Holier Than Thou - Dinosaurs

Did dinosaurs really exist?

Yes, according to both the Bible and paleontological finds of bones and fossils, dinosaurs really did exist. More information about dinosaurs in relation to creationism may be found online at DrDino.com and Answers in Genesis.

Look at the behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with his sword. (Job 40:15-19)

God uses the behemoth as an example to Job of one of his mighty creations (Job 40:15-24). Some critics attribute this description to either an elephant or a hippopotamus, however, neither have a tail the size of a cedar. It is also highly unlikely that God would need to resort to exaggeration about this creation to impress a man who has already seen it. The behemoth does fit the description of a brachiosaurus or a diplodocus, however, which were sopposedly between 70 and 80 feet in length and weighed from 35 to 50 tons, according to their bone structures. They are also believed to have lived in regions like that described in Job 40:21-23, in rivers and marsh lands where they ate grass and flowers, and spent much of their time partially submerged.

Can you pull in the Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? ...Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? ...Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering... I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form... His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth... When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. (Job 41:1-26)

God also uses the leviathan as an example to Job of another of his mighty creations (Job 41). Again, God does not need to exaggerate something that Job has seen to instill awe in him. Some suggest that the description is of a crocodile, however, crocodiles do not rise up and bear their chest (Job 41:24-25), nor do they breathe fire and blow smoke. The leviathan is a creature that men cannot subdue, but the crocodile has been subdued for ages. The leviathan, as described elsewhere in the Bible, is also a deep sea creature (Psalm 104:25-26) that has a coiling, snake-like body (Isaiah 27:1). The description of leviathan does come closer to the bone structure of the kronosaurus, however -- a large, serpentine reptile that supposedly lived in deep waters.

No matter the exact identity of either the behemoth or leviathan, the bone and fossil remains should serve as evidence that these were literal creatures in Biblical days. No matter their adult size, dinosaurs could very well have been brought onto Noah's ark as infants and the remainder destroyed by the flood -- an immediate catastrophy that preserved their remains in as good of condition as they have been found. The early drawings, accounts and folklore of sea monsters destroying ships at sea and knights slaying fire breathing dragons substantiate such creatures after the flood. It is impossible, though, that these creatures both evolved over millions of years and existed millions of years ago according to Genesis 1:20-26, nor are they extinct just because we only have their remains and no known living proof.