No Death Before the Fall - A Young Earth Problem
by Rich Deem
Most Young earth creationists claim that there was no death before the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden. The doctrine is primarily tied to two passages - Genesis 1:29-30 in the Old Testament and Romans 5:12 in the New Testament. Out of context, without the consideration of the remainder of the Bible, the verses seem to support the doctrine. Genesis 1:29-301 says that God created plants with seed and fruit and gave it to the animals for food. Romans 5:122 says that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin...
No plant death prior to the Fall?
The idea that no creatures, including plants, died prior to the Fall is the extreme position of a minority of young earth creationists. They claim that only parts of plants are eaten, and, therefore, no plants actually died. Although a number of grazing animals eat only the tops of grass or leaves, leaving the plant alive, there are a number of exceptions. Even grass grazers pull up whole plants (including the roots) on occasion, which results in the death of entire plants. Some animals eat only roots, such as gophers. Once the roots are eaten, the plant quickly dies. Many sea animals eat diatoms and microscopic plants - ingesting and killing entire organisms. So, unless God changed the way these herbivores eat, plants surely died during the fifth and sixth days of creation.
Some young earth creationists claim that the Bible indicates that plants do not die. Therefore, eating them does not constitute death. However, the Bible specifically compares the deaths of humans to those of plants, making this idea ridiculous. Both the Old Testament3 and New Testament4 compare the deaths of humans to the deaths of grass, flowers, and herbs. Therefore, the idea that the Bible claims plants don't die is not at all supported.
God created the carnivores on day 6, before mankind
Genesis one specifically describes the creation of wild animals,8 which are the carnivores. The Hebrew words used to describe the creation of these animals refers to animals that eat other animals (for more information, see Did God Create Carnivores on Day 6?)...
It is abundantly clear from the names given to the carnivores by Adam that he had seen these animals in action - eating other animals prior to the Fall of mankind. The idea that all animals ate only plants prior to the Fall is contradicted directly by the biblical texts.
God threatened Adam with death, implying he knew what it was
Further support that Adam had seen death before the creation of Eve comes from God's threat to Adam. When Adam was first put into the garden, God said that he could eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God threatened that Adam would "surely die" if he broke this command.17 This threat makes no sense unless Adam had already seen the death of animals. There is no recorded reply of Adam asking what death was. If he had never seen death this would have been an obvious question. This, along with Adam's names for the carnivores, is strong biblical evidence that Adam had already seen the death of animals before the Fall and before Eve was created...
Did God judge the animals based on Adam's sin?
The young-earth contention that carnivorous activity began at the fall is without a biblical foundation. In fact, it directly contradicts scripture, since such a drastic change in animal behavior would have required God to continue the creation process - something the Bible says He stopped doing after the sixth day.18 If this were true, then God must have changed some of the animals to become carnivorous. Why would God judge the innocent animals for the sin of mankind and condemn them to the "evil" laws of survival of the fittest? If God did change some of the animals to become carnivorous, it must be one of the better kept secrets of the Bible.
What does scripture say happened after the fall? The reality is that God judged only those who committed sin. The serpent (Satan) would crawl on his belly and be bruised on the head by the seed of the woman.19 Eve was judged by having more pain in childbirth.20 Adam was judged by having to work harder for his food.21 There were no other judgments made by God, since all the guilty parties were punished. God does not pass judgment upon the innocent.22 The young earth idea that God would punish the innocent along with the guilty actually denigrates the character of God...
What is the problem?
Young earth creationists say that God judged the animals on the basis of man's sin. However, the Bible says that God is completely righteous in His judgment and does not judge the innocent with the wicked. This young earth doctrine maligns the character of God. In addition, if one says that animals first died due to sin, then one would have to say that animals have the capacity to sin. Nowhere in the Bible is this doctrine taught. Likewise, if Romans 5:12 is referring to animal death, then the rest of the chapter would have to refer to Christ's death to redeem the animals. This is outrageous! Finally, applying animal death to 1 Corinthians 15:21 would imply that Jesus' death would allow the resurrection of the animals, in addition to His followers. Such cavalier uses of scripture to support one's own interpretation borders on cultic methods, and needs to be corrected by the Church.
http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/death.html
by Rich Deem
Most Young earth creationists claim that there was no death before the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden. The doctrine is primarily tied to two passages - Genesis 1:29-30 in the Old Testament and Romans 5:12 in the New Testament. Out of context, without the consideration of the remainder of the Bible, the verses seem to support the doctrine. Genesis 1:29-301 says that God created plants with seed and fruit and gave it to the animals for food. Romans 5:122 says that sin entered the world through Adam and death through sin...
