Dinosaurs and Dragons

2023-11-03

Dragons and other strange creatures are mentioned in the Bible. Dinosaurs could be dragons and possibly some of these other strange creatures. People scoff at the thought of dragons existing. However, when dinosaur remains were discovered, we affirm that dragon-like creatures do exist; they just gave them another name when they found them. For a discussion on dinosaurs and dragons in the Bible, see the following posts:

• Dragons
• Dinosaurs in the Bible

People also scoff at the thought of dinosaurs existing concurrently with humankind. The Bible demands it since all land animals were created on the sixth day of creation.

Dragon Folklore

Is there is evidence of dinosaurs existing in the time of humankind? Well consider the myths and folklore throughout the ages. Consider this list from exhibits at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky.:

• The Monster in Huachuca Desert in 1890
• Grendel in Beowulf
• St. George and the Dragon
• General Marcus Atilius Regulus battled a dragon in First Punic War. The event was recorded by Cassius Dio, Livy, Valerius Maximus, Aulus Gellius, and Pliny the Elder
• Ibis birds of Egypt attacking poisonous flying snakes was recorded by Ammianus Marcellinus
• Athanasius Kircher defended the veracity of dragons because many eyewitnesses and histories testify of their existence
• Herodotus described a boneyard filled with skeletons of winged serpents in Arabia
• John of Damascus wrote of dragons being real creatures in On Dragons and Ghosts
• Marco Polo described dragons in the Far East
• The Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology
• Apocrypha story Bel and the Dragon
• The Red Dragon of Wales
• Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs
• The Narmer Palette has animals that resemble sauropods on it
• Moche people of Peru: Dragons painted on their vessels
• Petroglyph in the Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah, USA
• Ogopogo in Okanagan Lake
• Thunderbird of North American indigenous peoples
• Champ in Lake Champlain
• Loch Ness Monster
• Mokele-mbembe, water creature in Congo River Basin
• Kongamato, pterodactyl-like creature in southern Africa
• Dragons on the Ishtar Gate in Babylon
• Chinese Dragon, four-legged snake with other forms
• Ta Prohm Petroglyph. This is petroglyph in a Cambodian temple that resembles a stegosaurus.
• Ropen, a possible pterosaur in Papua New Guinea
• Burrunjor, aboriginal mythology in Australia

Clearly, most of these are ancient myths. However, the thing to point out is that dragons are in legends and art throughout the entire world. Why do these disparate cultures all have stories that resemble giant reptiles or dinosaurs? This is likely because they knew of such creatures and then told stories about them. Maybe there was some truth in them and are tall tales, or maybe they were completely fabricated. However, they had a concept of a dragon or a dinosaur, and therefore created stories about them.

What Do We Know About Dinosaurs from the Bible?

The Dinosaurs in the Bible post will explain a little bit. Moreover, we can know this:

All dinosaurs would have been herbivores in the beginning, as all animals were. “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” (Genesis 1:30).

Representatives from every kind would have been on the ark. “And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive” (Genesis 6:19-20).

What Happened to the Dinosaurs?

• Dinosaurs would have been on the ark. They likely would have had young ones on board, and the vastness of the ark would have allowed for every kind to be represented. However, it is possible they could not adapt to the post-flood world in some way.
• In my opinion, I think they would likely have been killed off. They were dangerous animals, and because they would have been seen as a threat, they would have been wiped out.
• But really, who knows? How do we know there aren’t some left in the remotest parts of the world?