# Do Christians believe in Dinosaurs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 18, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923 "2016-10-18T05:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/61 "2016-10-19T11:22:03Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The original Greek word translates to “age”, so each “day” could be any length of time. > > I do believe that dinosaurs and people cohabited the earth, although the people were our distant genetic ancestors, in whatever form they may have been at the time. you do know you are talking about little proto-mammals the size of a field mouse? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/62 "2016-10-19T17:43:11Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > It’s now fashionable to say that Galileo was convicted because of politics, rather than religion, but that is not true; his writings were declared heretical, because saying that the earth revolved around the sun contradicted the literal truth of the Bible. That is a very simplistic view of a rather complex issue: > **[Galileo affair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_affair)** > > The Galileo affair (Italian: il processo a Galileo Galilei) began around 1610 and culminated with the trial and condemnation of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633. Galileo was prosecuted for holding as true the doctrine of heliocentrism, the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the centre of the universe. > In 1610, Galileo published his Sidereus Nuncius (Starry Messenger), describing the observations that he had made with his new, mu... ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/63 "2016-10-19T18:30:23Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > My theory: > > 1. Dinosaurs are fricking sweet. > > 2. If they existed in the Bible times, the Bible would’ve mentioned them, because c’mon, dinosaurs! > > 3. Therefore they were long dead when the Bible was written. > snip. You mean they weren’t on Noah’s ark, per Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter? [https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;\_ylt=AwrTcX5buwdYS74AHpI2nIlQ;\_ylu=X3oDMTIyYjc4cWZvBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZANhZDRhN2JlOGYwMzliNjU4N2UwMDJlMzI4NmNjMzAyMQRncG9zAzMEaXQDYmluZw--?.origin=&back=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swagbucks.com%2F%3Ft%3Di%26q%3Dken%2Bham%2Bark%2Bencounter%2Bdinosaurs&w=2400&h=1800&imgurl=static6.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F577d151edd0895a01f8b47dc-2400%2Fap\_16187713927224.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fark-encounter-christian-fundamentalist-replica-noahs-visit-dinosaurs-2016-7%3Fop%3D0&size=832.6KB&name=Inside+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+\Encounter\<%2Fb\>%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+...&p=ken+ham+ark+encounter+dinosaurs&oid=ad4a7be8f039b6587e002e3286cc3021&fr2=&fr=&tt=Inside+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+\Encounter\<%2Fb\>%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+...&b=0&ni=21&no=3&ts=&vm=p&tab=organic&sigr=13fh9bhnt&sigb=11v1egv9m&sigi=12lsvmtup&sigt=133rvjqig&sign=133rvjqig&.crumb=ekAxG6kK8cA&hsimp=yhs-prodege\_001&hspart=prodege&type=search\_6&vm=p¶m2=4396562¶m4=798102449](https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcX5buwdYS74AHpI2nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIyYjc4cWZvBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZANhZDRhN2JlOGYwMzliNjU4N2UwMDJlMzI4NmNjMzAyMQRncG9zAzMEaXQDYmluZw--?.origin=&back=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swagbucks.com%2F%3Ft%3Di%26q%3Dken%2Bham%2Bark%2Bencounter%2Bdinosaurs&w=2400&h=1800&imgurl=static6.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F577d151edd0895a01f8b47dc-2400%2Fap_16187713927224.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fark-encounter-christian-fundamentalist-replica-noahs-visit-dinosaurs-2016-7%3Fop%3D0&size=832.6KB&name=Inside+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+%3Cb%3EEncounter%3C%2Fb%3E%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+...&p=ken+ham+ark+encounter+dinosaurs&oid=ad4a7be8f039b6587e002e3286cc3021&fr2=&fr=&tt=Inside+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+%3Cb%3EEncounter%3C%2Fb%3E%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+...&b=0&ni=21&no=3&ts=&vm=p&tab=organic&sigr=13fh9bhnt&sigb=11v1egv9m&sigi=12lsvmtup&sigt=133rvjqig&sign=133rvjqig&.crumb=ekAxG6kK8cA&hsimp=yhs-prodege_001&hspart=prodege&type=search_6&vm=p¶m2=4396562¶m4=798102449) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/64 "2016-10-19T18:43:42Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > You mean they weren’t on Noah’s ark, per Ken Ham’s Ark Encounter? > > [https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;\_ylt=AwrTcX5buwdYS74AHpI2nIlQ;\_ylu=X3oDMTIyYjc4cWZvBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZANhZDRhN2JlOGYwMzliNjU4N2UwMDJlMzI4NmNjMzAyMQRncG9zAzMEaXQDYmluZw--?.origin=&back=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swagbucks.com%2F%3Ft%3Di%26q%3Dken%2Bham%2Bark%2Bencounter%2Bdinosaurs&w=2400&h=1800&imgurl=static6.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F577d151edd0895a01f8b47dc-2400%2Fap\_16187713927224.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fark-encounter-christian-fundamentalist-replica-noahs-visit-dinosaurs-2016-7%3Fop%3D0&size=832.6KB&name=Inside+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+\Encounter\<%2Fb\>%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+...&p=ken+ham+ark+encounter+dinosaurs&oid=ad4a7be8f039b6587e002e3286cc3021&fr2=&fr=&tt=Inside+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+\Encounter\<%2Fb\>%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+\Ark\<%2Fb\>+...