(Note: We like to present both sides to every question here. Since the “evolutionists” have plenty of sites explaining that side, this short excerpt will present the side of creationists. The answer to this question is taken directly from the book In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood by Walt Brown, Ph.D. Here’s more information on:
In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood (8th Edition)
This frequent question, asked in just this way, implies many questions related to dinosaurs—a word meaning “terrible lizards.” When did they live? What killed the dinosaurs? What were they like? What does the Bible say about them? Could so many large animals have fit on the Ark? There were about 300 different types of dinosaurs. Most were large; some even gigantic. One adult dinosaur was as tall as a five-story building. However, some were small, about the size of a chicken.
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Many other questions will be answered if we focus on one question, “When did they live?” There are two common, but quite different, answers. Evolutionists say dinosaurs lived, died, and became extinct at least 60 million years before man evolved. Others believe God created all living things during the creation week. So man and dinosaurs lived at the same time. If we look at the evidence, sorting out these two very different answers should be easy.
Did dinosaurs become extinct at least 60 million years before man evolved? Almost all textbooks that address the subject say so. Movies and television vividly portray this. One even hears it at Disney World and other amusement parks. Some will say that every educated person believes this. We frequently hear stories that begin with impressive-sounding phrases such as, “Two hundred million years ago, as dinosaurs ruled the earth, …” But none of this is evidence; some of it is an appeal to authority. (Evidence must be observable and verifiable.)
Did man and dinosaurs live at the same time? Scientists in the former Soviet Union have reported a layer of rock containing more than 2,000 dinosaur footprints alongside tracks “resembling human footprints.”1 Obviously, both types of footprints were made in mud or sand that has since hardened into rock. If they are human footprints, then man and dinosaurs lived at the same time. Similar discoveries have been made in Arizona.2 If it were not for the theory of evolution, few would doubt that these were human footprints.
The Book of Job is one of the oldest books ever written. In it, God tells Job of his greatness as Creator and describes an animal, called Behemoth, as follows:
Behold now, Behemoth, which I made as well as you; He eats grass like an ox. Behold now, his strength in his loins, And his power in the muscles of his belly. He bends his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are tubes of bronze; His limbs are like bars of iron. (Job 40:15–18)
Marginal notes in most Bibles speculate that Behemoth was probably an elephant or a hippopotamus, but those animals have tails like ropes. Behemoth had a “tail like a cedar.” Any animal with a tail as huge and strong as a cedar tree is probably a dinosaur. Job 40:19–24 describes this giant, difficult-to-capture animal as not alarmed by a raging river. If the writer of Job knew of a dinosaur, then the evolution position is wrong, and man saw dinosaurs.
The next chapter of Job describes another huge, fierce animal, a sea monster named Leviathan.3 It was not a whale or crocodile because the Hebrew language had other words to describe such animals. Leviathan may be a plesiosaur (PLEE see uh sore), a large seagoing reptile that evolutionists say became extinct 60 million years before man evolved.
Consider the many dragon legends. Most ancient cultures have stories or artwork of dragons that strongly resemble dinosaurs.4 The World Book Encyclopedia states that:
The dragons of legend are strangely like actual creatures that have lived in the past. They are much like the great reptiles [dinosaurs] which inhabited the earth long before man is supposed to have appeared on earth. Dragons were generally evil and destructive. Every country had them in its mythology.5
The simplest and most obvious explanation for so many common descriptions of dragons from around the world is that man once knew the dinosaurs.
What caused the extinction of dinosaurs? The flood. Because dinosaur bones are found among other fossils, dinosaurs must have been living when the flood began. There are dozens of other dinosaur extinction theories, but they all have recognized problems. Most of the food chain was buried in the flood. Therefore, many large dinosaurs that survived the flood probably had difficulty feeding themselves and became extinct.
