Dinosaurs are a topic of much fascination for kids and adults alike. It is fun to imagine their sizes and colors and what it would have been like to see them walk on the earth. Kids have dinosaur birthday parties and adults watch dinosaur movies. But how exactly should we view dinosaurs as Christians?
Science textbooks teach that dinosaurs existed between about 250 and 65 million years ago in the Mesozoic Era. Evolutionary scientists believe that they roamed the earth way before the first humans did. But the Bible teaches that the earth came about through divine creation rather than through evolutionary processes. What exactly does that mean for dinosaurs? Do Christians even believe in dinosaurs?
In order to answer this question, we need to look at three passages in Scripture as well as some external evidence. We will first examine the first and second chapters of Genesis. Then we will look at Job 40:15-24. Next, we will return to Genesis to study the account of the flood. And we will conclude with some scientific discoveries that have been made in relatively recent years.
Biblical Passages to Consider Regarding Dinosaurs
The Bible gives a clear explanation of the origin of life and the universe in its first two chapters. It reveals that God created the world and everything in it in a period of six days. Genesis 1:24-31 gives us the account of the sixth day when God made both the land animals and humans. Two key verses from this passage highlight the events:
Genesis 1:25, 27- God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind, and God saw that it was good. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
From this passage, we can see that God created all of the land animals (including dinosaurs), and then He created humans later that same day! But, perhaps even more surprisingly, the Bible describes God granting humans dominion over all of the animals, including the dinosaurs (Genesis 1:28). Adam even had the privilege of naming all of the animals (Genesis 2:19), which signified his authority over them.
In Job, we read of a description of one of these land animals that God created: Behemoth. According to Job 40:15-24, God made Behemoth to have “strength in his loins” and “power in the muscles of his belly.” Behemoth had a tail like a cedar tree, bones like “tubes of bronze,” and extremities “like bars of iron.” Even the mighty waters of a raging river do not make him fear, for he is confident even in the face of the Jordan River. The Bible does not clarify that Behemoth is a dinosaur for certain, but it is a very strong possibility. Its strength and build appear to correlate to the scientific understanding of dinosaurs.
God is speaking to Job in this whole passage. And at the end of this section, God asks Job to reflect on the mighty Behemoth. Against all of Behemoth’s might, who could capture him or tame him? And if the created being was so mighty, how much more so the Creator!
This Almighty God made the dinosaurs and allowed humans to roam the earth alongside them. And when humanity entered into the profound depths of sin and faced the consequence of the Flood, He provided salvation for the dinosaurs alongside all of the other animals. Genesis 7:15 explains that the animals “went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.”
The Bible makes it clear that two (probably young) dinosaurs of each kind of dinosaur entered the ark and made it through the flood alive. Though the Bible doesn’t specify exactly what happened afterward, it is likely that some dramatic climate shifts took place. Some scientists believe that volcanoes and an ice age followed the flood and could have been what drove the newly endangered dinosaur species to extinction. Thus, biblically, Christians have ample reason to believe in dinosaurs having roamed the earth alongside humans, even though we no longer see that today.
External Evidence for Recent Dinosaurs
Scientists and paleontologists have done ample research in regard to dinosaurs over the past couple centuries. They have discovered more than 15,000 dinosaur fossils and published their findings for the benefit of everyone. Many of their dating methods have dated these fossils millions of years old.
Since the Bible and God’s creation do not contradict each other, the assertions about the age of dinosaurs have driven many Christians to make compromises with their theology in order to accommodate the science. But in the last few decades, scientists have made some new discoveries, revealing that the fossils are not nearly as old as they once thought.
Scientists have recently discovered dinosaur fossils with soft tissues and original organic materials (like collagen, blood vessels, protein, and hemoglobin) still present. So far, they have found 14 different organic materials, and their presence gives strong evidence for the existence of dinosaurs being very recent. 
Studies vary greatly on the maximum lifespan of these materials (ranging from 10,000 and 900,000 years), but even the longest span of 900,000 years is far shorter than 65 million years ago. It would be impossible for the organic materials to still be present if the fossils were as old as scientists once claimed.  The fossils are thousands of years old rather than millions of years old, and this discovery confirms the plausibility of dinosaurs living at the same time as humans. It is external evidence for the veracity of the biblical account.
In conclusion, it is clear from the Bible and from science that dinosaurs existed. Christians believe in dinosaurs. But they don’t believe in dinosaurs existing hundreds of millions of years ago. They believe in dinosaurs existing at the same time as humans in relatively recent history!