Ancient Dragon in Wales: Are Evolutionists Beginning to Suspect that Dragons Were Dinosaurs?

St. George and the Dragon on an Italian doorway lintel, ca. 1500.




Joel Kontinen

In 2014, Rob and Nick Hanigan, two fossil hunting brothers, found a “201-million-year-old” dinosaur at Penarth in South Wales. The dino has now been named Dracoraptor hanigani.

Dracoraptor means 'dragon thief'. While many scientists assume that the dinos died out millions of years ago, the dragon part of the story is interesting, as Medieval stories often featured fierce fire-breathing creatures that lived at the same time as humans.

St. George and the Dragon is probably the best known of these stories.

The Old Testament book of Job describes an enormous creature called behemoth. Some writers believe that it was a hippopotamus, but it almost certainly was not.

Ancient art often depicted animals that looked very much like dinosaurs.

And the Chinese horoscope includes the dragon together with 11 other animals, all of which still live today.

So, dragons might well have been dinosaurs.

Soft tissues have often been found in dinosaur fossils. Moreover, as dinosaur bone contains radiocarbon (C-14) that cannot last over 100,000 years, it is perfectly logical to assume that dinosaurs are not millions of years old.

While evolutionists might still not see the connection between dragons and dinos – or realise that they lived at the same time – naming some creatures dragons is a step in the right direction.

Source:

Amos, Jonathan. 2016. Welsh dinosaur named 'dragon thief'. BBC News (20 January).

Job’s Behemoth Was Hardly a Hippo, Contrary to What Christianity Today Suggests

A hippo might be a lot bigger than a Nile crocodile, but the cedar-like tail is certainly missing. Image courtesy of Stig Nygaard.



Joel Kontinen

Christianity Today is not exactly known for a biblical understanding of creation, Genesis or the age of the earth. It has doubted the existence of a historical Adam, for instance.

Recently, it launched a magazine called The Behemoth. The very first issue features an article on the animal that gave the publication its name.

After much speculation, author Ted Olsen surmises that the creature described in Job 40 is probably a hippo.

While a hippo might be huge, the description does not fit an animal that looks somewhat like an overgrown pig:

“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." (Job 40:15-17, NIV)

Bible translators have often found it difficult to translate the word Behemoth. With the exception of Job 40:15, they have often rendered it as beast. The translators of the New International Version (NIV) decided to keep the name Behemoth.

But then they explain in a footnote that the animal was possibly a hippopotamus or an elephant.

The hippo (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a huge animal that can weigh up to two tons. Its Greek name πποπόταμος means ‘river horse'. The one thing that it certainly lacks is a tail like a cedar.

The elephant is not a good suggestion, either. It has a tail that is possibly even narrower than that of a hippo. A crocodile has a more cedar-like backside than either a hippo or an elephant. There is a problem, however: crocs like to eat meat and the Behemoth does not.

So perhaps the Behemoth is a huge animal that lived in Job's day but has since become extinct. Some have even suggested it might be a dinosaur.

We should remember that while the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21), this only applies to the original texts. Translations are the work of fallible men. They are not inspired.

Surprisingly, many rock paintings describing dinosaurs have been found in different parts of the world. Perhaps the most spectacular find is an engraving of two fighting sauropod dinosaurs in a 15th century tomb in Carlisle Cathedral in the UK.

The creatures have been dubbed Bishop Bell's Brass Behemoths.

This suggests that people actually saw dinosaurs 600 years ago. Certainly Job, who lived 2,000 years earlier, could also have seen dinosaurs.

Source:

Olsen, Ted. 2014. 'Behold Now Behemoth.' The Behemoth. Issue 1. Christianity Today.

Dinosaurs in the Bible?

What does the BIble say about dinosaurs?



Joel Kontinen



The word dinosaur was coined in 1841, so we cannot see it in the Bible. However, the Book of Job describes a creature known as Behemoth:

“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." (Job 40:15-17, NIV).

It sounds like a sauropod dinosaur, which would mean that dinos and people lived at the same time.

The latest episode of ICR’s That’s a Fact video series features dinosaurs, the Bible and dragons.

There is plenty of evidence that suggests that dinosaurs might not be as old as many assume.

You can watch the video here.

Dinosaurs in the Bible?

Joel Kontinen


What does the Bible say about dinosaurs? While the word dinosaur was not coined until the 19th century, there are some interesting hints in the Old Testament.




The Book of describes a huge land animal called behemoth:

“Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; He eats grass like an ox.
See now, his strength is in his hips, And his power is in his stomach muscles.
He moves his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit.
His bones are like beams of bronze, His ribs like bars of iron.
He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword.” (Job 40:15-19).

The description fits that of a huge sauropodian dinosaur.

Modern-day Dragon Threatens Divers

Komodo dragons can be found in many zoos.


Joel Kontinen

Recently, BBC News had an article about five European divers who had a rather unusual adventure on the Indonesian island of Rinca. Strong currents washed them away from their boat and for 12 hours they had to struggle in waters infested with sharks until they found an island. But soon they saw a Komodo dragon on the beach. They had to throw rocks at the lizard to keep it at bay. The divers were eventually rescued.

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) only lives on some Indonesian islands. The largest living lizard, it can be over three meters (nine feet) long and weigh 120 kilograms (265 pounds). Komodo dragons are swift, ferocious animals that have been known to kill and eat humans.

Komodos can even stand on their hind legs for a while, making them look more like dinosaurs, although their front legs are not as small as those of T. rex, for instance. Their fierceness and their ability to kill by venomous bacteria in their mouths might have contributed to the name Varanus komodoensis has earned, viz. dragon.

Supporters of evolution will scoff at the idea of man and dinosaurs or even dragons co-existing. But like the Tuatara, which only lives in New Zealand, the Komodo dragon brings to mind old dragon stories that are found in many cultures. St. George and the Dragon is probably the best-known tale in the west.

In addition, some ancient cave paintings depict dinosaur-like creatures. There is even an interesting engraving of two fighting sauropod dinosaurs in the tomb of bishop Richard Bell in Carlisle Cathedral in the UK from the 15th century.

What is surprising about the image is that although dinosaur bones had been found earlier, the word “dinosaur” was coined as late as 1841, when Richard Owen named the big creatures ‘terrible lizards’. However, at the time of bishop Bell’s death in 1496 no one was supposed to know what a dinosaur looked like. Yet the animals resemble the pictures of dinosaurs we often see in science journals.

It seems that reality is more amazing than we would expect.


Sources:

Bell. Philip. 2003. Bishop Bell’s Brass Behemoths! Creation 25:4, 40-43. You can read the article here.

How dangerous is a Komodo dragon? BBC NEWS. 9 June 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7443648.stm

Read more about the Tuatara here.