Dragons? Are they of the devil?

SillyWalks

SillyWalks

New Member
Hey,

I'm a dragon lover. I draw them, I write stories about them, but I just don't feel confident with them recently... just because I saw in Revelations that Satan, or the beast, is referred to as a "dragon". Now I just wouldn't be so confident about maybe publishing stories of those dragons, even if I didn't really mean for those dragons to represent the devil.

Any thoughts?:confused:
 
I did make a "Defeat your Dragons" T-shirt once so the connection is there but I never thought of dragons as being exclusively related to the Devil. It would be like hating snakes because Satan once used that form. It's unlike warlocks which are exclusively Satanic in origin. The dragon exists in Chinese culture as well. IMO dragons are in fact what people called those bones they found when they didn't call them dinosaurs. Honestly I wouldn't worry a bit unless you are making the Biblical connection and taking liberties with it but that is another subject entirely.
 
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Yeah, I dragons I am writing about are supposed to be the good guys... and I didn't mean to affiliate them with the devil at all. Just like in McCafferey's "Dragonriders of Pern"
 
I personally do not believe that the modern depiction of dragons, are of the devil. I too believe that dragons of the ancient lore were also known today as dinosaurs. In Revelations, John used words that he had to describe creatures and events that were not comprehensible for people of his time period. Could Leviathon be a dragon too? Or Behemoth? Could these Old Testament creatures be dragons too?
 
You trigger a point. Saint John had to use our understanding of the event that must take place in the future. However, it's said that Revelations is full of metaphors... and a giant reptile is used to describe Satan... like a dinosaur. But if it had wings? I don't remember reading that. Anyways, I guess St. John saw a dinosaur-like thing... or did he describe it as one?

"I have so many questions!"
- a line from AC: Brotherhood
 
SillyWalks is correct Revelation AND the Bible are full of symbolism. In order to really see what an author is trying to communicate as accurately as can be you need to try to see from their perspective. Metaphors and symbolism are used in communication to help bring the reader into the authors world to see what they are seeing. Satan is a snake in Genesis, a dragon in Revelation 12:7 (KJV) and Jesus has a sword in His mouth "Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword" in Revelation 19:15, Jesus is a "Strong Tower" and over again symbolism is used. So much so we begin to overlook what is "being said" for "what we are reading" and these can be 2 very different things.

Dragons real? I would say that there is strong fossil proof that this is true. Did they have wings? No way, just too many physics barriers to get over to buy that. Fire breathing? For sure possible just imagine a really big "Bombardier Beetle" that burps instead of farts. :o

A little off topic though, I don't think that the unicorns of Job were horses and they definitely did not eat rainbows and poop butterflies. Just wanted to clear that up. ;)
 
Look it up in Greek! But agreed the bible is full of symbolism, but you also got to understand that John is trying to explain what he saw based on his understanding of the world. So he may describe satan as a dragon based on his idea of what a dragon is, not what you see as a dragon. If that makes since.
 
According to a pastor at a church I attended many years ago, the word "dragon" can be interpreted to be a whale (according to his research)....which would kind of make sense as in Revelations the dragon rises up from the sea.

Of course I have no supporting information, but if its out there, it might be worth looking into. Hey if seamen can mistake manatees for mermaids, why not a whale for a dragon?

I wish I had the verse readily available, but there is a also a verse in Revelations in which Paul describes "giant locusts" that are armored like horses ready for battle and having the "sting" of scorpions...it sounds like how a person from his timeframe might describe an armored and weaponized helicopter without having any other reference to draw from. My point being, he didn't have a modern vocabulary to draw from in a variety of his writings.

Also, we have a much more modernized definition of the word "dragon." What did it mean to them so much further back in his lifetime? It's also possible that being in the Middle East they had some Asian mythology/folklore influence them in some capacity, which are some of the earliest references and depictions of dragons.
 
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I'm kind of the belief that if the Bible says dragons, God meant dragons and not whales or He would have wrote whales. But meh.
 
Wolfeman said:
I'm kind of the belief that if the Bible says dragons, God meant dragons and not whales or He would have wrote whales. But meh.
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Yeah, I am not sure how I feel about it other than it's a "loose possibility." I was only offering up that interpretation as a way of saying that the term "dragon" may not be as literal in its definition like the "giant locusts" aren't a literal interpretation in Revelations when Paul describes the things he saw in the future to the best of his ability. I could see a fisherman call something massive he sees surface in the ocean at night "a dragon." Edge of the world kinda stuff.
 
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The Mighty Gerbil said:
It would be like hating snakes because Satan once used that form.
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Yes. That is exactly why I hate snakes ;) They are terrible creatures.... (although fascinating from a biological standpoint)

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Dragons are epic creatures. Look at it from that standpoint.
We desire the epic. We desire these grandiose, beautiful adventures full of wonder.
All those desires are God given. Our desire for limitless grandeur and beauty is our desire for God himself. Our desire for epic adventures is our desire for the commission God has given us in the redemption of the world. We're made for that.
 
SKLURB said:
Yeah, I am not sure how I feel about it other than it's a "loose possibility." I was only offering up that interpretation as a way of saying that the term "dragon" may not be as literal in its definition like the "giant locusts" aren't a literal interpretation in Revelations when Paul describes the things he saw in the future to the best of his ability. I could see a fisherman call something massive he sees surface in the ocean at night "a dragon." Edge of the world kinda stuff.
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I did a quick look in my Vines dictionary, and the word "drakon" is the only word that comes up. It denotes a mythical monster, a dragon; also a large serpent, so called because of its keen power of sight (from a root derk-, signifying "to see") and 12 times in Revelation it's used of the Devil. I agree, however, that using a dragon in a non-biblical sense is pretty harmless.
 
I didn't mean to affiliate Dragons with the devil at all. It seems like that everywhere we look we see dragons; dragons of all sizes, colors, and types. As a matter of fact we see dragons in books, statues, pictures, videos, movies and even in pottery.
 
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