A brief tour of some of the monsters and other fantastic creatures in the Bible for 8th grade religious formation at the National Shrine of the Little Flower, Royal Oak, MI
There are monsters in the bible—not to say that all of these actually existed, most didn’t—but its meant to feed our imagination; I hope this convinces you the Bible is far from being a dry and boring document.
wings may be metaphor in the same way as angels—represent quickness or speed; reference Num 21:6 where the snakes were biting the disobedient Jews—put snake on pole don’t confuse with Seraph (angels); Msgr Thanu cobra under bed??; see page 757 chapter heading—prophecies against pagan nations (rod—evil crushing evil); verse 32 contrast of afflicted pagan peoples vs afflicted jews
in the Chronicles of narnia, satyrs are mischievous but good --p774 traditionally heavy drinking and immorality—from Greek myth; see footnote
Is a translation of Hebrew, lîlîth; according to the old popular legends, the lamia was a feminine bloodthirsty monster, devouring men and children. In the above cited place, some kind of owl , either the screech or the hooting owl , is very probably meant. beware—Gothic symbol
p545—have them read and guess (w/o peaking)
Behemoth is another tricky word for different types of beasts; my own interpretation is that it might be a mastodon; most people probably don’t know that these things were probably on the ark and started dying out during biblical times; our bible footnotes suggests a hippo but we don’t know for sure
p536 ; associated with resurrection, immortality, triumph over adversity, and that which rises out of the ashes. Thus it became a favorite symbol on early Christian tombstones-even though it was borrowed from pagan culture. In numerous ways, the phoenix was used as a symbol of Christ in the early church. St. Clement, the 4 th pope wrote of the legendary phoenix as a symbol of Christ's ability to resurrection us after we die. Often, as an emblem of Christ, it was used carrying a palm branch (a symbol of triumph over death), or carrying an olive branch (a symbol of God's peace offered to humans). The Phoenix is also used as a symbol of hope, purity, chastity, marriage, faith, and immortality (eternal life).
Some human races were wiped out by the flood (crossbreed of fallen angels?) see footnote for 6,4: our bible suggests a poetic reference based on oversized abandoned bldgs Og, the King of the Giants , was about 13 feet tall! (Deuteronomy 3:11) –p164
Generally a symbol of pagan evil rather the evil or sin of Jews; Psalms 74:13-14; “their wine is the venom of dragons and cobra poison” Isaiah 13:21-22:
Not just your standard dragon—leopard, bear, lion;; don’t confuse with Mary and the beast Ch 12; this reappears in 17—the woman represents historical and future Babylon Each body part is a symbol
Gargoyles—not in bible—architectural term for a decorative water disperser (before gutters invented) Notre Dame Cathedral Gargoyles were used as a representation of evil. It is thought that they were used to scare people into coming to church, reminding them that the end of days is near. It is also thought that their presence assured congregants that evil is kept outside of the church’s walls. [9] but architects intent mostly a riddle these days.