Do born again Christians believe that dinosaurs once existed?

It is a common mis-apprehension or even mis-representation of the Biblical creationist position that we reject science. What we reject is non-empirical speculation masquerading as science. The Biblical account has no problem with the existence of dinosaurs. We do not discount the fossils. We do question the time scale and scenario proposed for them. The fossils exist in the present, are dug up in the present, and are studied in the present. What one believes about how they got there and when will be drawn according to his/her assumptions about what has gone on in the unobservable, unrepeatable (that is, non-empirical) past. In fact, the recent discovery of soft tissue in a fossilized bone is more consistent with an age of a few thousand years, than with tens or hundreds of millions of years. The explanation that "apparently soft tissue can survive much longer than we ever imagined" is inconsistent with the scientific evidence regarding its durability. The natural or plain understanding of the Biblical account of creation would have dinosaurs created with the other land and sea animals. They then would have co-existed with humans, and would have been preserved on the ark by Noah--no need to take full grown adults, juveniles would suffice. The climatic and environmental changes following the flood would have made survival difficult for them and some other animals, so that they became increasingly rare, finally extinct. I think we can look to the descriptions of dragons in ancient legends for evidence that men encountered dinosaurs in the flesh before they encountered them as fossils. That the Bible doesn't mention them specifically simply indicates that they weren't a factor in the lives of the people of that time and place. It doesn't mention kangaroos, either--they weren't relevant. It is possible the Behemoth and Leviathan mentioned in the book of Job--which seems to be from a time a few hundred years following the flood--are describing a land and a sea creature we would think of as dinosaurs. The descriptions do not match well with any living creatures of our day.

For lots more on this subject, see the FAQ page on dinosaurs at Answers in Genesis: http://answersingenesis.org/home/area/faq/dinosaurs.asp

BaaBaaBlackSheep (without implying that he means to be agreeing with or supporting me) makes an interesting and useful point. Facts, and to an only slightly lesser extent experimental or empirical scientific theories, do not "speak for themselves". They must be interpreted in some larger framework. Although a bit outside the scope of this question, that's where the evolution-creation debate sticks. Naturalistic evolution, Biblical young-earth creationism, and everything in between, are, in my mind, more properly paradigms than theories. That is, they supply a framework of philosophy and untestable assumptions which are taken on faith, by which the empirical science can be interpreted and organized.

I have heard of people who do not believe in dinosaurs, but in all my interactions with church people of different denominations I do not know that I have ever met one.

The vast majority of Christians, "born again" and otherwise believe that dinosaurs lived and thier fossils are real.

yes...God made dinosaurs too.read Job.:)justme

The conflict you see is,"do fossil remains conflict with the 7 days of creation concept of Genesis" Yes they do. However God is not a liar.He didn't just make these bones to confuse mankind. So the explanation is outside most Christian teaching. Here is my take:- Genesis starts "In A beginning" NOT "In THE beginning" there was something before this age. But what? The Bible doesn't say! So it is not important to our salvation. Interesting none the less!

I don't know but I do. I've seen the physical evidence.

I do believe dinosaurs existed! There is evidence... and of course what was said in Job could also be true we just have not found the evidence yet. We do not know all there is to know, scientific or religious... but I do believe science should compliment what God did. During creation God only put "days" for us, He is outside of time. So was it really a "day" or just an expression? I don't know, many thousands of decades could have passed from the time God created light. Who knows and the earth was present already, it says it was in without form, but it was there. Some speculate that this is when the dinosaurs lived as a pre-Adamic race, or perhaps they were where demons came from. There are some things God said and those I take at their word, but there are other things we will not know, we could not even comprehend with our tiny minds and I am for one not ready to say that I know for sure whene there is room for specualtion... maybe that is where science is to come in and fill in the gaps... true science that is... some theories are accepted but not proven... such as evolution or the big bang theory. We can only prove without a doubt a little amount, the rest is up to speculation. I mean, who is to say when God created the Heavens He didn't use a big bang? That is my speculation.

yes, it all makes sense see, they were buried in the flood and the remains are only like 4 or 5 thousand years old. It all makes sense because carbon dating is a hoax and the 'evolutionists' just want poor jesus to suffer because they are mean spirited infants who just don't want to submit to the holy word of the only orthodox god ever.

