I obtained parts of this segment from the Gnosis.org library. http://gnosis.org/library/actandy.htm
Tell your friends about the Deeds of God website. Help the recorded truths of history become widely known once again! Dan Curry. 812-564-9421
There are actually several accounts of 'modern times dinosaurs' (from the last 2,000 years) on this page, if you keep scrolling down.
Approx. 1280 A.D.: Marco Polo Speaks of the Chinese Apparently Dining On 'Dinosaur?' (though that term wasn't actually coined until 1841 A.D.) ...Says It Was Considered the 'Tastiest of Flesh' by the local peoples!
Marco Polo (1254 A.D. - 1324 A.D.) was a Venetian explorer (meaning from Venice, Italy) who traveled China, India, Persia, and Maylasia among other parts of Asia with his father and uncle. They were interested in trade and were exploring these little-known areas to make acquaintances and open trade markets. But the trip ended up being more like an epic journey for the ages. For 24 years they traveled, encountered numerous Asian cultures and made various observations - some of these observations are very intriguing.
Their return trip home included a long and perilous sea journey in a convoy of ships. Some sources report that of the 600 travelers and the ship's crews on top of that, only 18 men survived. But of those 18 men, all three of the Polos survived! God must have watched over them. And perhaps for a reason: their accounts of their long trip and the many formerly unknown sights that they had witnessed ignited a keen interest in exploring the Asian world. Christopher Columbus was one person who read with great interest about their adventures, making many annotations in his copy of the manuscript speaking of their adventures on pages that especially interested him. His copy of Polo's account is still preserved.
Upon their return they blundered into an unexpected Italian war zone, and Marco was captured aboard a ship. It was in prison that he first dictated all that he had seen on his long Asian journey to a writer named Rustichello da Pisa, who was also imprisoned. The written account made it out of prison and was widely copied and distributed in manuscript form. It was called "Il Milione", or "The Travels of Marco Polo", or similar names. There were reportedly variations in the quality and content of the individually copied manuscripts, but the account became very popular with readers throughout Europe.
About 5 years later Marco was released and was finally able to rejoin his father and uncle who were thriving merchants by then. In time he too became a prosperous and celebrated merchant. He had returned to Italy in about 1290 A.D. and was a free man by about 1295 A.D. He married, and had three daughters, enjoying the pleasures of a more normal life. He never again returned to Cathay (China).
He seems a truthful enough and matter of fact sort of travel guide, though in a few instances he wrote of wonderful things quite foreign to the Europeans that were later able to read his observations.
In at least one instance he wrote of large reptiles or dragons as if they were real creatures, and his description of them certainly lends itself to the conclusion that he was observing 'dinosaurs', but that phrase was not coined until 1841 A.D. Marco was writing about 550 years before the term even existed. Before that word came into use, they were usually just called dragons or reptiles by people who were quite familiar with them as yet another natural part of the wildlife of their area. Men hunted them, used them as beasts of burden depending on the species (a later Chinese emperor had his royal carriage pulled by some variety of them on special occasions, and even assigned an official royal post for the man who raised and trained them for him) and men ate them and used their carcasses for various useful things, including medicine.
Dinosaurs did not live 65 million years ago. They lived from Day 6 of the Creation until the point when most species of 'dinosaur' had died off or were killed off at about the 15th century A.D. mark in most settled areas. They were just creatures. Men and other predators and environmental pressures caused them to become extinct. If crocodiles and alligators were known only from the fossil record, they would almost certainly be referred to as dinosaurs. Conversely, if now extinct types of dinosaurs had lived through to our time, they would simply be spoken of as animals, as if it was no great surprise that they existed. What we were taught about an ancient Earth simply is not supportable anymore. We've learned enough to discount the idea. No evolution, no ancient Earth.
Consider a translated excerpt of Marco Polo's account, from Book 2 Chapter 40 of 'The Travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian' by SOAS 2004". He was traveling in a region of 'Cathay' that is today just north of Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos....in that region of today's southern China:
Book 2, Chapter XLIX (chapter 49 for any non-Romans out there, though many people list this as being from chapter 40 vice 49. Different publication? Don't know.)
Of the Province named Karazan
Leaving the city of Yachi, and traveling ten days into a westerly direction, you
reach the Province of Karazan which is also the name of its chief city…Here are
seen huge serpents, ten paces in length, and ten spans in the girt of the body. At the
fore-part, near the head, they have two short legs, having three claws like those of a
tiger, with eyes larger than a fourpenny loaf (
pane da quattro denari) and very
glaring. The jaws are wide enough to swallow a man, the teeth are large and sharp,
and their whole appearance is so formidable, that neither man, nor any kind of
animal, can approach them without terror. Others are met with of a smaller size,
being eight, six, or five paces long; and the following method is used for taking
them. In the day-time, by reason of the great heat, they lurk in caverns, from
whence, at night, they issue to seek their food, and whatever beast they meet with
and can lay hold of, whether tiger, wolf, or any other, they devour; after which they
drag themselves towards some lake, spring of water, or river, in order to drink. By
their motion in this way along the shore, and their vast weight, they make a deep
impression, as if a heavy beam had been drawn along the sands.
