Daddy, Were There Really Dinosaurs?

by Leonard V Johnson

Stacy Trasancos of the National Catholic Register wrote back in 2016 ──

What Do You Say When Kids Ask About Dinosaurs?

Suppose you catechize your children properly and teach them all about Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden and original sin. Suppose you sit on the sofa one Sunday evening, read the Bible with them and explain how God created all of the plants and animals.

On Monday morning, they return to their science classes and learn about fossils and dinosaurs, which have sparked an interest and led them to browse the Internet for more information. It’s not like dinosaurs are taboo or anything. Kids love dinosaurs! Eventually, they ask the obvious question.

“So, Mom, I have been wondering: Did the dinosaurs live before or after Adam and Eve?” …

If the answer is that the dinosaurs lived before Adam and Eve, then it follows that all words and sentences in the first three chapters of Genesis are not to be taken literally. Dinosaurs are believed to have dominated the earth for more than 100 million years, first appearing more than 200 million years ago in the Triassic Period and reigning during the Jurassic Period …

If the answer is that the dinosaurs lived after Adam and Eve and roamed with antediluvian giants (or something) before the Great Flood of Noah, then fine, maybe, just maybe, you have preserved the literal sense of the very first Bible story to a T. …

My kids have asked this question, and I have practiced my answer. First, do not teach them young-earth creationism. In my opinion, that is a failure to teach at all. It requires you to tell kids that a certain narrow group of self-appointed authorities are the sole authorities of both science and theology, and that is a dangerous corral to shove them in. …

Meanwhile, say something like this to your kids: “Dinosaurs lived before Adam and Eve. You have been taught about how God created plants and animals before he [sic] created man and woman. Well, there is much more to the story. Scientists have learned about fossils, taxonomy, anatomy and genetics, all subjects you will learn in time. Be excited; it is mind-blowing to explore how God designed nature!”

(https://www.ncregister.com/blog/what-do-you-say-when-kids-ask-about-dinosaurs).

Mrs. Trasancos, a chemist from Penn State University, who worked as a senior research chemist for DuPont (historically, in the 1930s, DuPont was deeply involved in U.S. corporate and political circles. DuPont had financial and logistical ties to arms suppliers worldwide, which were also sold to and used by our enemies) 1 was right about one thing ── this dinosaur subject requires parents to be ready for the correct answer.

The Holy Bible, which is God’s living word, admonishes all parents to teach their children the holy and righteous commands of the LORD God ──

“’ And these words which I command you TODAY shall be in your heart. 7) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.’” – Deuteronomy 6:6-9.

It was at this moment in time when Judah was a vassal of Assyria, and King Josiah was leading a pro-independence, monotheistic reform. The Prophet Moses here isn’t just speaking of any legal code; it’s a teaching moment urging all parents to pass the faith of the LORD God to their children, in everything they do with their hands, with their mind, and in their heart.

Traditionally, Jews affix a mezuzah (a small parchment scroll containing this very Scripture) to each of the doorposts of their home. It’s placed in a decorative case and secured on the right side of the doorway, serving as a physical reminder of the commandment. The Prophet Moses was speaking figuratively about keeping the LORD's words in our hearts and minds, but it was Jewish tradition that turned this into a literal mezuzah ritual.

Also, the Apostle Peter admonishes us, brethren, that we should “sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks [us] a reason for the hope that is in [us], with meekness and fear.” – 1 Peter 3:15.

There were large creatures ── that have come to be called dinosaurs ── prior to the creation of Adam and Eve.

The overall majority of what Mrs. Trasancos wrote is wrong! For one thing: It is utterly wrong of her to even suggest: “If the answer is that the dinosaurs lived before Adam and Eve, then it follows that all words and sentences in the first three chapters of Genesis are not to be taken literally.”

The very opening of God’s living word ── of which our own Savior, High Priest, and Advocate has said, “ …’ Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” – Matthew 4:4. So, we can either believe what the LORD God has said, or like Mrs. Trasancos, you do not take anything His living word says literally ──

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1.

