How do dinosaurs fit into the Bible?

Our five-year-old son loves dinosaurs. Our older sons all went through a dinosaur phase, but they were never quite as obsessive. Until recently, when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, our youngest would reply, ‘A triceratops!’. Since we’ve finally convinced him that won’t be possible, he’s started saying ‘archaeologist’ instead!

As I read our son the endless succession of library books about dinosaurs that he brings home, I’ve started to wonder how it all fits with the Bible. Should I be adding some qualifications or alternative viewpoints as we go? Are all these books giving our son a false, inaccurate or, worse still, an unbiblical view of history?

A little speculation

The non-fiction books we’ve been reading present with some certainty the ‘facts’ about dinosaurs. They explain how many millions of years ago each dinosaur lived, how they looked and behaved and why they became extinct. (The prevailing theory is that a giant asteroid hit the earth, near Mexico, around 66 million years ago causing what’s called the ‘K–Pg extinction event’). These books also explain how we learn about dinosaurs—by examining the fossils that are being discovered across the world.

I first started to have my doubts about all this when our son brought home a book that listed, for each dinosaur, the actual numbers of skeletons found—and their completeness. In reality, complete skeletons are extremely rare. When it comes to many of the ‘facts’ about dinosaurs, especially the lesser-known types, scientists are making educated guesses based on a small number of mostly partial skeletons. More than half of the known species of dinosaurs in the world have been described from a single specimen.

Earlier this year, my youngest son and I went to a live dinosaur show which told us all about the Australian dinosaur Leaellynasaura. Life-sized puppets acted out in detail how these small dinosaurs lived. But when I looked into it, I found that the only evidence of Leaellynasaura we have is an upper jaw with some teeth in it, a skull roof with large eye sockets and some isolated thigh bones. Much of what was presented as ‘fact’ was based on palaeontologists’ speculation.

When we talk about the ‘science’ of dinosaurs, it’s helpful to understand the difference between experimental science and theoretical science. Experimental science produces observable and repeatable results. By contrast, no-one alive saw these fossils being made. When fossils are discovered in the earth, they need to be interpreted; palaeontologists can only put forward theories, which then get refined as new evidence is unearthed. These interpretations are also based on certain presuppositions about the age and geological history of the earth.

The first thing I have started to change about the way I read dinosaur books to our son is to insert a little bit of uncertainty where I think it is warranted. I add in phrases like ‘scientists believe that …’ or ‘the fossils seem to show’ or ‘this dinosaur probably had …’.

Having said all that, the overwhelming evidence in the fossil record indicates that dinosaurs did exist. Some species, such as Tyrannosaurus Rex, are very well documented. But when did dinosaurs live? And how does that fit with the Bible’s account of creation in Genesis?

How old is the earth?

Scientists use a combination of methods—none of which is considered entirely accurate or straightforward—to estimate the age of the earth at approximately 4.5 billion years. They believe that the fossil record shows dinosaurs existing—and becoming extinct—long before humans even entered the scene.

However, if you add up the timeline of the Bible, assuming that the six days of creation were 24-hour solar days, then the earth is much ‘younger’—only about six thousand years old. 

To make sense of this discrepancy, some Christians believe that the ‘days’ of Genesis 1–2 actually describe long ‘ages’ which comprised millions of years. Bible scholars like C. John Collins (in line with a few ancient Christian writers like Augustine) emphasise that the stylised narrative of Genesis 1 is designed to communicate certain truths about God and, by analogy, humankind, without requiring an overly ‘literalistic’ reading.

According to a ‘day–age’ timeline, dinosaurs would have been created along with the other animals at the start of Day Six, existed for millions of years, and then gone extinct—all before the second part of Day Six, when God created humans. This may resolve some tensions, but it still does not fit exactly with the broader theory of evolution, which teaches that living creatures—including humans—have evolved from one species to another, rather than being created ‘according to their kinds’ in the way that Genesis describes.

Another way that Christians harmonise the Bible’s timeline with the apparently older age of the earth is by likening the earth’s creation to that of Adam and Eve. On the day when Adam was created, he was not a newborn baby; neither was Eve. The first humans had the appearance of maturity at their creation. Likewise, when God made the first trees grow, they must have already had fruit on them for Adam and Eve to eat (Genesis 1:12; 2:9). Another example of something appearing ‘aged’ at its creation is the wine that Jesus made at the wedding at Cana (Answers to Tough Questions, p. 158). By this logic, some Christians believe that the earth can be ‘young’ (created six thousand years ago), yet at the same time appear to have had a longer history.

Christians who maintain that the earth is only six thousand years old believe that dinosaurs were created on the sixth day along with humans, and they existed at the same time. Some think that dinosaurs may not have been a threat to humans in the early days of the creation (The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible, p. 20, 54).

A recent scientific discovery has forced palaeontologists to rethink their assumptions: biological matter, such as soft tissue, blood vessels and proteins, has been found within dinosaur fossils. This either shows, in the words of an ‘old earth’ Christian scientist, that ‘we really don’t understand decay’ or, as ‘young earth creationists’ argue, that the fossils are not as old as we thought. 

Something I didn’t know is that there are many Christian scientists who are seeking to conduct research based on ‘young earth’, rather than ‘old earth’ presuppositions (such as the Institute for Creation Research and the Creation Research Society).