Many deny their existence. Others are trying to squeeze scientific evidence into the Bible and seem to be getting away with it amongst the more gullible members of the population. I believe it is called intelligent design or another version is creationism. If these people put as much effort into improving the world as they do concocting useless ideas, the world would be a much better place to live in, in my opinion.

No, but they do seem to turn profoundly deaf when a new fossil is unearthed.

I suppose some do, but they probably would whether religious or not. Most that I know don't, and one that I know is a Phd. scientist and professor of Biology.

How could I disbelieve it when its skeleton is at the museum?

It has been proven that the "dinosaurs" of the many different time periods existed long before humans walked this earth. And to believe they co-existed is almost on the ridiculous. Science has proven it and the writings of man has nothing to back the facts. Always remember the one who wins always writes the history. I choose facts over mans dated writings

Yes...

Because of the scientific finds...

I don't. It all depends on what you think of when you hear the word "dinosaur". There were things in the Bible that have been called dinosaurs by scholars, but what if it was just another animal like we have today, that became extinct? If alligators became extinct today, would we call them dinosaurs? No. I think that God simply put the fossils where they are now, but for what reason I am unsure. I don't see why God would have had the dinosaurs(the ACTUAL dinosaurs) roam the earth, and die, without interacting greatly with man. It would have been pointless, when he could have just made remnants of them, which is all man would ever see.

Speaking as a Christian, yes I do believe that dinosaurs existed.

Sure, why not? Even a "young earth" Christian (who believes the earth to be not more than 5000 or so years old) will generally believe that dinosaurs existed. Not, of course, in the time frame asserted currently by the current establishment... but carbon dating is pretty iffy at best, and dinosaurs are well outside accurate parameters, particularly given outside influence from, say, a meteor as some theorize killed them off.

No, not all of them do. There are some who say they didn't exist, but there are quite a few who say they did exist.

I've heard that some believe that God put the bones there to test their faith. But wouldn't that make God a liar?

The bible was written by a nomadic people of ancient Iraq. They borrowed most of the stories from summerians like Adam and Eve, flood and others. They just got a little clever and wrote that they were the chosen people of god so to scare others. No wonder most movie producers are jewish. They make amazing movies. I bet a thousand years from now "star wars" will be a part of the bible. It would be a another great book - written by man.

