Fire breathing dragons and bombardier beetles

[puddleglum]

Most people believe dinosaurs became extinct before any humans existed, but many cultures have legends of creatures called dragons that closely resemble dinosaurs. This fact indicates that the extinction of dinosaurs must be very recent. (There are some who believe that there are still living dinosaurs. http://www.newanimal.org/dinosaurs.htm ) Some of these dragon legends speak of dragons that breath fire. Is it possible that such a creature actually existed? The best way to answer that question is to look at an animal that we know does exist, the bombardier beetle. Here is what Wikipedia says about it.

Bombardier beetles are ground beetles (Carabidae) in the tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, or Metriini—more than 500 species altogether—which are most notable for the defense mechanism that gives them their name: when disturbed, they eject a hot noxious chemical spray from the tip of their abdomen with a popping sound.

The spray is produced from a reaction between two chemical compounds, hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide, which are stored in two reservoirs in the beetle’s abdomen. When the aqueous solution of hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide reaches the vestibule, catalysts facilitate the decomposition of the hydrogen peroxide and the oxidation of the hydroquinone. Heat from the reaction brings the mixture to near the boiling point of water and produces gas that drives the ejection. The damage caused can be fatal to attacking insects. Some bombardier beetles can direct the spray over a wide range of directions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_beetle

Bombardier beetles defend themselves by expelling a hot liquid from their bodies. What if some dinosaurs had this ability but expelled the liquid from its nose or mouth? Because dinosaurs are much larger than beetles the amount of liquid would be much greater and if it landed on something flammable it might even be capable of starting a fire. To an observer it would appear that the dinosaur or dragon was breathing fire. Fire breathing dragons might not be a product of human imagination but something that actually did exist at one time.

[Divine Insight]

I don't find these kinds of arguments compelling for these ancient religions. There are simply too many other self-contradictory behaviors attributed to the Biblical for the existence of a fire-breathing dragon to exonerate it.

Let's assume that there did exist a very large fire-breathing reptilian animal that lived during human history. And let's further assume that this animal was discovered by fossil records, even somehow including evidence that the animal actually did spew some sort of fiery substance from it's mouth. Would this send me rushing off to worship Yahweh? No, it wouldn't.

To begin with, why would a supposedly all-wise benevolent God have designed a fire-breathing dragon in the first place? When I read the book of Job, one of the things that this God does to convince Job of God's awesome power is to brag to Job about how God created this fire-breathing monster that no man can tame.

When I read the book of Job I was not impressed by this God's bragging. To the contrary the first thing I would have asked God had I been Job is why in the world God would have created such a dangerous animal in the first place?

In fact, I did not find this God's explanations to Job impressive at all. The idea the author of Job was evidently trying to get across to the reader is why humans should not doubt the unlimited power of God. But from my perspective that very argument seems ridiculous. Why would anyone doubt the infinite power of a supposedly omnipotent God? And besides, Job wasn't doubting God's "power" but instead Job wad doubting God's very existence. Obviously if God is not having a conversation with Job directly then God's existence is no longer in question. And therefore God would not need to argue to Job that God is omnipotent.

These religious tales simply have far too many self-contradictory problems associated with them. The discovery of any fire-breathing reptilian animals that may have lived during human history would not "vindicate" the Bible anyway. All it might do is provide a reason why humans came up with the idea of fire breathing dragons in the first place. But don't forget, fire breathing dragons exist in almost all cultures just as centaurs do (horses with the head and torso of a human).

It's unlikely that any actual centaurs ever existed.

And it's probably unlikely that any fire-breathing dragons existed as well.

But even if they did, that wouldn't convince me of the Bible.

There is simply too much other self-contradictory evidence against the Bible contained right within its own stories. The existence of a fire-breathing reptilian animal isn't going to automatically vindicate the entire Bible.