Since I’m still working out what I think, I have changed the way I talk about when dinosaurs lived: instead of ‘X millions of years ago’, I tend to tell our son it was ‘a very long time ago’.

Fossils and floods

Fossils can only be created when an animal is quickly buried under a layer of mud or sand before its remains can be disturbed. There are some interesting fossils that show how instantaneously the animals must have been killed—while eating another animal or giving birth. There are several sites where up to 1000 dinosaurs of the same species were buried at the same time, which scientists usually explain using theories of a ‘flash flood’. 

Christian scientists believe that a worldwide flood provides a reasonable explanation for the creation of such a large number of fossils at the same time. Even secular historians agree that there was likely a catastrophic flood, at least in Mesopotamia and around the Black Sea.

It is fascinating to learn that there are over 200 flood myths told across cultures on every continent on earth, the majority of which share key elements. At least 85% of the stories tell of a global flood from which a favoured family was saved. Around 70% of the stories share these details: this was a result of human wickedness; the chosen family was forewarned; they were saved through a boat; animals were also saved. This could be evidence that as Noah’s descendants spread out after the Tower of Babel incident (Genesis 11), they took the story of the Flood with them.

Some Christians believe that while most dinosaurs died out in the Flood, pairs of (likely juvenile) dinosaurs boarded the ark alongside the other kinds of animals. However, after the floodwaters receded, changed climactic conditions meant that dinosaurs never repopulated to their pre-Flood numbers and eventually died out (Great Dinosaur Mystery, p. 34–35).

While I’m not sure of the exact details, I am now fairly confident to tell our son that many dinosaurs and other animals probably died in a big flood, like the one described in the Bible, leaving their fossils behind.

Dinosaurs in the Bible?

If dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time, then why aren’t dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?

The word dinosaur, meaning ‘great/terrible lizard’ was only coined in 1842, following the earliest fossil discoveries. So naturally, that word does not appear in the Bible. However, the Bible does describe some pretty fearsome creatures, such as Leviathan and Behemoth. In his speech to Job (one of the oldest parts of the Bible), God describes these beasts in some detail (Job 40–41). Behemoth is described as imposing plant-eater:

‘Its tail sways like a cedar;
    the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
    its limbs like rods of iron.
 It ranks first among the works of God,
    yet its Maker can approach it with his sword.’ (Job 40:17–19)

Leviathan, surely one of the ‘great sea creatures’ made by God (Genesis 1:21), is described in these terms: ‘Nothing on earth is its equal—a creature without fear’ (Job 41:33; see also Isaiah 51:9).

The Bible also uses another ancient word to describe fearsome reptiles: dragon. This creature, a symbol of chaos and death, is mentioned in the imagery of Revelation chapter 12 and 20:2. In fact, there are myths and depictions of dragons across many cultures of the world, such as the English legend of St George and the Dragon. Many of these are mythical in nature, but others are more scientific descriptions, such as Herodotus’ description of flying reptiles in Arabia (460 BC), an entry in Historia Animalium by Conrad Gessner (1550s) and the descriptions (and museum exhibit) by Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi (1570s). Is it possible that these global dragon myths are descended from real encounters with giant reptiles?

So what do I teach my children?

Our youngest son’s enthusiasm for dinosaurs shows no sign of letting up. So I need to keep thinking this topic through. I now know more about the science of dinosaurs and have started to express ‘facts’ with a little less certainty, where I think it’s warranted. I can now tell our children that Christians have various ways of interpreting the fossil record and the recent discovery of biological matter in fossils. I can tell our kids that history does seem to point to there being a catastrophic flood, the stories of which were then told around the world; perhaps history also hints at the existence of ‘dragons’ within the living memory of humankind.

As I share with my children all that I am learning about this controversial topic I want to teach them not to be afraid of science. I want them to know that science, although limited and fallible, is one way to seek to understand God’s world by making tentative theories that then get tested and refined. But more than that, I want to teach our children to love and trust the Bible as a true book about God, his world and our place in it. While it may not give us detailed answers to every question we have, it makes us ‘wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ’ and ‘equipped for every good work’ (1 Timothy 3:15, 17).

Further reading

In addition to the articles I have linked to in my article above: 

To hear a ‘young earth creationist’ view, listen to this interview on Her Theology podcast with Eric Hovind from Creation Today.

To hear a conversation about helping our kids to love science—and the Bible—listen to this episode of the Faith in Parents podcast.

To explore the topic of science and religion from various (predominantly ‘old earth’) Christian perspectives, there are many relevant episodes of the Undeceptions podcast.

References

All consulted articles have been hyperlinked within the text of this article. 

Books referenced:

The Great Dinosaur Mystery and the Bible by Paul S. Taylor (Chariot Victor Publishing, 1989)

Answers to Tough Questions about the Christian Faith by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart (Paternoster, 1980).

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Harriet Connor is the Content Editor for Growing Faith and the editor of the two volumes of Parenting in God's Family: Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Issues. She is the author of Families in God's Plan: 12 Foundational Bible Studies (Youthworks Media, 2021) and Big Picture Parents: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life (Wipf and Stock, 2017). She lives on the Central Coast of NSW with her husband and four sons.

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