Why Doesn’t The Bible Mention Dinosaurs?

Because the word dinosaur hadn't been invented yet.

This guy could go to the creationism museum. Great place.

I believe the Bible does talk about dinosaurs. Job 40-41.

My mom told me dinosaurs were imaginary because they aren’t in the bible. I’m not kidding. Standing in front of a skeleton of one, in a museum. Christians are called to seek the Lord, in every way—this why we need to understand Paul’s point here: “…since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship…” God’s qualities are IN His Creation, just like in the Word of God. We can learn about our Father through science. So, why are so many Christians suspicious of it? It’s ok if the earth is ancient. It simply means there are things God didn’t tell us. Which He’s allowed to do….

The absurdity of this argument is astounding. I call it the apologetics pretzel twist. The issue is not whether the Bible mentions specific animals called dinosaurs. The issue is how anyone can reconcile its implication of a young Earth with the overwhelming scientific evidence, gathered over centuries, that the Earth is ancient. The reality is simple: Bronze Age writers did not know dinosaurs had existed. They did not know the age of the Earth. They wrote within the narrow limits of what people understood about the universe at the time. The real problem is that modern humans still cling to ancient mythology even as science repeatedly disproves its claims.

Because the Bible is not a book of paleontology. Rather, it is a collection of writings composed over a period of approximately 1,500 years, inspired by God for the purpose of revealing Himself to humanity through Christ.

The bible does speak of "dinosaurs". Leviathan, a fire-breathing sea monster, and Behemoth, a primeval land beast. Also recorded in historical records asl well (dragons). "Dinosaurs" didn't go extinct. They still exist. Because they were on the ark. They are just animals that God created, not "dinosaurs" which is a manmade term. Dinosaur museums put together "dinosaurs" using fragments of bones for their blueprint. The model makers created plastic molds of dinosaurs. What you see in the museums are plastic casts and the fragments are locked away for safe keeping. There are very few full large complete dinosaurs that were found, most of what was found as in "dinosaurs" were boneyards of all animals at the time mixed up together, due to the worldwide flood. The worldwide flood/young earth is successfully being proven through science also.

The Bible also doesn't mention tigers, zebras, aardvarks, or gorillas, but that doesn't mean they didn't exist. The Bible is not an encyclopedia. 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

But the Bible does talk about Dinosaurs! Multiple times.

The word " Dinosaur" wasn't invented untill 1842. Dragons are mentioned in the Bible. Behemoth is described in great detail. Probably a sauropod. Leviathan was a fire breathing sea serpent. Dinosaurs were land animals created on day six along with man.

Following @sarahsalviander, I learned about “The Science of God” by Dr. Gerald Schroeder. It helped answer some of these questions for me. Dr. Salviander has an excellent PowerPoint presentation on the subject on her website, too.

Probably for the same reason that Jesus only ate two meals his whole life. Not all details have to be there for it to have happened.

Young earth view is not so complicataed. Dinosaurs never stop growing - they don't start out huge, right? It's not a stretch to think young dinos were put on the ark - which was really huge, btw. Job chapter 41 talks about leviathan... a sea dwelling creature that sure could be describing a dinosaur. The Bible also talks about dragons - which could be dinos (remember, the word dinosaur was invented until 1842 - so that word woudn't be in the Bible). There are also cave drawings of flying dinosaurs out west and other creatures that could be dinosaurs in other parts of the world. Not such a big deal, really.

I haven't heard anyone use the term 'WAG' in a very long time. This made my little Gen X heart happy. Also, something that sounds an awful like one of the large, vegetarian dinosaurs is mentioned in Job 40-41 as @KennyKlundt pointed out. That passage certainly isn't referring to a Rhino or Elephant.

They were described as dragons behemoth described one as having a tail as big as a tree named a sea creature leviathan

Sidestepping the question. You do this often. The questioner is asking if the Bible is true. Dinosaurs aren’t mentioned because the writers didn’t know about them, and Genesis isn’t literal history. It’s a covenantal theological origin myth.

From what I’ve observed, it is the YECs pushing the claim that dinosaurs roamed the earth 6k years ago and were brought aboard the Ark, only to die off after their worldwide deluge. It’s a far-fetched claim that flies in the face of multiple disciplines.

Same reason it doesn't mention trilobites or polar bears, they have zero bearing on the message.

Prophetic writings of Ellen G. White Spiritual Gifts, vol. 3, p. 64. "Every species of animal which God had created were preserved in the ark. The confused species which God did not create, which were the result of amalgamation, were destroyed by the flood. Since the flood there has been amalgamation of man and beast, as may be seen in the almost endless varieties of species of animals, and in certain races of men" (page 75).

As long as you are comfortable with ascribing some myth and allegory to the first part of Genesis, you can accept an old earth view like Stephen Meyer or even Darwinian evolution like myself and countless others. This is a non essential. Christians should not be divided by this

It does.

What do you think "Behemoth" refers to in Job 40?

It does. Next.

John Lennox's take on old/young Earth:

The bros who created the Bible god, did not know about massive animals that lived millions of years before they wrote the book about their created Bible god.

Carbon dating isn't accurate. Here are some good facts on the topic:

@JBCalifornia57

It does

What a poor answer Frank. You know full well that the Bible was completed long the word dinosaur was invented. The Bible does have names that came before dinosaur, they are dragon, serpent, behemoth. The Bible doesn't mention the word "email" therefore proves what?

It does! Job 40:17   "He moveth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his stones are wrapped together."   Bible interpretations suggest this is a hippopotamus or elephant. But neither have tails the size of cedars.

Towards the end of the book of Job there is a description of an animal that could potentially be a dinosaur.

Dino fossils weren’t discovered and analyzed until the 19th century. That would explain why.

Job does

Oh, this one's easy: because no one in the Bible knew about dinosaurs. Same reason no one in the Bible mentioned bacteria.

Dinosaurs are in the bible, the word for dinosaur was invented in 1842, prior to that the word was dragon.