Can Christians Like Dragons?

HEADS UP!!! The Biblical half of this version of the article is relatively outdated as of 02/11/2016, so please follow the below link to read the revised and expanded edition! Thank you!!!

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In other words, can a Christian morally have a love for dragons? The logic behind the question is that dragons by Biblical standards seem to be evil creatures. Therefore it should be incompatible to follow Jesus Christ and love dragons at the same time, right? This is what I've been accused of many times, being a firm holder to Truth yet having a soft spot for dragons. I would like to answer in detail these accusations, thus the reason for this article.

BIBLICAL EVIDENCE

Let us look at dragons from every angle, starting with what The Sacred Scriptures say. In The Holy Bible the Hebrew word used for dragon(s) is 'tanniyn' and shows up 29 times in The Old Testament. But, do note that dragons are not always referred to under that word in Scripture, so the count is higher. I've divided these verses up into groups, mainly general and specific cases.

**Dragons in general

--in The Bible we see that dragons are often used by God as curses. Examples are the Babylonian Empire (Isaiah 13:19-22, Jeremiah 51:37), any nation which attacks Israel (Isaiah 34:13-15), Jerusalem (Jeremiah 9:11) and Judah (Jeremiah 10:22), and the Kingdoms of Hazor (Jeremiah 49:33). From this we can guess that dragons were extremely territorial and wild creatures. More on this later.

--on the flip side, dragons are shown to, at least in a future time, be gentle. Look at Isaiah 43:20, "The beast of the field shall honour Me [The Lord], the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen." We do know in the future that other animals will be peaceful, such as wolves, leopards, lions, bears, asps, cockatrice, and serpents (Isaiah 11:6-9 & 65:24-25). But, as we all know, this is not so yet, so dragons would still be wild.

Also note Psalm 148:7, "Praise The LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps [oceans]:" Dragons are to praise God. Now, even satan knows the truth, and trembles at it (James 2:19), but he is evil, so this is not a conclusive argument either.

We must also remember that at the beginning of creation, everything was "very good" (Genesis 1:31) or perfect in our eyes. God didn't say perfect, even though it was, as He is even more holy, thus this universe was below His level. Perfect means dragons were good too, and ate plants (Genesis 1:29-30). Dragons are even mentioned in Genesis 1! But they were translated "whales" in verse 21. But again, this is not the way of things anymore, thanks to Adam in Genesis chapter 3.

--additional information you learn of dragons in Scripture: they have poison (Deuteronomy 32:33) or venom, they may be loners (Isaiah 34:13), they live in dens (Jeremiah 9:11) or lairs, they snuff up the wind (Jeremiah 14:6) or breathe heavily, they wail (Micah 1:8), and they produce milk (Lamentations 4:3).

Also, based on what the Hebrew word translated ' poison' means, it could also mean dragons have a burning anger, full of wrath, rage and indignation. This would go along with their wildness mentioned above. This is evidence against them, that is for sure.

Note, in the Lamentations verse, the dragons are translated "sea monsters" but it is still 'tanniyn', the Hebrew word for dragon.

**Specific Dragons

--Leviathan ~ okay, there is soooooo much I could go into with this guy, but I'll be brief (if I can). The Hebrew word for this creature is used 6 times in Scripture. The most detailed account for Leviathan is Job chapter 41. From this chapter we learn that leviathan is virtually untouchable (Job 41:8). But we also get its temperament: prideful (Job 41:34).

But there is more to this creature than simple strength. Look at Isaiah 27:1, "In that day The LORD with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the dragon that is in the sea." This verse I bugged over for most of my life, because why would God Himself need to kill an animal?

I say an animal because the word is always used in the singular sense, another thing which bugged me. It is as if only one leviathan exists and lives forever. Long story short, I think this "serpent" is demon possessed. Why else would God be the only One who can kill it, and why else would He want to? An animal cannot possibly be evil enough on its own to warrant God killing it. And there is no other way for one animal to live so long.

So, put simply, we can't use Leviathan as a role model for other dragons, as it is a one-of-a-kind.

--Great Red Dragon ~ the Greek word for dragon in The New Testament is 'drakon' and is used 13 times, all in Revelation. We are told clearly who this dragon is: satan. Revelation 12:9, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Verses 7 and 8 give more detail on this event, so read them too. Also, Revelation 20:2 confirms the identity of this dragon.

Again, this dragon is not to be used in deciding what the other dragons are like, as this is the devil. This dragon may not even be real beyond that; it may just be a symbol.

--Behemoth ~ this dragon is described pretty peaceful in Job 40:15-24. But the part of its description that is most intriguing is verse 19, "He is the chief of the ways of God: He that made him can make His sword to approach unto him." Chief of the ways of God? Only God can make His sword approach him? I'm still working on what God means by these, but they sound like this is a good creature.

