Should We Be Afraid of Dinosaurs?
Why do people insist on questioning the authenticity of the Bible regarding dinosaurs? There is no reference in the Bible for the term universe, or space, or cosmos, but rather you know of it as heaven(s), or firmament, or sky. Yet, no one questions the reality of space in the Bible. Could it be that dinosaurs fall to the same thing as the term universe, space, and cosmos? Rather than the term dinosaurs being stated in the Bible, you may know of them as beast, or dragons, or leviathan, or any of the other "every living creatures" God created that we don't recognize by name. If the Bible says God created every living creature both of the water and earth, and we have the bones of dinosaurs, then that would mean they fall under the "every living creature" God created, right?
Just as God doesn't give us the details about space—the many galaxies, planets, stars, etc—in the Bible, He also chose not to give us details about certain creatures in the Bible as well—dinosaurs are among many other creatures we don’t hear about in the Bible, but we see they exist or existed. Does that mean we should question the Bible because of their existence as well? This is an inadequate and foolish effort to refute the validity of the Bible. The Bible is not an encyclopedia. It wasn't meant to tell us everything, but just what God wanted us to know (Deut. 29:29).
"And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." (Gen. 2:19)
"The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen." (Isa. 43:20)
The Bible says,
"God created… great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly… and every winged fowl…" (Gen. 1:21)
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth…" (Gen. 1:24)
"…wild beasts of the desert… and owls… and satyrs [could be butterflies]…" (Isa. 13:21)
"…leviathan that crooked serpent… the dragon that is in the sea." (Isa. 27:1)
"…dragons in the waters" (Ps. 74:13)
"…the dragons of the wilderness" (Mal. 1:3)
"…small and great beasts" (Ps. 104:25).
Other creatures mentioned in the Bible: lions, wild asses (donkeys), bears, eagles, quails, serpent, and there are far more than these cited above. But not every creature in the world is referred to in the Bible.
Remember, we serve a sovereign God who knew beforehand what the world would be like with dinosaurs around. Thus, by them obviously not being here, He chose to let them become extinct for His perfect reasons. And just like space, rather than tell us all about it, He allows us to find and figure it out ourselves to stand in awe of His creative power! So for us as believers, dinosaurs (like space) should help to prove the existence of God, not disapprove Him; and they should help to display the individuality, power, and glory of God, not discredit or denounce Him.
Here are some notes taken from AnswersInGenesis.com about dinosaurs:
Dinosaur means ‘terrible lizard’.
Dinosaurs had posture that was fully erect, similar to that in mammals; unlike reptiles.
Evidence of these ‘transitional forms,’ as they are called, should be abundant. However, many fossil experts admit that not one unquestionable transitional form between any group of creatures and another has been found anywhere. If dinosaurs evolved from amphibians, there should be, for example, fossil evidence of animals that are part dinosaur and part something else. However, there is no proof of this anywhere. In fact, if you go into any museum you will see fossils of dinosaurs that are 100% dinosaur, not something in between. There are no 25%, 50%, 75%, or even 99% dinosaurs—they are all 100% dinosaur!
If God designed and created dinosaurs, they would have been fully functional, designed to do what they were created for, and would have been 100% dinosaur. This fits exactly with the evidence from the fossil record.
Creation scientists believe that dinosaurs were called dragons before the word dinosaur was invented in the 1800s. We would not expect to find the word dinosaur in Bibles like the Authorized Version (1611), as it was translated well before the word dinosaur was ever used.
2007