1. beereshuday֖at beerha֣ elohyay֑im imt֥a hashoomahy֖im ve'eyat֥a ha'arֽetz: (ו)

Of course, God’s living word doesn’t tell us just when this occurred, this “in the beginning.” There have been many (including myself) who have added up the ages of various biblical figures when they became fathers, then combined that with the reigns of kings, and then added in some additional Scriptures, and have concluded that from the time of verse 3 of Genesis chapter 1 to the present has been a little less than 6,000 years! Basically, each day = 1,000 years of Earth's recreation history. (For details, be sure to read and study the article “Could Mankind’s 6000 years end in 2030?”).

There was indeed a creation as stated in Genesis 1:1. But there was a long gap between verse 1 and verse 2 ── of billions of years! In a series of Personals, I began writing, I went over “Some Prehistory Facts.” And I began with the rebellion of the evil one – Satan the devil. Because of this rebellion, physical destruction occurred to the earth! Notice this – Genesis 1:2, “[But] earth [became] without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep.” The Hebrew words which our great patriarch and prophet Moses used are tohu and bohu – which truly means “chaotic and in confusion.”

Notice ──

2. veha'aretz, hiyata tohu vevohu, vehoshech, al-pni thom; veru'ach elohim, merahefet al-pni hamayim.

Here are a few additional translations ──

“The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface.” – Genesis 1:2, NLT.

“And the earth was † without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” – Genesis 1:2, NET.

(† Hebrew, hayah could also be read as became).

Illustration of the Earth being formed per-2 Peter 3:5 ── “But this fact is hidden from them – they themselves choosing to ignore it – that by the Word of God the heavens existed of old, and the earth came forth out of water and amid water.”

Let us also notice the following ──

“For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other.’” – Isaiah 45:18.

This planet was formed from and amid water. Evidence from ancient rocks suggests Earth may have been a water world for much of its early history, with little or no land until later tectonic activity created continents. 2

So, as mentioned earlier, something terrible occurred to the Earth between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Day one officially begins in verse 3 ──

“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”

Now, the LORD God’s living word “cannot be broken” – John 10:35. And the Prophet Isaiah, under divine inspiration, clearly states that the LORD God “formed the earth and made it … Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited.” So therefore, there was a second creation of the planet Earth. Psalm 104:30 supports this understanding ── “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth.”

Notice this from Arthur C. Custance (1910-1985), the British-born Canadian who wrote about the unique connections between scientific research and biblical understanding, bringing together faith and reason. He attended the University of Toronto, where he obtained B.A. and M.A. degrees in biblical languages ──

“ … the view was never thereafter entirely lost, even though it was sometimes presented only in the form of an opinion that such a gap did exist, a time interval of unknown duration between the initial creation and the work of the six days which began in verse 3. …

Furthermore, in the Massoretic Text in which the Jewish scholars tried to incorporate enough ‘indicators’ to guide the reader as to correct punctuation there is one small mark which is technically known as Rebhia, which is classified as a ‘disjunctive accent’ intended to notify the reader that he should pause before proceeding to the next verse. In short, this mark indicates a ‘break’ in the text. Such a mark appears at the end of Genesis 1:1. This mark has been noted by several scholars including Luther. It is one indication among others, that the initial waw ( ו) which introduces verse 2 should be rendered ‘but’ rather than ‘and’, a dis-junctive rather than a con-junctive.” 3

So, we come to see that, anciently, there is a ( ו) mark between verses 1 and 2 of the Book of Genesis──indicating that there should be a pause. Also, that instead of verse 2 beginning with “And” as the 1611 King James Version, as well as the New English Translation, has, it should rather begin with “But.”

Notice that mankind was not created until well after Genesis 1:1 ──

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill [replenish] the earth and subdue it; …” – Genesis 1:27-28.

The New English Translation by Minister Fred R. Coulter rightly uses “And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; …”

To replenish is Strong’s #4390, from the Hebrew מָלאֵ , male' ── replenish.

It should also be noted that this was the same command by the LORD God to the Prophet Noah after the Flood ──

“So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill [replenish] the earth.” – Genesis 9:1.

Again, the New English Translation by Minister Fred R. Coulter rightly uses “replenish.”

So, this gap that was between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 was when there were dinosaurs.

