary to the Word of God. Carnal man's views are more in line with the imagination and thrills of an adventure movie. It has nothing to do with the beasts whose actual fossils have been found.

Are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible? You might think so, but to be honest we cannot really say for certain. However, it seems pretty logical, based on circumstantial evidence of Scripture, that dinosaurs or dinosaur-like creatures are mentioned in the Bible. For example, the Hebrew word [livyathan] translated leviathan, as near as we can tell actually means some sort of large fierce sea creature. It could very well be some sort of (what we call) dinosaur. The places where it is found in Scripture also bear this out. For example in Job Chapter 41 where it asks rhetorically:

Job 41:1-10

"Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down?
canst thou put a hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?
will he make many supplications unto thee? will he speak soft words unto thee?
will he make a covenant with thee? wilt thou take him for a servant for ever?
wilt thou play with him as with a bird? or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
shall the companions make a basquet of him? shall they part him among the merchants?
canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons? or his head with fish spears?
lay thine hand upon him, remember the battle, do no more.
behold the hope of him is in vain: shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
none is so fierce that dare stir him up: who then is able to stand before me?"

The message here of course is that this sea creature is so fierce that men are in great fear, trembling at the mere sight of him. The claim by some that this could be a whale or a crocodile is frankly ludicrous given the content of these verses. This creature is obviously both huge, and fierce, that no one dare rouse him up. This doesn't seem to fit any creature we know today.

Job 3:8

"Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan."

This verse is declaring these people imprudent or thoughtless who will do foolish things. In other words, waking up a leviathan is a foolish thing to do. God also speaks of this beast in giving us an image of His own glory, and His power to be able to do all things.

Psalms 74:14

"Thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness."

God fears nothing, and all is under His power, including the most fierce and feared of the beasts of the earth and sea.

Psalms 104:25-27

"So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great Beasts.
there go ships: there is that leviathan whom thou hast made to play therein.
these wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season."

Even these great fierce creatures of the sea are under control of all powerful God, and their destiny is as he ordains. They do not even eat without his say so. These verses illustrate God's Sovereignty even over the fierce creatures that man fears and trembles after.

The last place this beast is mentioned is in Isaiah where he is used as a symbol for Satan as he is defeated and salvation established.

Isaiah 27:1

In that day the lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent, and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."

It is clear from these passages that whatever this beast refers to, it is of some great fierce dragon-like creature of the sea, that I do not believe we can identify as existing today. We know a whale would not qualify as the fierce creature who men would fear to rouse up. A whale is generally a gentle creature and doesn't sleep in the sense that man could rouse him up. So none of these theories make sense even on a preliminary consideration.

This word is not by any means the only place where we would say that God might be speaking of what we today call dinosaurs. In an astounding passage, God speaks to Job in the early days of the world, and He describes something that from the description certainly fits the bill to be what we call dinosaurs. It's spoken of as a behemoth [behemowth], a Hebrew word used only here, and that means some sort of giant beast.

Job 40-15-24

"Behold now Behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
he moveth his tail like a cedar: the senews of his stones are wrapped together.
his bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are bars of iron.
he is the chief of the ways of God: He that made him can make His sword to approach unto him.
surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
the shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
behold he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up jordan into his mouth.
he taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares."

Are dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible? Well, some have theorized that this is an ox, elephant or hippopotamus. This would truly be a distortion of scripture, because clearly it is stated that he eats grass like an ox (Job 40-15), therefore it can't be an ox. It also states that he moves his tail like a cedar (a elephant and hippo barely have a tail), and that he drinks up a river, so an ox again doesn't qualify. A Behemoth with a tail like a cedar tree puts a picture in our minds of what we today would call a dinosaur, perhaps even a Brachiosaurus.

These creatures lived on the earth at the same time that man lived on the earth (their likely inclusion in the Bible supports this), until they became extinct. Which again means man's theories of evolution or that they could not have lived at the same time of man, makes God a liar. Christians need to understand this about the theory and about the Word. It is generally held by most learned theologians that the book of Job may very well be the oldest book in the bible. And that would account for so many mentions of creatures such as these behemoths and leviathan. Also meaning that it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with (so called) Prehistoric beasts that predate man.

May the gracious Lord, who is rich merciful and charitable in revelation, give us the wisdom and knowledge to understand that the things of this world are not always as they seem, but are always as God says.

Peace,

Copyright 1995 Tony Warren
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Created 4/23/95 / Last Modified 8/16/14
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