&b=0&ni=21&no=3&ts=&vm=p&tab=organic&sigr=13fh9bhnt&sigb=11v1egv9m&sigi=12lsvmtup&sigt=133rvjqig&sign=133rvjqig&.crumb=ekAxG6kK8cA&hsimp=yhs-prodege\_001&hspart=prodege&type=search\_6&vm=p¶m2=4396562¶m4=798102449](https://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcX5buwdYS74AHpI2nIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTIyYjc4cWZvBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZANhZDRhN2JlOGYwMzliNjU4N2UwMDJlMzI4NmNjMzAyMQRncG9zAzMEaXQDYmluZw--?.origin=&back=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.swagbucks.com%2F%3Ft%3Di%26q%3Dken%2Bham%2Bark%2Bencounter%2Bdinosaurs&w=2400&h=1800&imgurl=static6.businessinsider.com%2Fimage%2F577d151edd0895a01f8b47dc-2400%2Fap_16187713927224.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fark-encounter-christian-fundamentalist-replica-noahs-visit-dinosaurs-2016-7%3Fop%3D0&size=832.6KB&name=Inside+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+%3Cb%3EEncounter%3C%2Fb%3E%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+...&p=ken+ham+ark+encounter+dinosaurs&oid=ad4a7be8f039b6587e002e3286cc3021&fr2=&fr=&tt=Inside+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+%3Cb%3EEncounter%3C%2Fb%3E%2C+a+Christian+fundamentalist+replica+of+Noah%26%2339%3Bs+%3Cb%3EArk%3C%2Fb%3E+...&b=0&ni=21&no=3&ts=&vm=p&tab=organic&sigr=13fh9bhnt&sigb=11v1egv9m&sigi=12lsvmtup&sigt=133rvjqig&sign=133rvjqig&.crumb=ekAxG6kK8cA&hsimp=yhs-prodege_001&hspart=prodege&type=search_6&vm=p¶m2=4396562¶m4=798102449) Or maybe it’s a conspiracy to hide the [true nature of Jesus](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/raptor-jesus)? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/65 "2016-10-20T01:51:06Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > The Hebrew scriptures, famously, describe the earth as round or circular in several places (e.g. Isa 40:22), and as you say, it was known by educated people long before Jesus lived that the earth was spherical, so phrases like “the four corners of the earth” were treated as a figure of speech. Biblical references to “round” or “circular” are always made in reference to a two dimensional figure, not a sphere. Yet the Ptolemaic universe that was defended by the church presumed spheres in the heavens. > [@TonySinclair](#): > > Who said there were? Oh, I see, you don’t want to talk about Galileo being condemned as a heretic for presenting better evidence, which for some reason the Church didn’t accept, . . . What “better evidence”? Galileo asserted that the tides proved his conjecture, a notion that was correctly dismissed by the philosophers and proto-scientists of his time. > [@TonySinclair](#): > > So there _are_ records of people being persecuted for accepting or promoting the idea of a heliocentric universe. Can you name any of them? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/66 "2016-10-20T06:18:23Z")
I knew a woman who believed that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was a dinosaur, and that snakes were created from dinosaurs when God removed their legs as punishment. This doesn’t really match what’s believed about the evolution of snakes, of course, but that was of no concern to her. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/67 "2016-10-20T08:33:44Z")
Yeah well there’s wacky believers out there, to be sure. Just like there’s wacky agnostics and atheists out there. Christians haven’t cornered the market on wacky. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/68 "2016-10-20T08:39:48Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Yeah well there’s wacky believers out there, to be sure. Just like there’s wacky agnostics and atheists out there. Christians haven’t cornered the market on wacky. Some Christians refuse to believe the evidence for evolution. Others have sadly (over the centuries) fought wars with each other over religious differences. What ‘wacky notions’ do agnostics and atheists believe? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/69 "2016-10-20T09:49:58Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Some Christians refuse to believe the evidence for evolution. Others have sadly (over the centuries) fought wars with each other over religious differences. > What ‘wacky notions’ do agnostics and atheists believe? Really? Do you really believe that all agnostics and all atheists are logical and have science-based thought processes and are rational beings, never deluded or stupid or nucking futs or any other possible description that non-believers attach to people of faith? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/70 "2016-10-20T09:54:02Z")
Also, I do believe the science of evolution. The more we learn, and the more we know, the more finely tuned my faith becomes. And I definitely agree, sadly, I believe that more people have been killed, and more damage and destruction have been caused in the name of God or Allah or what have you, than just about any other cause. Very sad, very tragic. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/71 "2016-10-20T11:47:18Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Some Christians refuse to believe the evidence for evolution. Others have sadly (over the centuries) fought wars with each other over religious differences. > What ‘wacky notions’ do agnostics and atheists believe? That five-year plans are good for the country seems to be a big one. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/72 "2016-10-20T11:57:03Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > That five-year plans are good for the country seems to be a big one. How is that an atheist or agnostic notion, wacky or otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/73 "2016-10-20T13:13:19Z")