Now, do dinosaurs disprove God’s living word? Well, scientists tell us that dinosaurs roamed the earth some millions of years ago ── like the Tyrannosaurus, which lived some 69-66 million years ago during the late Cretaceous period just before the mass extinction event. Yet, God’s living word tells us that everything was created in a mere six days──which, as mentioned earlier, actually began in verse 3 of Genesis chapter 1. Nearly 6,000 years ago (cf. 2 Peter 3:8).

So, indeed, before Adam and Eve were created, this Earth was inhabited by strange and bizarre creatures, most of them of awesome and immense size, called “terrible lizards” ── with one, Argentinosaurus huinculensis, with an estimated weight of 60–124 tonnes! In real-world terms, it’s about nine-tenths the weight of the Statue of Liberty without its base (which is about 140 tonnes)!

Yet, most fundamentalist and traditionalist churches, along with most “creationists,” tend to support the idea that “God created the whole universe, including mankind along with the dinosaurs, 6,000 years ago.”

So, just as has come to Mrs. Trasancos, dinosaurs have come to completely befuddle biblical students and scholars regarding the authenticity of the Bible ── and to come to question its very Author. Because can God’s word account for the very existence of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures? If not ── then, as they say, “it follows that all words and sentences in the first three chapters of Genesis are not to be taken literally.”

The fact is, without real and true spiritual knowledge imparted from our Father and our Savior, it becomes a real conundrum trying to squeeze dinosaurs into a 6,000-year understanding. Scientific facts don’t allow it.

Notice these well-established facts ──

1. There is a vast difference between the age of dinosaurs (which had three distinct stages, Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous) and the age of mankind.

2. In truth, the world of dinosaurs and the world of our modern mammals are not the direct, unbroken descendants of ancient mammals in a simple “Linear Evolutionary Chain,” cf. Genesis 1:20-25.

3. It has been well-established, and the most common and widely used method for dating dinosaur fossils is relative dating through stratigraphy and biostratigraphy, 4 which shows us that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago.

4. The Great Flood, which is estimated to have occurred around 2348 BC, is not what killed off the dinosaurs.

God’s living word tells us in Genesis 6:19, “And of EVERY LIVING THING OF ALL FLESH you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.”

5. An impact crater, estimated to have formed some 66 million years ago, the Chicxulub crater, is believed to have formed when an asteroid, about 120 miles in diameter, struck Earth. It is now widely accepted that the devastation and climate disruption resulting from the impact were the primary cause of the mass extinction.

Now, dinosaurs were warm-blooded, land-dwelling, air-breathing creatures that should have been on the Ark ── what a massive ark that would have been! Dinosaurs were not on the Ark, which means they were not alive during the Antediluvian period. The same holds true for the flying reptiles; they would have been on the Ark as well.

So, from these five well-established facts alone, we must outright reject the fundamentalist and traditionalist churches along with most “creationists” with their idea that the Earth (without the gap understanding) along with all life upon it, was created a mere 6,000 years ago. 

INDEED! This Earth is estimated to be some 4.54 billion years old ── give or take some 50 million years ── and the fact that there are no “terrible lizards” today shows us that they were extinct before the Great Flood.

So, with all this being said, there were dinosaurs before the creation of Adam and Eve. And the LORD God caused and/or allowed the dinosaurs of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods to become extinct before they created human beings ── cf. Genesis 1:26-27.

A true Christian should not be afraid to teach children the living truth about the LORD God’s creation ── including the creation of dinosaurs. □

Sources:

1 Sanders, R., The du Pont Company, Press for Conversion! Coat.ncf.ca, Retrieved 12 Aug. 2026.

2 Haynes, K., https://www.astronomy.com/science/ancient-earth-may-have-been-a-water-world-with-no-dry-land/, Astronomy Magazine, 6 Mar. 2020.

3 Custance, Arthur C. M.A., Ph.D., F.R.A.I, Without Form and Void: A Study of the Meaning of Genesis 1.2., Arthur C. Custance, Brockville, Canada, 1970, pgs. 14, 18.

4 Science News Today Editorial Team, How Do Paleontologists Date Fossils? Science News Today, 31 July 2025.