Are Dragons Evil?

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:9)

Without a doubt, the Bible uses a dragon to describe Satan in the book of Revelation. Since that prophetic book often uses symbolic language, it’s not clear if this dragon is merely a symbol or if Satan really exists in dragon form. In either case, some Christians have become convinced that this manifestation of Satan means that all dragons are evil and must be portrayed as evil.

Let’s examine this biblically and logically. If dragons are real, that is, if they ever really existed in our world, then God must have created them, as the Bible says:

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:3)

If God created dragons, then He must have created them “good.”

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

Therefore, any dragon that ever existed must have started out as good. That includes Satan, a glorious angel in heaven who fell as a result of his own actions. In the same way, if a dragon started out as good, it could become evil only through self corruption. Personal evil cannot come from God.

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. (James 1:13-14)

Since one angel, Satan, corrupted himself and became evil, does that mean all angels are evil and should be portrayed as evil? Of course not. Only a third of the angels fell to evil. The other two thirds, a clear majority, remained loyal to God.

In the same way, it would be wrong to assert that the existence of one evil dragon must mean that all dragons are evil. Such a leap is not warranted.

Let’s look at other examples. The Bible also refers to Satan as a lion.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

Does this mean that all lions are evil and should be portrayed that way? No. In fact, Jesus is also called a lion.

Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:5)

Animal symbols are not the only example. Humans, themselves, can reflect every evil attribute of Satan, and, in fact, the anti-Christ is called the “man” of sin. Still, we don’t consider all men to be unredeemably evil, and we have no problem using them as good characters in stories.

My books assume that some dragons are evil and some are good. I used the common misconception that all dragons are evil to create a crisis for the few good dragons. Since many people considered all dragons to be evil, the good ones were hunted along with the evil ones, forcing the good ones to seek rescue from those who are trying to destroy the species. This allowed me a vehicle to symbolize redemption, to create a parallel with a remnant of mankind in this sin-sick world, a remnant that hopes for salvation.

Yes, a dragon is used to represent Satan, but God creates nothing that is inherently evil, and a symbol is not evil in and of itself and can be used to symbolize a wide range of ideas, both good and evil. It is wrong, both biblically and logically, to assume that all dragons are evil. They can be used in stories in a good and positive way, as can lions and angels.

Let us proclaim the truth, both in real life and in stories, that God is good, and nothing that comes from Him is inherently evil, including dragons.



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21 replies

  1. I’ve always just sort of seen dragons as animals, and whether or not they were good or evil depended on how the author wrote them. Interestingly enough, my parents were against reading books with lots of magic in them, and banned things involving certain ‘evil’ creatures like werewolves and vampires, but never banned a book solely because it had dragons in it. Sometimes they were suspicious of things involving dragons since they knew a lot of dragon fantasy had magic in it, but they didn’t take that very far.

    Is it still a huge trend for people to object to dragons/has it been cropping up a lot for you lately?

    • It used to crop up a lot, but it is less frequent now, though there has been a small uptick in recent weeks.

      • Yes, a dragon is used to represent Satan, but God creates nothing that is inherently evil, and a symbol is not evil in and of itself and can be used to symbolize a wide range of ideas, both good and evil. It is wrong, both biblically and logically, to assume that all dragons are evil. They can be used in stories in a good and positive way, as can lions and angels.

        Let us proclaim the truth, both in real life and in stories, that God is good, and nothing that comes from Him is inherently evil, including dragons.

        You sound like a very smart person! So, you’re saying is that it’s okay to love dragons if you’re Christian?

  2. Your logic seems sound and the theology behind it seems to come from a right understanding of God’s goodness and, more importantly, our necessary response to it.

    Thinking of other popular dragons, Tolkien’s Smaug comes to mind as the evil example, a dragon whose only desire was for his hoard. However, Lewis (Tolkein’s contemporary and friend who must have discussed dragons together) painted Eustace as a repentant dragon; one could say that becoming a dragon was the best thing that happened to Eustace, because it provoked his repentance.