I strongly believe that the answer you gentlemen are looking for may be derived from the Bible itself, as many answers in life are. In Genesis 1:6 - 7 It, interestingly enough, states, "And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so."
note that He said that the expanse (the sky), separate the waters ON the Earth, from the waters ABOVE the earth, clearly indicating that there existed, at a time, a layer of water above the atmosphere which would have solidified and thus frozen solid. Water, or more definitively, ice, when thick enough, filters out almost, if not- all, the harmful UV rays that the sun is literally machine-gunning you apart with at this very moment (even at night, a few rays still cause damage - even though minimum, they're there). Lead has almost the same effect as a filter, but it's toxic (unfortunate, I know). These UV's rays cause us to fall apart, and are the primary catalyst for age. So in short, no UV rays = extremely delayed aging process, so that solves, or at least explains, the living up to 900 years debate. Now I AM getting to the dinosaur part, just bear with me. Now we know what happens when you stick a needle into a balloon . . . it pops. And this is due to the pressure inside the balloon being less that that of outside, (for balloon animals, it can be much more resilient - thank the clowns). Now, about twenty-four or so years back, there was a little girl who got stuck in a well, nasty business. She was stuck down there for three whole days, her mother was in hysterics by the time the rescuers finally pulled her back up her leg, they found out, had been twisted clear around behind her head. Poor thing's leg was black, the circulation had been cut off for so long. Doctors immediately began the process of amputation, stating the fact that they had to amputate, or the gangrene would have spread to her vitals. So happened that there happened to be a doctor who knew, believed, and studied what I have been briefly going over with you, and strongly recommended she be placed in what is called a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, MJ had one and divers used them to stop the bends. (you implode due to too rapid an ascension to the surface from great depths, it's in a competing for 1st place on the top ten list of the worst possible ways to die, it's competitor is fire) Well what it does is it pressurizes the oxygen content from the normal 20% Oxygen and 80% Nitrogen, to about double the quantity. There is no need to wear a mask or hood. This increased pressure, combined with an increase in oxygen to 100 percent, dissolves oxygen in the blood plasma and in all body cells, tissues and fluids at up to 10 times normal concentration—high enough to sustain life with no blood at all (from 20% to 100% oxygen is a 5-fold increase, from 1 ATA (or Atmosphere Absolute eg. 15 lbs of pressure per square inch - at sea level) to 2 ATA where it can double this again to a 10-fold or 1,000% oxygen increase). Yeah so the Earth was like a gaint greenhouse hyberbaric oxygen chamber, basically you can breath easier to say the least.
So this ice layer did two (count 'em) two - things (among many other smaller, yet still important details, a bunch of science mumbo jumbo, but I'll give you these primary two 'cause personally, I'm more interested in the most fantastical of the facts.)
1.) No UV rays = no aging
2.) increased oxygen content/ pressurized oxygen content.

Alright, now the word "dinosaur", wasn't invented until 1841 by English paleontologist Sir. Richard Owen. So we have a dilemma on our hands here, because they had to be called something BEFORE 1841 - right? I mean, what are you gonna call 'em? I can think of something, right yeah, the word "dragon" derived from the Greek word drakon, which means serpent. Which makes it's grand appearance in the Bible a total of 43 times. 21 in the Old Testament, and - naturally - 12 in the New. Yeah, and don't buy into the whole changing the word dragon to jackal garbage that the New International Version, NAS, ESV,NLT, GWT, and all the other new translations are using recently. Stick to the closest and most un-politically correct version you can get, like the King James or even New King James for that matter. Remember, if you don't want to offend the evolutionist's just alter the Word of God (yeah, "Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar." Proverbs 30:5-6 oh and, "if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." Galatians 1:9-10 or finally: "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it." Deuteronomy 12:32)

So they were called Dragons. Which can be generally supported due to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of dragon legends, art, lore, and recipes to this day. So where does that leave us, eh? Well, I got a sentence to wrap this WHOLE article up. Dream on this, reptiles - never - stop - growing. Well is you let a reptile grow, in these perfect conditions for over 900 years . . . well, they'll get kind of big won't they? Ah my friends, and THAT is the beauty of it all. Dinosaurs were simply overgrown reptiles that lived along side man in the Garden of Eden. Sound to fantastical? So does the concept that 4.4 Billion Years ago nothing exploded - into this. You see the issue isn't dinosaurs alongside man, the issue is, we can't acknowledge there's a God, because that would mean He has the power to judge His creation. Scary thought . . . unless of course, theres someone to intercede on your behalf . . . . So the question now is - if all of this is true WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Well, they're here alright - but they're scarce - oh yes, very scarce. Let me ask you a question, right? Say it so happened that on the channel 7 news (or whatever you watch) around 4:30PM, there was a live reporter stating that there were seven lions, three grizzly bears, and four Bengal tigers roaming around YOUR county. Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my! Yeah well, What do you think would happen by 6:30? Yeah, every redneck, amateur big game hunter, and animal "specialist" within a 100 mile radius would be down there with a shotgun trying to kill them, and the one that killed the biggest one would be a hero. Right? Well, same general concept happened to the dragons, or the dinosaurs. When people come in to populate and "civilize" a land what has to happen to all the ferocious animals (well, at least the big ones?) Right mate, they have to be driven off. Same thing happened to the dinosaurs, killed off for land, meat, territory, renown, fame, medicine, raw materials, you know good old American capitalism. I'm not against it, it's the business of death. Or more like the profit thereof. (well, i'm against Human death, big difference yeah? Namely abortion, murder, homicide, you know the things that disturb normal or moral people. (1/16 of America, Oi, I'm based in Southern California so I may be wrong, might be more like 1/8 ha.)