No plant death prior to the Fall?
The idea that no creatures, including plants, died prior to the Fall is the extreme position of a minority of young earth creationists. They claim that only parts of plants are eaten, and, therefore, no plants actually died. Although a number of grazing animals eat only the tops of grass or leaves, leaving the plant alive, there are a number of exceptions. Even grass grazers pull up whole plants (including the roots) on occasion, which results in the death of entire plants. Some animals eat only roots, such as gophers. Once the roots are eaten, the plant quickly dies. Many sea animals eat diatoms and microscopic plants - ingesting and killing entire organisms. So, unless God changed the way these herbivores eat, plants surely died during the fifth and sixth days of creation.
Some young earth creationists claim that the Bible indicates that plants do not die. Therefore, eating them does not constitute death. However, the Bible specifically compares the deaths of humans to those of plants, making this idea ridiculous. Both the Old Testament3 and New Testament4 compare the deaths of humans to the deaths of grass, flowers, and herbs. Therefore, the idea that the Bible claims plants don't die is not at all supported.
God created the carnivores on day 6, before mankind
Genesis one specifically describes the creation of wild animals,8 which are the carnivores. The Hebrew words used to describe the creation of these animals refers to animals that eat other animals (for more information, see Did God Create Carnivores on Day 6?)...
It is abundantly clear from the names given to the carnivores by Adam that he had seen these animals in action - eating other animals prior to the Fall of mankind. The idea that all animals ate only plants prior to the Fall is contradicted directly by the biblical texts.
God threatened Adam with death, implying he knew what it was
Further support that Adam had seen death before the creation of Eve comes from God's threat to Adam. When Adam was first put into the garden, God said that he could eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God threatened that Adam would "surely die" if he broke this command.17 This threat makes no sense unless Adam had already seen the death of animals. There is no recorded reply of Adam asking what death was. If he had never seen death this would have been an obvious question. This, along with Adam's names for the carnivores, is strong biblical evidence that Adam had already seen the death of animals before the Fall and before Eve was created...
Did God judge the animals based on Adam's sin?
The young-earth contention that carnivorous activity began at the fall is without a biblical foundation. In fact, it directly contradicts scripture, since such a drastic change in animal behavior would have required God to continue the creation process - something the Bible says He stopped doing after the sixth day.18 If this were true, then God must have changed some of the animals to become carnivorous. Why would God judge the innocent animals for the sin of mankind and condemn them to the "evil" laws of survival of the fittest? If God did change some of the animals to become carnivorous, it must be one of the better kept secrets of the Bible.
What does scripture say happened after the fall? The reality is that God judged only those who committed sin. The serpent (Satan) would crawl on his belly and be bruised on the head by the seed of the woman.19 Eve was judged by having more pain in childbirth.20 Adam was judged by having to work harder for his food.21 There were no other judgments made by God, since all the guilty parties were punished. God does not pass judgment upon the innocent.22 The young earth idea that God would punish the innocent along with the guilty actually denigrates the character of God...
What is the problem?
Young earth creationists say that God judged the animals on the basis of man's sin. However, the Bible says that God is completely righteous in His judgment and does not judge the innocent with the wicked. This young earth doctrine maligns the character of God. In addition, if one says that animals first died due to sin, then one would have to say that animals have the capacity to sin. Nowhere in the Bible is this doctrine taught. Likewise, if Romans 5:12 is referring to animal death, then the rest of the chapter would have to refer to Christ's death to redeem the animals. This is outrageous! Finally, applying animal death to 1 Corinthians 15:21 would imply that Jesus' death would allow the resurrection of the animals, in addition to His followers. Such cavalier uses of scripture to support one's own interpretation borders on cultic methods, and needs to be corrected by the Church.
http://www.godandscience.org/youngearth/death.html