--Jonah's Eater ~ in the book of Jonah chapter 1 verse 17, this creature is translated a "great fish" and in Matthew 12:40 it is translated a "whale", but neither is likely true. The Greek word here is used only once, and that is in reference to Jonah. It means essentially a sea monster, or put another way, a dragon. Also, the two Hebrew words for 'great' and 'fish' are used in tandem only this once.

This creature, whatever it is, never shows up again in Scripture, so it is impossible to know what it is like temperament wise. God used it here, so it may be acting out of character, or it may not. We just don't know. So this is inconclusive evidence for dragons.

--Moses' Staff ~ in Exodus 7:8-13 Moses, or rather Aaron his brother, casts down his staff before Pharaoh and God makes it a serpent. Well, the translation here is faulty. The Hebrew word here is 'tanniyn', the same word meaning dragon!

Pharaoh's wise men, sorcerers and magicians then do the same thing and make, every one of them, a dragon with their staffs. God then has Aaron's dragon eat all the others'. God made and used a dragon here to do His will, and God never creates evil, therefore dragons can't be evil, just wild, like any other animal you meet in the wilderness.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

Okay, this section could be an article in itself, so I will need to be very brief. I plan to do that article as well, especially if there is demand for it.

**Vegetarian Lion

"Once upon a time, in 20th century America, there lived a lion who refused to be violent. Those who cared for her tried to train her to behave in a way they thought was dictated by nature-but she refused. Instead, she taught her keepers that man's idea of what constitutes "natural" animal behavior, is not necessarily what God created the animals to be." – Quote from www.all-creatures.org/hr/hrali… 'The Lion who Lay Down with The Lamb: The True Story of a Vegetarian Lion'.

During the 1950's, the lioness Little Tyke was born in captivity at Hidden Valley Ranch in Washington. Her mother had been captured from the wild and put in a zoo-cell. The zoo-keepers had tried to have her give birth 5 times, but each time the lioness would kill her young. It is thought that she did this to keep her young from living her horror of a life, at least from a wild lion's perspective.

Tyke's mother attempted to kill her too, but the zoo-keepers finally managed to get the cub away from the mother. Tyke had been badly mauled, but pulled through. In her new home with Georges and Margaret Westbeau Little Tyke grew up peacefully. She refused to eat meat of any kind. Pictures in Georges book on Tyke shows her living with lambs, dogs, cats, chickens and deer, but not attacking them at all.

For 4 long years Tyke's owners tried to get her to eat meat, as scientists said she would die of malnutrition without meat. Yet, no matter what they tried, Little Tyke would not take a bite of anything except various grains, milk, and eggs. And, against all the scientific principles, she grew up healthy. As healthy as any other lion on the planet, no physical difficulties at all.

They did not stop worrying over Tyke's health, though, until they read Genesis 1:30, "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so." That verse put Tyke's owners at rest, and they accepted Tyke's herbivore nature.

For more info look at: www.answersingenesis.org/artic…
And: www.vegetarismus.ch/vegepet/ty…

If a lion could choose to be peaceful and loving, more so than domesticated cats as they'll eat meat, then so could dragons. I'm not saying all would be good like this, but there would be exceptions to the "rule" of their nature.

Also, there are lots, simply lots, of other examples of creation going against what we hold as "normal". Another example is Walt Disney's "The Legend of Lobo", who was an infamous wolf in the old west. The movie is good, though doesn't follow Lobo's real history too well, but it does give another example of creation gone right.

**Dinosaurs

Dragons were real creatures, even if we may imagine them wrong. Many people accuse The Holy Bible as inaccurate because it doesn't mention dinosaurs, but what they fail to look at is that the term did not yet exist. The Authorized King James Version was the first trusted translation of The Bible into English. I would argue it is still the only trustworthy translation, but I'm not writing about that. The KJV, or AV, was written in 1611, but the word dinosaur was invented in 1841 by Sir Richard Owen. That is 230 years difference, and in The Bible's disfavor.

Most translations which come after the KJV have either taken its interpretation of 'tanniyn' and translated it 'dragon' as well, or gone further away from the truth and called them something else. For example, Psalms 148:7 says, "Praise The LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:" while the NIV says, "Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths," That is definitely going downhill when you consider that dinosaurs are being spoken of.

Before the word Dinosaur was derived from two Greek words meaning "terrible lizard" there was no official term for the large reptiles which wandered the globe. So, people simply referred to them as Dragons. These dragon legends, which are all over the world, not one continent or culture is exempt, are probably distorted tales of people seeing these mighty dinosaurs. We rarely see them today because they're a dying kind on our planet, but there are sightings even today.

Nessy of Loch Ness in Scotland in a famous example. Many believe it exists, many do not. But a less known lake monster, Champ of Lake Champlain in New York State is considered a "fact" by most who live in the area. Many locals have seen her. Some will even go out for a picnic just to wait for her to surface, and if fortunate she will.

