Expert: Marilyn - 6/21/2008

Question
Fundamentalist/born again Christians claim that man and dinosaur existed at the same time.  My question:  Are there any references or mention of dinosaur like creatures in the bible?

Thanks, Marilyn,

Rob

Answer
Hello Rob;

Christians who state that dinosaurs and human beings existed at the same time are in serious error.  The foundational principles of Christianity as applied to science and its findings are these:

1)  God is real.

2)  God created the universe.

3)  God cannot lie.

4)  The Bible is true.

5)  Since God cannot lie, then the evidence discovered in the universe is true because He created it.  Planting false evidence is a form of lying.

6)  If the evidence discovered in the universe and the Bible do not agree one or more of the following are happening:

    a)  the evidence is incomplete, poorly collected or incorrectly      analyzed or interpreted.
    b)  the interpretation of what the Bible says is incomplete or incorrect.
    c)  persons have applied idioms and poetic phrases, such as "the sun rises," incorrectly.  We all know the sun doesn't rise, but we still describe it that way.  

The evidence discovered in the earth does not support human beings and dinosaurs living at the same time.  According to the evidence discovered in the earth, dinosaurs suddenly went extinct and then mammals came to be the dominant animals on the planet.  Soon after the rise of mammals, human beings appeared on the scene.

According to Gerald Schroeder in his book, "The Science of God," dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible.  Compare various translations of Genesis 1:21, the NIV says, "So God created the great creatures of the sea..."  Some older versions of the Bible even plug "dragons" in here.  The Hebrew words are "taninim gedolim."  Geodlim is easy--it means "big," but apparently "taninim" was a mystery for a long time.  According to Schroeder, "taninim," is the plural form of "taneen" which fortunately appears elsewhere in the Bible.

In Exodus 4:3 Moses throws down his staff and it becomes a "nahash," or snake.  In Exodus 7:10, he throws down his staff and it becomes a "taneen," a reptile.  In Exodus 7:15 when he throws down his staff again it becomes a snake.  "Taninim" is plural for reptile, therefore, Genesis 1:21 says, "...God created the great reptiles," in other words the dinosaurs.  The word "dinosaur" comes from the Greek, "deinos" terrifying + "sauros" lizard.

Just because the extinction of the dinosaurs isn't mentioned between the creation of dinosaurs and the creation of man doesn't mean it didn't happen, it just means it's not mentioned.  The Bible is the story of God's relationship with humanity and His work to redeem humanity; it's also the handbook for human living.  Dinosaurs have never been that important to those themes so God doesn't waste a lot of time delving into dinosaurs.  

Sincerely,

Marilyn