    Seems to me that the major take-away here is the attitude of the heart. Whether we be human or dragon, how do we respond to temptation? To the needs of others? To the truth about ourselves?

    Your dragons aren’t perfect and often make mistakes, just like people. This gives your novels the ring of truth. (Not to be confused with magical rings of power.)

  3. We Celts have been friends with Dragobs for millennia. Usually, they are Guardians. They watch over and protect us. I have yet ro meet an evil one.

  4. Are. dragons made
    Can I get one

  5. This is interesting.
    I want to remind you that dragon also includes dinosaurs.
    The word wasn’t formed until recent times.

    Two are name, the behemoth and Leviathan.

    Maybe the devil dragon image is of a Leviathan because it has smoke from it’s mouth. Then people’s imaginations went further with flying dragons.
    I don’t think there is any credible evidence for flying dragons.

  6. Sheep & Goats are used in the same as a mediphore how God’s children are described as Sheep’s! We as God’s children & as God as our Shepherd directing us to being respectful & obedient! & not corrupted!! Like in the book of psalm the Lord is our Shepard I shall not want. As in the reference I shall not want no other but God himself to worship! We as the children of God! & the ones that rejects God in their hearts are used to be described as goats. But we all know God himself creates goats. Growing up they may had been a pain @ times. But my family had goats they wouldn’t listen at times. But they also were cute & sweet when they wanted to be! All called but few chosen as that mediphore! I feel God used mediphore there being ways for us to learn on the path that we are on to learning to understanding to drawing closer to him! It to helping us to fully understand! Because he did create us all & knows based on how much we can learn. As they say our minds are like sponges. But spiritually our hearts can also close that door to keeping that sponge from obtaining knowledge!! In the parable even when Jesus was showing God’s children as that description in the parable where he saids as an example a man sending his army that are killed he looks around there being no 1 left to fight in that battle, but all that left his only son. He sends the only son & he is then killed. God used that mediphore as we he sends to fight for the knowledge of his existence & to loving & worshipping him as his children. & are sentenced to death fighting for what they believe in. Then he sends Jesus & he became sentenced to death as well! I mean everyone waited for the Messiah because of how they were treated by others . Because they were searching on that knowledge to understanding God better! Then we are shown if this can happened by the purity of Jesus conceived by the heavenly spirit. Then what makes us any different?? It doesn’t!! .

  7. In the parable I do believe God’s spirit was speaking through Jesus @ that moment!!

  8. Anyone “OR” anything can be used for Good “OR” for evil! Like the serpent that tempted Adam & Eve! & In the bible how God’s holy spirit spoke through the Donkey asking why it was being struck 3 times!

  9. Thank you for writing this! I thought that dragons were evil and I didn’t like to play games or watch things that had to do anything with dragons. But your explanation helped me with the confusion thinking that since the dragon in the Bible represented satan and evil, dragons then are all evil.

  10. Thank you for writing this! I thought dragons were evil and I didn’t like to play games or watch things that had to do anything with dragons. But your explanation helped me with the confusion thinking that since the dragon in the Bible represented satan and evilness.

  11. Not sure if you’ll see this, but thank you. As a writer myself, this is much needed clarity.

  12. I have always been attracted to dragons. I have collected several over the years. I love Dragon Tales and movies with dragons in them. However lately they seem to be very prevalent in my dreams. And Waking Life. I feel like I have been formally introduced to a dragon that is my guardian and in a way my advisor. I am a practicing Catholic and I feel a bit confused about all this. My faith in God is strong and I want to make sure I am not being led down the wrong path in my dreams. I love God above all else . Through life experiences I know that Satan is very real. I have battled him my whole life. I am not afraid. My faith in God gives me courage and I’m not going to lend power to Satan by fear. He can be so Insidious. Can I continue this relationship with dragons and still be pure in heart and soul for the Lord?

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