Scientists refuse to believe she exists anyway, as she fits the description of the plesiosaurus. But these are not the only places these creatures have been spotted. Other locations include Canada, Scandinavia, Ireland and Russia. In 1977 a carcass of one such creature was even captured by a fishing vessel.

Some American Missionaries to Africa were once showing them pictures of dinosaurs from a book, and the natives stopped them at a page and proclaimed, "That creature's alive! It lives in the swamps!" The dinosaur they pointed to was one of the long-neck types, like the Apatosaurus, and they said it was fiercely territorial. As a result the missionaries were not taken to see them.

Aborigines in Australia have reported an animal similar to the dinosaur "struthiomimus". People of Northern Rhodesia have been reported an animal similar to a "ceratosaurus" that attacks elephants and rhinos. And reports continue to come from people living in or near large rain forests, like the Amazon in South America, about large unknown beasts. This is not unusual as scientists continue to find and catalogue new creatures every year.

Source for much of the previous information is the video "The Great Dinosaur Mystery" by Paul S. Taylor (Films for Christ) in 1991. For more info: www.christiananswers.net/dinos…
And: www.christiananswers.net/dinos… .

The following is a quote from www.answersingenesis.org/creat… 'Are dinosaurs alive today?'

"From China there were claims that more than 1,000 people had seen a dinosaur-like monster in two sightings around Sayram Lake in Xinjiang.

From Scotland came the latest Loch Ness monster sighting: Mrs Edna MacInnes reported on June 24 that she had seen a 15-metre-long creature with a neck like a giraffe in Loch Ness.

From Canada, Professor P. LeBlond of the University of British Columbia told a meeting of zoologists about the many sightings of 'Caddy'-short for Cadborosaurus-around the British Columbia coast and as far south as Oregon. The remains of a three-metre juvenile 'Caddy' have actually been found in the stomach of a whale.

It's been a big year for monsters. Russian scientists were startled to find remains of dwarf mammoths on Wrangel Island, off the Siberian coast, which they said were living only 3,700 years ago. And British explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell returned from an isolated Nepalese valley in March with photos of living creatures which looked something like mammoths or extinct stegodons."

End quote. "But how?" you ask. "How can dinosaurs be alive today? They're extinct." Well, modern science, i.e. evolution, needs them to be dead, but Scripture says they lived alongside mankind. They were created on Day 6 of the creation week, just hours before humans were, and were on Noah's Ark. They did live after The Deluge and probably do live today. Behemoth fits the description of a Brachiosaurus. No, it was not an elephant or hippopotamus, just take its tail for an example.

I could go into so much more detail here, but I'll need to move on.

Dinosaurs of history were the dragons of old. If you make that connection, you see that dragons were not any wilder than we assume dinosaurs were. Dragons were nothing more than animals, hardly evil.

***IN CONCLUSION***

First a summary of what we've gone over. Minus sign "-" equals negative evidence, plus sign "+" equals positive evidence, and a slash "/" equals inconclusive evidence.

1--dragons were used in Scripture as curses by God [-]
2--dragons do praise and at least will honor God [+]
3--dragons could have had a mean temper about them [-]
4--Leviathan is a singular creature and being possessed doesn't count [/]
5--The Great Red Dragon of Revelation is satan and therefore also doesn't count [/]
6--Behemoth seems to be peaceful, at least if not bothered, being chief of God's ways [+]
7--the sea monster which swallowed Jonah is not described enough to tell its temperament [/]
8--Aaron's dragon was made by God and God doesn't make evil [+]
9--there are glimpses in creation which show what God intended it to be, this would apply to dragons as well [+]
10--Dinosaurs are the modern term for dragons, thus showing the purely animal nature of dragons [+]

Added up that is: 2 against, 3 neutral, and 5 pro. I think it is safe to say that you are just as Christian to like dragons as you are to dislike them. It is not God's fault the dragon fit best for the symbol of satan's reign in the future, or His fault Leviathan got messed up in the demonic crowd. Dragons, or Dinosaurs, are just as natural as lions, wolves and snakes and no more evil than they.

**Do note, though. Just because dragons aren't evil, it does not mean that you can't make them so. The game 'Dungeons and Dragons' is a bad game as it is saturated with the occult. Just because dragons are safe, does not mean how they are used is safe. You can destroy an okay thing easily. Sex is a prime example. So, don't take my conclusion as a, "Dragons are okay so let's go read everything we can get our hands on with dragons in it!" My article was simply written to let you know that Scripture is not anti-dragons. You still need to choose wisely.

**Also, the most important thing to remember is that Scripture is our primary source of information about both earthly and Heavenly things. Jesus said in John 3:12, "If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you Heavenly things?" The Bible has its facts about God's creation correct; therefore we can trust its information about The Creator.

John 14:6--Jesus saith unto him, "I Am The Way, The Truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto The Father, but by Me."