Dragons in History

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Skepti Que
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Dragons in History

Post by Skepti Que » Sun May 04, 2003 1:25 pm

Here are two interesting articles. If you follow the links they will take you to a New York Times site where you can register to read Times articles. It is free and painless. They don't ask for too much secret information. After you register the page opens to the selected article.
SQ

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/29/science/29DRAG.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/29/science/29DBOX.html

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Dr. John Nay
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Dragons?

Post by Dr. John Nay » Tue May 20, 2003 9:53 am

:D SQ - Thanks, it was interesting reading. I did take objection to the statement, ?...were nowhere in the story of Creation...? in the first article. If dragons did (or do) in fact exist, they would have been formed on the sixth day of
Creation Week.

It?s interesting that soooooooo many cultures have stories about dragons. It?s also interesting that several historians and ?thinkers? (not one and the same?) considered dragons to be real. Just exactly what would/would not constitute a dragon? My Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Encyclopedia, copyright 1931, says:

Dragon, in zoology, various lizards, one a South American tree lizard, both eggs and flesh of which are eaten. Others are members of the iguanid genus, Callisaurus, several species of which are common in southern California and southward. The name most commonly belongs, however, to the arboreal flying lizards of the genus Draco of the East Indies. They are distinguised from other lizards by horizontally spread-out folds of skink supported by five or six false ribs, which do not encircle the body, but stand out at right angles from it, forming a parachute. This buoys up the animal in its bounds from limb to limb in pursuit of insects, for it does not possess the power of true flight. It can glide long distances. At rest, ribs and skin are folded back along the sides of the body. About 20 species are recognized, none more than 8 inches long, but they remain in the tops of trees, and little is known about them.

World Book Encyclopedia, copyright 1976 says:

Dragon, DRAG uhn, was the name given to the most terrible monsters of the ancient world. Dragons did not really exist, but most people believed in them. They were huge fire-breathing serpents with wings like thos e of a great bat, and they could swallow ships and men in one gulp.

SoftKey Infopedia 2, copyright 1996:

DRAGON, a legendary reptilian monster similar in form to a crocodile and usually represented as having wings, huge claws, and a fiery breath. In some folklore of antiquity, the dragon symbolizes destruction and evil.

Just what is or is not a dragon?

The word dragon appears in Bible as follows:

NIV - 14 times. Only in Revelation and represents the Devil or evil.

NASB - 16 times. 14 in Revelation and 2 in Isaiah (Is 27:1, 51:9)

NLT - 18 times. 15 in Revelation and 3 in Isaiah (Is 27:1, 30:7, 51:9)

NKJV/ASV/WEB - 12 in Revelation

(With over 100 English translations I thought this would be enough)

In my opinion, in the context of Isaiah 27:1 the reference is to wicked nations, e.g. Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, etc. The New Living Translation (not the paraphrase) uses dragon (NIV, Rahab) to refer to Egypt. In Isaiah 51:9 I believe the reference is to Egypt.

Sooooooooo, this brings us to the Leviathan of Job, chapter 41. Dragon?

It?s interesting that the Bombardier Beetle can put out explosions at the rate of 500 per second of a somewhat toxic gas at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (boiling at sea level). There are visible puffs of smoke and audible explosions (not only this, but you hear hear them). You can read a little on this interesting beetle of the Little Bang in National Geographic Magazine, August 1991.

Another interesting note is Daniel, Chapter 14. Our Bible have 12 chapters, but there are two additional chapters that were not recognized as inspired. Here is a portion of the chapter:

Daniel Kills the Dragon - There was a big dragon in Babylon, and this was worshipped too. The king said to Daniel, ?You are not going to tell me that this is no more than bronze? Look, it is alive; it eats and drinks; you cannot deny that this is a living god; worship it, then.? Daniel replied, ?I worship the Lord my God; he is the living God. With your permission, O king, without using either sword or club I will kill this serpent.? ?You have my permission? said the king. Whereupon Daniel took some pitch (can?t get away from this word), some fat and some hair and boiled them up together, rolled the mixture into balls and fed them to the dragon; the dragon swallowed them and burst. Daniel said, ?Now look at the sort of thing you worship! The Babylonians were furious when they heard about this and began intriguing against the king. ?The king has turned Jew,? they said, ?he has allowed Bel to be overthrown, and the dragon to be killed, and he has put the priests to death.? So they went to the king and said, ?Hand Daniel over to us or else we will kill you, and your family. They pressed him so hard that the king found himself forced to hand Daniel over to them.

Well, I think I?ve draggggggged this out enough.

Dragons? :?

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