Were dinosaurs on the Ark? Yes. God told Noah to put representatives of every kind of land animal on the Ark. (Some dinosaurs were semiaquatic and could have survived outside the Ark.) But why put adult dinosaurs on the Ark? Young dinosaurs would take up less room, eat less, and be easier to manage. The purpose for having animals on board was so they could reproduce after the flood and repopulate the earth. Young dinosaurs would have more potential for reproduction than old dinosaurs.
Most, if not all, dinosaurs hatched from eggs. The largest dinosaur eggs ever found were a foot long. Hatchlings, even after a year of growth while on the Ark, would be quite easy to handle.
Possibly dinosaurs became very large because they lived to great ages. Preflood humans could live for more than 900 years. If whatever caused man to live so long had the same effect on dinosaurs, they could have grown very large. Reptiles, unlike other animals, continue to grow throughout their lives. Perhaps large dinosaurs, which are similar to reptiles in many ways, were just old.
- Alexander Romashko, “Tracking Dinosaurs,” Moscow News, No. 24, 1983, p. 10.
- Paul O. Rosenau et al., “Are Human and Mammal Tracks Found Together with the Tracks of Dinosaurs in the Kayenta of Arizona?” Parts I and II, Creation Research Society Quarterly; Vol. 26, September 1989, pp. 41–48 and December 1989, pp. 77–98.
Before 1986, many thought dinosaur tracks and human tracks were together along the banks of the Paluxy River in Texas. Some, but not necessarily all, of the humanlike tracks were apparently made by part of a dinosaur’s foot. A film, Footprints in Stone, and John Morris’ book, Tracking Those Incredible Dinosaurs, which popularized the man-track idea, have been withdrawn. A few creationists still claim that some of these manlike tracks were made by humans. I believe the Paluxy tracks should be studied more and many questions satisfactorily answered before claiming human tracks are along the Paluxy River.
In Uzbekistan, 86 consecutive horse hoofprints were found beside supposedly 90 –100-million-year-old dinosaur tracks. Evolutionists have almost as much difficulty believing that horses and dinosaurs lived together as they do man and dinosaurs. Horses allegedly did not evolve until many millions of years after the dinosaurs became extinct. [See Y. Kruzhilin and V. Ovcharov, “A Horse from the Dinosaur Epoch?” Moskovskaya Pravda (Moscow Truth), 5 February 1984.] For a report of a quadruped that left hoof-shaped prints alongside 1,000 dinosaur prints, see Richard Monastersky, “A Walk along the Lakeshore, Dinosaur-Style,” Science News, Vol. 136, 8 July 1989, p. 21.
Leviathan is also mentioned in Psalms 74:14 and 104:26 and in Isaiah 27:1. Both Leviathan and Behemoth are described in the apocryphal book II Esdras. II Esdras 6:49–53 says these beasts were created on the fifth day and given separate territories because of their large size.
- Lorella Rouster, “The Footprints of Dragons,” Creation Social Science and Humanities Quarterly, Fall 1978, pp. 23–28.
- Knox Wilson, “Dragon,” The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, 1973, p. 265.
- The book that this information came from is available to order NOW at Amazon, please click the link below:In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood (8th Edition)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur#mediaviewer/File:Various_dinosaurs2.png
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Evidence must be observable and verifiable. Except for everything you present here apparently. The fossil record is verifiable. Claims from 1989 without measurable evidence and verses from the bible are not.
Since the question asked if dinosaurs were mentioned in the Bible it’s logical and sensible to refer to the Bible when answering the question.
If a dragon is a dinosaur, Then yes a dragon is mention in the book of Revelation 20:2
With zero verifiable scientific evidence to back up the ideas you are inferring from them. If you are going to extrapolate on an extraordinary scientific mistake in a book you need to provide extraordinary proof to prove your case.
A behemoth is a water ox. A leviathan isn’t a dinosaur either.
These kinds of outrageous theories make Christianity look like a foolish religion.
If they can fabricate a dinosaur out of a water ox the sky is the limit!