Right now look at this, the Bible says in Isaiah 11:7 "And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." Naturally, we associate this scripture, one pertaining to Christ's (God's) return on Earth and how it will be, to what the Garden of Eden must have been like. So they weren't hostile at that time, yet. After the flood, the animals became hostile. The Flood of Noah 4400 years ago (not 4.4 Billion, haha) 2800 - 4800 years after the Earth was created, was so catastrophic because that layer of ice . . . yeah it came down - hard, remember the bends, well the balloon was popped, you can imagine the environment, plus it says the subterranean water chambers broke open (which is why the Earth geographically looks like a baseball burst at the seams, not because of the Pangaea BS) In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." We didn't even know about these chambers until around the late 70's. It says God "sealed" the ark - Genesis 7:15-16 states clear as a bell "And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life. And they went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in." (shut him in meaning maintaining the current pressurization so that he and his family don't implode, yeah?), so right 40 days later, (and 40 nights . . . which I find kind of funny to say due to the fact that it should go without saying - unless of course He said nights as to indicate it isn't in the far Northern regions of the planet due to the 6 months of light and six months of darkness, interesting concept - freaky living in Alaska, right?) So there are 8000 different KINDS of animals and since the Bible says to bring them after their kind and after their kind "They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life." Genesis 7:14-15. so thats 16,000 animals yeah? Well 300 Egyptian cubits, which is what Noah used to measure, and what matches the dimensions of the Ark, it can easily hold that many in the Basement alone (which is where he kept them). So when they got OFF the Ark, they were hostile, but still small, he took babies, it only makes sense. They're
1.) Tougher (kids fall down and bounce, adults fall and down and lie there - or break haha)
2.) Smaller (duh, why would you take a fully grown elephant or fully grown giraffe?)
3.) eat a lot less
4.) sleep ALOT more
5.) and live longer to produce more offspring which is why you would bring them in the first place.

So they dispersed and were basically killed off. A few exist, but are scarce or labeled as legends, Mokele Mbembe of the Brazilian Congo's (Diplodocus), The Monster of Loch Ness (Plesiosaur) The Mbielu-Mbielu-Mbielu of Africa (Stegosaurus), Muhuru of Kenya (Ankylosaurs) the Emela-Ntouka (Triceratops) even the Burrunjor of the Australian Outback (The Tyrannosaurus) the Kongamato of Western Zombia and the Congo (Pterodactyl) the Ogopogo (Plesiosaur) in U.S. Great Lakes among quite a few others, these are just to cover the basics and the most prominent. There are numerous sighting (Loch Ness being the current highest at 11,000, 9,000 of which were taken quite seriously.) Why we don't see more sea monsters if the world was destroyed by water is due to the fact that they were mainly FRESHWATER animals, whereas when the "fountains of the deep broke open", or the Subterranean Water Chambers, a whole lot - trillions upon trillions of gallons- of SALTWATER came rushing up, and we all know what happens when we put salt in our goldfish's bowl . . . . Ok, I never did that. But you can guess what happens. It's like us filling our air with black smoke . . . yeah, you die.) So in summation here, we have