Those whose employment it is to hunt them observe the track by which
they are most frequently accustomed to go, and fix into the ground several pieces
of wood, armed with sharp iron spikes, which they cover with the sand in such a
manner as not to be perceptible. When therefore the animals make their way
towards the places they usually haunt, they are wounded by these instruments, and
speedily killed. The crows, as soon as they perceive them to be dead, set up their
scream; and this serves as a signal to the hunters, who advance to the spot, and
proceed to separate the skin from the flesh, taking care immediately to secure the
gall, which is most highly esteemed in medicine. In cases of the bite of a mad dog,
a pennyweight of it, dissolved in wine, is administered. It is also useful in
accelerating parturition, when the labour pains of women have come on. A small
quantity of it being applied to carbuncles, pustules, or other eruptions on the body,
they are presently dispersed; and it is efficacious in many other complaints. The
flesh also of the animal is sold at a dear rate, being thought to have a higher flavour
than other kinds of meat, and by all persons it is esteemed a delicacy.
End Quote
Above is a picture of a crocodile, showing that crocodiles have 5 toes on the front feet. The creature Marco Polo describes has 3 toes, Marco says.
This is a picture of the feet bones of an alligator. They do not have 3 toes either. The creature that Marco Polo describes was probably not a crocodile or alligator. And additionally, neither crocodile nor alligators have eyes of large size.
Esteemed a delicacy, was it? Perhaps it tasted like really well aged chicken.... aged for 65 million years, in fact. But seriously, go to the S8INT website and look for the topical buttons. Go to the one about dinosaurs in literature art and history. There you will find 90 some pages of evidence that mankind dwelled with all sorts of dinosaurs in the last few thousand years. But we apparently dominated them severely according to the carvings, petroglyphs, painted ceramics, and wall murals that tell the story. A good number of the scenes show men hunting them. This Marco Polo account, discussing how easily they were hunted for food, is apparently nothing unusual if only we knew the truth of it all. And note that this creature had 3 toes and very large eyes. That would not describe a crocodile of alligator or related surviving creature.
Why not consider another account as well, from an event which is reported to have taken place in the 4th century B.C., recorded in the much later writings of historian Geoffrey of Monmouth as he describes the history of the Island of Britain? It concerns a physically powerful yet cruel and savage king of the Welsh, or Britons, a king named Morvidus. It begins by speaking about this fierce king named Morvidus:
"In his time a certain king of the Morini arrived with a great force in Northumberland and began to destroy the country. But Morvidus, with all the strength of the kingdom, marched out against him and fought him. In this battle he alone did more than the greatest part of his army, and after the victory, suffered none of the enemy to escape alive. For he commanded them to be brought to him one after the other, that he might satisfy his cruelty in seeing them killed, and when he grew tired of this, he gave orders that they should be flayed alive and burned. During these and other monstrous acts of cruelty, an accident happened which put a period to his wickedness. There came to the coasts of the Irish Sea a most cruel monster that was continually devouring people upon the seacoasts. As soon as he heard of it, he ventured to go and encounter it alone. When he had in vain spent all his darts upon it, the monster rushed upon him, and with open jaws swallowed him up like a little fish." End of quote. Is that merely a tall tale? It is indeed possible that over 1,500 years ago there were surviving reptile species larger than what we have today. What about a simple komodo dragon. They only get to 10 foot long. What if there was a similar creature that was 25 feet long? Could that creature swallow a 200 # Welsh king whole in a gulp? Consider the following link of a Komodo dragon (not a record setting Komodo dragon, but pretty large!) swallowing a goat.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/342349252567398/permalink/3110281212440841/?mibextid=xfxF2i
It makes it seem like less of a stretch that Morvidus was swallowed by a large creature! I doubt the creature survived eating the meal, but as far as getting it into it's stomach...I wouldn't be surprised.
So, what creature walks the land which can swallow a man like a small fish? Yet over 200 such encounters with presently unknown animals are said to survive in ancient writings from Britain alone. I have read a fair number of them, though nowhere near 200. A Saint Armel, born in the 530's A.D. in Wales, was often portrayed in woodcarvings or stone or painting as leading a large serpent which had ravaged the land, and his remembrance includes that his prayers were answered, and the beast was rendered docile so that he might tie his shawl around its neck and lead it to the water and drown it.
Such accounts are often spoken of quite matter-of-factly, as in this instance, with no fanfare. Over 200 such accounts. Why so many? Only one answer suffices: such creatures roamed the land.... merely animals known of in that time.
God's vast and varied creation is part of the remarkable heritage shared by every sort of living thing it holds, including every man and woman that has ever lived. To claim that our Holy Father had no part in it, that it accidentally formed itself over an immeasurable period of time, is to call God's Word a lie and to ignore a mountain of evidence to the contrary...an ever-growing mountain. Only Satan would approve of such a grand farce, because it keeps people from honoring and acknowledging their common Creator. Had men never quit honoring the Sabbath as a day of rest then there would be only one answer the world over for why we did so: because God formed the Creation in 6 Days, and then He rested, so we rest also every 7th Day.