Stop embarrassing us. there’s enough foolishness in Christianity as it is we don’t need that level of ignorance
No one knows what a behemoth or a leviathan are. Your suggestion that it is a water ox is based on guesses by men writing Bible commentaries.
Alright, so aren’t these dinosaur theories also guesses by men?
Foolishness is not believing God.
If you believe that there is so much foolishness in Christianity, then you are the foolish one.
Very educational, very convenient, keep up the goodwork
Leviathan and behemoth are not mentioned or describe how they really look like, technology of today can create whatever an individual 2ant to the way he want to, so I dont accept what was wrtten about leviathan and behemoths
Foolishness in Christianity, ignorance in Christianity, embarrassing who?
Jim, I realize some people in this world need proof and facts. And some have trouble believing in something they cannot see. But to call people foolish and ignorant without even knowing them is In itself foolish and ignorant. So if your embarrassed, I’m going to believe your a Christ follower that also believes in dinosaurs?
According to History.com, Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world, with more than 2 billion followers. The Christian faith centers on beliefs regarding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Also, Over 5 billion printed bibles in the world, and over 37 million churches in the world.
So I would ask how many dinosaur books printed in the world? How many dinosaur followers, how many dinosaur museums?
2 billion foolish Christians…
Christianity is the most widely practiced religion in the world, with more than 2 billion followers. The Christian faith centers on beliefs regarding the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ followers gathering in 37 million embarrassing churches.
Thank You Jesus!
Amen.
Technology today can create anything?
Can technology create a rose? Can technology create a dinosaur?
No proof of that
You state “300 types of dinosaurs” – though there are approx 1000 known types most of which are not semi aquatic and many bird types. Also many bible sites state “5 months” for the flood but the total period inside the ark was 12 months from the waters starting to noah and family leaving the ark. Also how did Kangaroos get to the middle east? Penguins, polar bears, kodiak bears, armadillos, anteaters, walrus/seals/etc (they can’t stay in water for months on end, apaloosa horse breeds from the usa, ptarmigan, etc – i.e. how did all these and thousands more get to the ark in the first place!? Crazy. Not only that every creature on the ark would need fresh water – some animals would needs gallons each. there are ark stories in every religion at that time – they’re all just that, stories of a “god” who wipes the earth out but saves the animals. Babylonian ark, noahs arks, Indian ark etc.
“Let God be true, man the liar.”
Amen!
Gilgamesh’s epic too…
I am saying this because of what Paul said and other non believers have said. If they do not believe, why are they even here? Anyway, to answer a question over 2 years old, I will use something you may be able to accept. A quote from Hollywood. In the movie “Evan Alamighty”. After the Ark had settled on the grounds of the Senate chambers and all the Animals were leaving the Ark, The reporter posed the query, about how the animals were going to get back to where they belong. (Lions, Tigers, Giraffes Elephants) She answered her own questiion, the way someone with FAITH should answer that question. “GOD got them here, HE will get them home!” Nothing is impossible for GOD, if GOD made Man can feel the multitude with five loaves and two small fish, and then collect up twelve basket fulls of pieces when the fife thousand had all eaten their full, then feedingg and watering the animals will be a piece of cake. REMEMBER Noah was commanded to bring those clean animals (to be used for food) by Sevens both male and female. There was plenty of food, (40 days of rain) plenty of water..
Actually Paul’s original questions came from a flawed base (it’s totally understandable given the brainwashing he has been subjected to all his life).
He assumed the kangaroos were on a separate island continent known as Australia & had to find their way to the middle east, then after the flood, find their way back to Australia.
Most well studied creationists believe in a super continent before the flood (there was no island continent called Australia before the flood). And all land animals dwelt on that super continent. One or seven pairs of types (that’s “types” not species) of each animal (including an original Kangaroo type), simply walked to the location of the ark from some part of that super continent.
Then during the flood and the breaking up of the fountains of the deep and the supernatural destruction of the ancient world that was, the original super continent was violently torn apart. The slow continental drift we see today is the final slow end result of an original violent tearing apart of the super-continent with the original momentum & energy now all but spent.