1.) Earth created 6000 - 10,000 Years ago by The Divine Creator, or GOD in six literal 24 hour days
2.) Layer of ice above Earth which filtered out UV rays and pressurized the Oxygen
3.) Increased Oxygen Content in general
4.) banishment from Garden of Eden - Sin entered world due to man's disobedience from doing the one and only thing you were commanded NOT to do, simply to show love (and womans - you're not off the hook Eve.)
5.) World became so evil (Nephilim, demon-offspring ("And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants {Nephilim}(my context added) in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God {Demons} came in unto the daughters of men{self-explanatory}, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown." Genesis 6:3-4
Satan tried to breed mankind out so that the "promised seed" wouldn't be born (The Christ) "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15
So God wiped the world out
6.)The Flood of Noah 4400 years ago wipes out world, Ice layer comes crashing down, pressure drops and is cut in half, subterranean water chambers break open flooding world with salt water - which accounts for explosion in fossil record and then scarce fossil remains, also explains why trees are fossilized standing up - through rock layers said to be millions of years apart.)
7.)Noah disembARKS (get it? . . . never mind) wow, that pun worked on like three different levels, and the dinosaurs disperse.
8.) Tower of Babel is built in rebellion to GOD, to be higher than GOD, so GOD creates a mass confusion and the languages and cultures are born. (race is decided by adaptations that the human race obtains and melanin from the suns new harmful rays absorption e.g. Asians squinting due to far and desolate landscapes, whites due to conditions up North (less melanin), blacks due to equator (more melanin) and so on and so forth)
9.) Dinosaurs killed off for land, meat, territory, medicinal purposes, capitol, resources, (furs, skins, leathers, bone, glue, sinew) renown, fame, fortune, liberation, expansion, war, taming, (Nebuchadnezzar trained dragons, Alexander the Great had a royal dragon trainer . . . to train the dragons of course, for wither war or recreational purposes) the list goes on.
10.) World as you see it now.

In actual conclusion, I don't hope - I know for a fact that this will be of use to any skeptic, seeker of Truth, professor, researcher, or just the curious inquirer. Always keep an open mind about EVERYTHING, yet limit yourself to this "Give [instruction] to a wise [man], and he will be yet wiser: teach a just [man], and he will increase in learning. The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding." PROVERBS 9:9-10 (proverbs = professional actions for life pro-verbs, get it? right then . . . so compare everything you hear or learn to the Word of God (basically God Himself) and you will not only never be led astray, but have a much more exciting life (Trust me . . . just - yeah - trust me, life's boring and limited otherwise, at least in my experience.) So right, To all you ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages . . . I bid you goodnight, Elo'him Yevareh Otha
(Hebrew for God Bless)


For further study in these areas see www.arrivalofthefittest.com and head over to the downloads section, navigate under CSE/Hovind, and watch seminars 1-7. Or if youre shady about downloads (like me, yeah?) then go to www.drdino.com, punch on multimedia and go under creations seminars and watch at least The Garden of Eden, and Dinosaurs and the Bible (seminar 2 and 3)
For study after that and to actually make all this knowledge COUNT, go to www.livingwaters.com and listen to Hell's Best Kept Secret, (hell of a title yeah? provocative, it gives the gospel in an accurate and biblical nutshell. Is YOUR soul saved? Yeah I joke right, but it's actually serious business gents, We are eternal creations, we live on forever, where YOU choose to dwell is entirely up to you. Right then, 'bout sums it up. This Answer site is pretty cool, by the way, cheers for the creators! (But the biggest cheers go to THE CREATOR.)
Elo'him Yevareh Otha!

Yes, Dinosaurs existed! I am a Christian! Belief or lack thereof in dinosaurs, science and God does not change the truth!! What is truth? Jesus is!

I don't know but I hear that they have two belly buttons, is that true?

I dont see why I wouldnt.The fossils prove that.
:)

YES. I don't know anyone who denies the existance of dinosaurs.

Yes.

I am Roman Catholic myself, and I believe in dinosaurs, if you look atthe big picture, dinosaurs are actually more believeable than God. Look for a moment, we have these fossils all over the place. But we have only ideas about god what people claim, and we need to believe in God even with this lack of physical evidence. Henceforth, dinosaurs are actually more real, we don't need faith to believe in them we just need to go to a museum.