Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…. (Rom. 5:12, ESV)
Recently I was asked in light of the series I did on “How I Changed My Mind About Genesis 1 and Science” the following question:
How do evolutionary creationists account for the idea that death appears in scripture (as in the verse above) to be a consequence of the Fall?
That’s a great question, and although there’s plenty of mystery and not all “evolutionary creationists” agree among themselves, here are a few thoughts that help me embrace the clear science on this issue and ultimately put my hope in Christ.
Just because death came because of sin doesn’t mean that death didn’t exist at any level prior to the fall. For example, the teeth of sharks or the teeth and claws of a lion (Psa. 104:21) are not mere decorations nor have they been perverted from their pre-fall use. And even an amazing process like photosynthesis requires death to do what it does. John Walton summarizes the science well:
“Everything we know logically repudiates the absence of death at any level prior to the Fall. Day three [of creation] describes the process by which plants grow. The cycle of sprouting leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds is one that involves death at every stage. This system only functions with death as part of it. Likewise with animals: we need not even broach the topic of predatory meat eaters to see that the food chain involves death. A caterpillar eating a leaf brings death. A bird eating the caterpillar brings death. Fish eating insects brings death. If animals and insects did not die, they would overwhelm their environment and the ecology would suffer. Furthermore, if we move to the cellular level death is inevitable. Human skin has an outer layer of epidermis—dead cells—and we know that Adam had skin (Gen. 2:23).”[1]
In evolutionary creationism, the death that is a consequence of the fall is primarily spiritual. In other words, something inside Adam and Eve died: they feel shame, try to hide from God, avoid taking personal responsibility, and become alienated from God and each other. It is not surprising that alienation is a legitimate sense of the word “die” and “death” in Hebrew.
Romans 8:21 speaks of the bondage of decay that the creation was subjected to in the fall of humanity. Obviously, it cannot be the entry of physical death into creation as young earth folks teach where lions, T-rex’s, and sharks were not killing machines before human sin.
So what did man’s sin do to creation— what change happened to creation in the fall?
There was no change in the nature of animals due to man’s sin but there were ecological consequences in the fall. With human sin and spiritual death that resulted came the temptation to greed and hatred. Greed leads to disharmony. Man was no longer a caretaker but an exploiter and creation suffers because of this.
Long before Darwin, St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1227-1274) wrote about the subject above in his Summa Theologiae:
“In the opinion of some, those animals which now are fierce and kill others, would, in that [pre-Fall] state, have been tame, not only in regard to man, but also in regard to other animals. But this is quite unreasonable. For the nature of animals was not changed by man’s sin, as if those whose nature now it is to devour the flesh of others, would then have lived on herbs, as the lion and falcon… (I, q.96, a.1, ad.2, emphasis mine).”[2]
Tim Keller also has some interesting thoughts on this:
“The result of the Fall, however, was ‘spiritual death’, something that no being in the world had known, because no one had ever been in the image of God. Human beings became, at the same time, capable of far greater and far worse things than any other creatures. We now die eternally when we die physically. And since we are now alienated from God, the world is under the power of the forces of darkness in a way that would not have occurred without the fall. The physical world now ‘groans’ under disintegration because human beings have failed to be God’s stewards of creation. Greater ‘natural evil’ is combined with human, moral evil to create a dark, chaotic world indeed. The world will finally be renewed, and become all it was designed to be (Romans 8:19-23), only when we finally become all we should be through the work of the Second Adam (1 Cor 15:42-45).”[3]
I’d like to conclude with select verses from 1 Cor. 15 referenced by Keller above. As you read through this summary of the Apostle Paul’s teaching, notice how he ends with encouragement and practical advice that we can apply today:
“The Scriptures tell us, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living person.’ …Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven…
What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! …For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled:
‘Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?’
For sin is the sting that results in death…
But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ…So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (1 Cor. 15:45-47,50-51,53-56a,57-58, NLT)
[1] John Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2009) 99.
[2] http://biologos.org/blog/did-peace-and-love-reign-in-the-world-before-the-original-sin
[3] http://biologos.org/blog/creation-evolution-and-christian-laypeople-part-6