One take on man not evolving from the animals is that man was originally set over animals as a ‘god’ to take care of them and their habitat. They ‘fell’ in their godhood to the level of the animals, so though the mission is the same, to care for the animals and the earth, we have to do it from their level now even as one of them. We just were not ‘god’ enough and had to experience life as one of them, including pain disease, etc to really have proper compassion for them. This shift from ‘godhood’ to human could be expanded to a time frame difference of the orginal creation and the after fall creation. As for dinosaurs and the time scale mixup, it is commonly attributed to the flood, but I would say it was during the time in the garden. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/74 "2016-10-20T14:32:11Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > One take on man not evolving from the animals is that man was originally set over animals as a ‘god’ to take care of them and their habitat. They ‘fell’ in their godhood to the level of the animals, so though the mission is the same, to care for the animals and the earth, we have to do it from their level now even as one of them. > > We just were not ‘god’ enough and had to experience life as one of them, including pain disease, etc to really have proper compassion for them. > > This shift from ‘godhood’ to human could be expanded to a time frame difference of the orginal creation and the after fall creation. > > As for dinosaurs and the time scale mixup, it is commonly attributed to the flood, but I would say it was during the time in the garden. 1. What leads you to believe that dinosaurs were around during the time of The Garden of Eden and 2. Approximately how long ago might this have been? ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/75 "2016-10-20T14:41:21Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > How much/little is “small?” I would put it as the _majority_. > > Even in the United States, a country of many religions and also many atheists as well, [over 40% of Americans are creationists.](http://www.gallup.com/poll/170822/believe-creationist-view-human-origins.aspx) So I would guess that among the subset of Americans who are Christians, creationism is the \*majority \*belief. Really? It’s that bad? Clearly our educational system has failed us. Probably the same deluded 40% that will vote for Trump. \*\* “Believe in evolution” is a horrible combination of words. It implies acceptance of science is a matter of faith. Science does not rely on faith. The difference between science and faith is that any scientific hypothesis or, even a theory, can be proven incorrect. Biblical creation cannot be proved incorrect and is, therefor, not science. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/76 "2016-10-20T16:14:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How is that an atheist or agnostic notion, wacky or otherwise? It’s one that was very, very popular with atheists, very unpopular with believers. Part of a whole belief system which happens to be held most often by atheists. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/77 "2016-10-20T16:17:41Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It’s one that was very, very popular with atheists, very unpopular with believers. Part of a whole belief system which happens to be held most often by atheists. Tell me more about this “belief system”. I am an atheist, but I don’t think I’ve heard about any belief system concerning atheism…other than the fact that we don’t buy this “god” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/78 "2016-10-20T16:47:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How is that an atheist or agnostic notion, wacky or otherwise? Stalinist USSR is widely considered a atheist nation, yet they persisted in wacky scientific ideas, Lysenkoism, Demikhov, Ivanov, and others: [http://www.interestingandweird.com/strange-and-disturbing-soviet-science.html](http://www.interestingandweird.com/strange-and-disturbing-soviet-science.html) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/79 "2016-10-20T16:56:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Stalinist USSR is widely considered a atheist nation, yet they persisted in wacky scientific ideas, Lysenkoism, Demikhov, Ivanov, and others: > > [http://www.interestingandweird.com/strange-and-disturbing-soviet-science.html](http://www.interestingandweird.com/strange-and-disturbing-soviet-science.html) That’s funny-I don’t subscribe to any of that, nor do any atheists that I know of. Either we aren’t very good at being atheists, or you aren’t very good at this “correlation/causation” thing. I personally think it’s the latter…but maybe that’s just my “belief system” at work. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923/80 "2016-10-20T16:57:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Tell me more about this “belief system”. I am an atheist, but I don’t think I’ve heard about any belief system concerning atheism…other than the fact that we don’t buy this “god” stuff. Whether or not you think so, some philosophers argue that a strong belief that there cannot be a Deity is indeed a form of Religion. _Positive atheism is the explicit affirmation that gods do not exist._ as opposed to “there is not sufficient evidence for me to show that Deities exist”. Atheists proselytize. Even tho they cannot KNOW there are no Deities, some insist they indeed _know_ that. > **[Atheism Is a Religion](https://reason.com/2012/03/10/atheism-is-a-religion/)** > > Or at least it requires a God for you not to believe in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-in-dinosaurs/768923.md?page=5)