Of course Mormons believe in dinosaurs! Dinosaurs are long past a “theory.” You can actually go dig them up and find bones and bits of skin.
In fact, Brigham Young University (owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) has a paleontology museum.
I’ve never met a Mormon who doesn’t believe in dinosaurs. I’ve attended Mormon church services over 1,500 times and I’ve never heard anyone doubt the existence of dinosaurs.
Why would anyone think that Mormons don’t believe in dinosaurs?
Frankly, there are a whole host of things that people think Mormons believe, and very little of it is true.
Here are the reasons that people come up with for thinking that Mormons don’t believe in dinosaurs.
- The scriptures don’t talk about dinosaurs, but talk about ancient times when Adam and Eve were alive.
- Some say that there was no death on the Earth until Adam and Eve’s fall, yet dinosaurs were on the Earth and died before Adam and Eve.
There are a whole host of problems with those two statements, and neither one is rooted in Mormon theology in any way.
No Mention of Dinosaurs in Scripture
As an attorney, this argument bothers me because it’s a logical fallacy. Simply because something is not mentioned does not mean it doesn’t exist.
It’s true that the Bible makes no mention of dinosaurs. Neither does the Book of Mormon. That doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. It simply means they weren’t mentioned. Also, it’s very possible that dinosaurs predated Adam and Eve.
No Death on Earth Before Adam and Eve
The scriptures are clear in stating that Adam and Even were not subject to death and sickness before they partook of the fruit and became fallen.
The scriptures say nothing about whether or not other organisms (such as dinosaurs) were alive and died before Adam and Eve.
There is nothing in LDS theology or in LDS scripture that would shed any light on this theory, so you really can’t say Mormons believe or disbelieve that dinosaurs were on the Earth and all died before Adam and Eve, or if dinosaurs were alive while Adam and Eve were alive.
So Do Mormons Believe Dinosaurs Existed and Were Killed Off By a Global Event?
That’s what they teach us in school, right? It very well could be that science is correct in that belief, and there is absolutely nothing in Mormon theology that would disagree with that commonly-held theory.
I am LDS. I know that the earth did not suddenly go “POOF”. It was organized from existing matter. Very old matter. The matter used to organize this earth has been around for ions. That being said, wouldn’t it be safe to assume that Adam’s physical body was organized from this existing matter? Which would make his physical body ions old too? And not just his physical body but all the creatures of this earth as well? This would offset the carbon dating idea of dinosaurs existing millions of years ago.