Evolutionists wrongly believe the current rate of continental drift has always been at the same rate (hence they need millions of years into the past for the time of the original super continent). But creationists say approx 4400 years ago was when the super continent was broken up.
After the flood, the kangaroos made their way to Australia. Almost exactly as described by the evolutionists (just not the evolutionary timeline). Yes according to evolutionists kangaroos also migrated to Australia from other parts of the world.
A wise pastor once told me that he suspected that the most common phrase heard in heaven will be “Oh!”
Time means nothing to God. Between Genesis 25 and 26 was the time of the Dinosaur. 200 Million+ years before Man.
This was explained to me many years ago. Bottom Line is; All things are possible with God.
Are you people for real. Humans living for 900 years and then talking millions of years when supposedly god created the world only thousands of years ago. I got on this site hoping to find a reason to believe in God, but now I know anyone who does believe is a very ignorant person. Every thing that was said, it contradicts what was said before it. I’m honestly glad I do not waste my life away thinking I’m being judged every second of the day to live in some fairy tale after my body dies.
Adam, if you are seeking God here you are looking in the wrong place. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Pay no attention to these foolish musings. God will speak to you from His Word.
The body is just a vessel that your spirit lives in. Where your spirit goes from there is up to you.
To Adam Lambe, proverbs 14:1. Please reconsider your position
the ark is a fairy tail for kids! and man thinks its real…..ha ha ha ha.
dino’s were here millions of years ago. A fact is a Fact. the flood never happened! Wake up. humans are so superstitious.
I’ll start by saying I’m a Christian and I believe in God. But I also believe in science. All evidence points to different prehistoric creatures living in different eras millions of years ago. Man didn’t live among dinosaurs. Even stegosaurs didn’t live among T-Rex. They’re different eras. And after the dinos came the Ice Age of mammoths and giant sloths. These died off and were replaced by today’s animals through long periods of evolution. You can’t take every story in the Bible at face value, like 900 year old men and an Ark saving every creature. Genetically, it wouldn’t work because every species be mating with a relative. And how did kangaroos get to Australia to where they’re unique, and bison to North America where they’re unique? So many questions, but science can answer many of them. On another note, I’d give Evangelicals and the Religious Right more credit if they didn’t overwhelmingly support a foul-mouthed, hateful, racist, serial adulterer like trump and the Republican Party, which attacks the poor, the hungry and the needy, and the environment which the Bible says we shouldn’t pollute, in favor of the wealthy.
Let me correct you mr Adam.All these are nonsense at all and no prooves.How can you oppose indirectly a Supreme Being[Yahweh] that you haven’t seen?Let those who believe continue believing till they see the end of their faith.What is there is,PSALMS 14:1-2,PSALMS 53:1-2
Didn’t god make dinosaurs B4 man?
The Bible is many things to many people. It is a guide and poetry or philosophy to others. Still to others it is a fiction based on some facts. Faith is the proof that some humans require. But to have faith in something doesn’t require a religion. To believe dinosaurs existed requires a different type of faith. Faith in the fossil evidence and the carbon dating. Very different than a faith in a religion.
No one is wrong here. Its also about interpretation. Everyone will find their own answers based on their own faith and values.
If the flood made the dinosaurs extinct, how did dinosaurs get on the Ark?
Hi Pam (and anyone else). Two of each kind of dinosaur entered the ark (they did not have to be full grown) and the rest drowned. If you seriously need answers to this type of question, see creation.com or ICR.org for far better explanations than you will read here.
The key to all this is 2Peter3:5-6. That is, science knows of the story of how God created the world [by water and out of water] and the story of Noah’s flood – but they will not believe these stories. This prophesy says they WILL reject these Biblical accounts. So they have created other explanations for the facts we see on earth today. The Mt St Helens video from CMI shows what the global flood could have done and accounts for many of the features we see today.