Did T. rex taste like chicken?

Hello, I have many questions. What was the relationship between man and T-rex? Did we hunt them? How many humans were killed by T-rex? Were they white meat or dark? Did they taste like chicken? Why does the Bible not talk about T-rex? I am sure you will not respond to my email because you don’t know, however, if you do have the data to support your answers, please email me so that I may invite you to speak to the graduate students in my evolutionary biology department and enlighten them. Until then, we will continue to be rational.

—Dr. L.B., U.S.

Hello, I have many questions. What was the relationship between man and T-rex?

I will do my best to answer your questions and hope I can have some fun with this too. Well, one thing is for sure, man and T. rex didn’t marry. But seriously, according to the Bible, God created all land animals and man on Day 6 of Creation Week.

God created animals according to their “kind” or baramin (bara means “created,” and min means “kind”). A baramin is usually thought to be equivalent to the family or order level (in taxonomic terms). A primary means of testing baramin is reproduction—like the cat kind, dog kind, and so on.

When dealing with dinosaurs that are no longer around, it is difficult to determine their taxonomic classifications. Although there are hundreds of dinosaur names, many are based on very little fossil evidence, such as a tooth. It has been estimated that all dinosaurs could fit into approximately 50 dinosaur kinds. Each of these kinds was created with large diversity in their DNA. This type of diversity can lead to many dinosaur species within a given kind. T. rex was a species of dinosaur within a particular kind. The example below shows many species within the proposed Ceratopsia kind.

Before Adam and Eve sinned (the Fall), man and T. rex would have peacefully co-existed. That is what we would expect from a God of peace. (This seems incredulous to us because we are so accustomed to the fallen state.) In Genesis 1:29–30, God gave animals and man only plants for food. Adam and T. rex would not have feared each other because neither was going to be dinner for the other! But things changed in Genesis 3, when man sinned.

Did we hunt them?

Biblically, man was not permitted to eat animals until after Noah’s Flood. Possibly man hunted animals before the Flood for purposes other than food such as clothing. (Although in Genesis 6:12, all flesh is described as being corrupt so it is possible that man and dinosaurs ate each other before the Flood). From Genesis 9:2 it appears that man and animals did not fear each other before the Flood. As a result of the Flood, though, that relationship has changed; the “fear and dread” of man fell on the animals. In Genesis 9:3 God also permitted man to eat meat, in addition to his previous diet of plants.

After the Flood, the Bible mentions that both Nimrod (Genesis 10:9) and Esau (Genesis 25:27) were considered great hunters. A painting from Australia shows people attacking what appears to be a sea-dwelling “dinosaur” (possibly a plesiosaur). Other animals that are commonly hunted such as deer have been shown alongside dinosaurs in some petroglyphs.

How many humans were killed by T-rex?

What makes you think T. rex killed humans? Possibly you have been influenced, as many others have, by movies like Jurassic Park that show the fierce T. rex eating every dinosaur and human it encountered. From the fossil record, the stomach contents of dinosaurs that belonged to the same kind as T. rex have typically revealed juvenile dinosaurs, such as hadrosaurs and triceratops. In addition, some evolutionists have suggested that some members of the T. rex kind even ate plants.

Were they white meat or dark? Did they taste like chicken?

These are obviously mocking questions, but let’s take a look at them anyway. Dinosaurs would have a combination of both white and dark meat. The designation “white” and ”dark” come from the types of muscle fibers found in the muscles. Fast twitch fibers (white) are found in muscles that produce quick, powerful contractions. Slow twitch fibers (dark) are found in muscles that produce slower, long-lasting contractions.

I will use a chicken to illustrate, since you mention it. Chicken breast is considered white meat because chickens don’t fly much. They typically just use their wings when fleeing a predator when power is needed. Chicken legs are considered dark meat because chickens spend a lot of time on their feet; thus, endurance is needed.

Why does the Bible not talk about T-rex?

What makes you think the Bible doesn’t talk about T. rex? Follow me logically: if the name “Tyrannosaurus rex” wasn’t invented until 1905 (based on a fossil discovery of T. rex in 1902) and the word “dinosaur” wasn’t invented until 1841, then why would they be in the Bible, which was written thousands of years earlier? When looking at Genesis 1, remember, land animals were created on Day 6, so T. rex (or the original “kind”) was created on Day 6, too. Also, the Bible does talk about dragons many times, sometimes metaphorically but also as real animals (Job 30:29). Leviathan is a sea-dwelling creature mentioned in the Bible that may breathe fire (Job 41). In addition, there are many dragon legends throughout the world which may have as their foundation an encounter with a real dinosaur.

While the Bible doesn’t talk about T. rex directly, it does mention another land dinosaur—behemoth. Job 40:15-19 describes behemoth as being vegetarian, having great strength and power, a tail that “sways like a cedar,” bones like bronze, limbs like iron, and “first among the works of God.” This is some type of colossal creature! Some have suggested behemoth was a sauropod-type dinosaur!

I am sure you will not respond to my email because you don’t know,

What is your basis for thinking we would not know? If you’ve read even only a little on our website, you have seen that when we start with the Bible as authoritative, we can find the answers to many questions about the past.

however, if you do have the data to support your answers,

Both you and I have the same data; the question is what is our starting point—or presuppositions—for interpreting the data. Because we are talking mostly about historical science (past) vs. operational science (present), presuppositions play a large role. Is the Bible the supreme authority or is human reason?

please email me so that I may invite you to speak to the graduate students in my evolutionary biology department and enlighten them.

Great, let’s set a date. I will be in contact with you. It would be my pleasure to speak to your graduate students. I was a university biology professor for six years and have a good rapport with young adults.

Until then, we will continue to be rational.

What is your basis for saying that you are rational and, thus, implying that we are not rational? In an evolutionary worldview, rationality is just a result of chemical interactions in the brain; therefore, rationality is relative. The evolutionary worldview does not provide a basis for judging rationality. However, a biblical worldview uses the Bible as the supreme authority and provides a basis for judging rationality. Man was made in the image of a logical God, and so, we would expect man to be rational (of course the Curse has affected man’s ability to be perfect in his rationality).

In the evolutionary worldview, Jeffrey Dahmer should not be criticized for killing and eating people because that was “rational” to him. Using the biblical worldview, Jeffrey Dahmer was not acting rationally. Instead, we can pronounce his actions reprehensible and wrong, as God gave the command not to murder (Exodus 20:13). You must borrow a biblical worldview to try to say logic, rationality, and truth exist.

I’m sure we could argue all day on this subject, but the whole reason that we do answer questions is to help them understand that we are all sinners as a result of the Fall and in need of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is why this is an important issue to Christians. We aren’t stingy; we want to share with the world that salvation has come—sin and death no longer reign! The gospel is the good news, and is a free gift to thwart the sting of death. Those who receive this free gift will one day live in a perfect world with God—no more death, pain, and suffering.

Because the history in the Bible is true, the message of the gospel is also true. I want to encourage you to consider this.

With kindness in Christ,
Georgia Purdom, Ph.D.

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