We have been released from Moses' Law, but there is still a day of the week which was blessed by God, and it was never 'un-blessed' that the Bible recounts. We all know that man himself has no power to bless any day or anything apart from God. So who can show in the scripture where the blessing upon the Sabbath was shifted from Saturday to any other day? I've heard impassioned sermons - several such - claiming that it could be 'deduced' that Sunday was the new day. But of all the Christian faiths that call themselves 'Bible based', who can turn to the page in the Bible where the Sabbath was un-blessed? Or that the day we should rest was transferred to Sunday? Who can show God's words saying it plainly?
In the Bible, the first thing ever specifically blessed was mankind, in Genesis 1:28, on Day 6 of Creation. The second thing ever specifically blessed by God the Father in the Bible's scripture was the Sabbath, Day 7 of Creation. And the 7th Day, the Sabbath, was not only specifically blessed by God, but He also declared it 'HOLY.' Gen 2:1-3. It is the first thing in Biblical scripture to ever be declared 'HOLY' by God the Father. And so, answer this: by what authority did we transfer this 'Yahweh appointed' holiness once assigned to the 7th or Sabbath day to the day that the pagans in Rome then held to be the holy day, the Holy Day of the Sun, called Sunday? I think we probably made an error there!
It was a great victory for Satan when he got us to begin calling a day of our own choosing, a day appointed by pagans for the worship of their false gods, as the new Holy Day. Had we retained the Sabbath, at least as a day that we recognized as Holy because God declared it so, then each new generation would have asked, "Why is the Sabbath Holy?" And each new generation would have been told about one of our Holy Father's amazing accomplishments: the Creation. And each new generation would have been instilled with an important part of the truth of man's origins. Evolution would likely have found no place, no believing ears, among such a people. How could it have?
We are so lucky to have Jesus for our Lord. Our own righteousness really is dirty rags. We re-write our own Holy Father's accomplishments to edit Him out of one of the greatest of His feats of marvelous power: the Creation. Instead, Random Chance did it, we say. Random Chance! And from there, Random Chance perfected it. It is Random Chance to whom we owe it all, and Random Chance has never called us to obey, serve, praise, or follow him, so he makes a very convenient god indeed. He will never ask you to quit gratifying your every fleshly desire, and so he is a very popular god. But he does have a serious short coming: he is not real and certainly is not our true God and maker.
Here is another mention of an impossibly large serpent, from in or near Macedonia. It is from events which took place in the 1st century A.D., sometime after the Lord's crucifixion, when Andrew was out evangelizing. It is from an excerpt from a translation by M.R. James of a sort of Life of the Apostle Andrew, who was Peter's brother. Some accept the writing as historical, and others do not:
19 After this a youth who followed the apostle sent for his mother to meet Andrew. She came, and after being instructed, begged him to come to their house, which was devastated by a great serpent. As Andrew approached, it hissed loudly and with raised head came to meet him; it was fifty cubits long: everyone fell down in fear. Andrew said: 'Hide thy head, foul one, which thou didst raise in the beginning for the hurt of mankind, and obey the servants of God, and die.' The serpent roared and coiled about a great oak nearby and vomited poison and blood and died.
Andrew went to the woman's farm, where a child killed by the serpent lay dead. He said to the parents: 'Our God who would have you saved hath sent me here that you may believe on him. Go and see the slayer slain.' They said: 'We care not so much for the child's death, if we be avenged.' They went, and Andrew said to the proconsul's wife (her conversion has been omitted by Gregory): 'Go and raise the boy.' She went, nothing doubting, and said: 'In the name of my God Jesus Christ, rise up whole.' The parents returned and found their child alive and fell at Andrew's feet.
End excerpt.
Other true Christian accounts on the Deeds of God website mentioning creatures which would apparently be counted as dinosaurs in our day and age include the accounts about the 500's A.D. Scottish missionary named Columba (go to the 870's A.D. account of King Alfred to see Columba's account), the 500's A.D. account about Petrock, and the 500's B.C. account about the prophet Daniel. Those only contain mention and brief descriptions of dinosaurs in certain portions of the events, rather than focusing upon them, but you still may find them of interest. I myself also find those sorts of accounts very interesting!
I personally believe that realizing how many great deeds of God have actually occurred throughout history will lead some people to be saved giving their life to Christ. If you agree, then please, take the time to be a 'missionary', to love your neighbor enough to care about their soul. Please mention and recommend visiting the Deeds of God website on any social media sites that you belong to. Tell a favorite account to your friends or family and tell them where you read it. To know God is to stand in awe of Him, but too few people know Him today. Accounts like these are yet another way to come to know Jesus and the Holy Father, and the Spirit of Truth that helps us understand. Thank you. Dan Curry