Was There Animal Death Before the Fall?

 

In Dr. Hugh Ross' latest book, Rescuing Inerrancy: A Scientific Defense, he explains, "Knowing that God is wholly good, loving and powerful, young-earth creationists conclude that no death of any kind could have occurred until Adam sinned.  They further state that God introduced death to teach Adam and Eve the horrible consequences of disobedience.  Young-earth creationists find the idea of millions of years of plant and animal death before Adam's sin deeply problematic.  They view such a claim as tantamount to accusing God of cruelty and brutality, or at best, weakness and confusion."1

However, is it actually the case that there was no animal or plant death before Adam's sin.  What does the Bible have to say?  

Dr. Ross explains:

"The New Testament sheds decisive light on what resulted from Adam's sin.  In Romans 5:12, Paul writes, 'Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned' (emphasis added).  An exhaustive search of Scripture further clarifies that only humans are capable of sin.  Only humans make moral and spiritual choices.  The death Adam experienced is carefully qualified in the text as being visited on people - with no reference to Earth's plants or animals (Romans 5:12, 18-19).

According to 1 Corinthians 15:21, the death that 'came through a man' came to humans alone, not to humans and animals.  And 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 explains, 'As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.  But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.'  According to Genesis, God gave Earth's plants and animals to humanity.  The only creatures who belong to Christ through acceptance of his redeeming love are the ones made expressly for eternal relationship with him: humans.  Only spiritual beings are 'made alive' in Christ.  Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 are the only Bible passages the explicitly address the death brought by Adam's sin.  Neither provides a compelling reason to suggest that physical death of plants and animals could not have occurred prior to Adam's sin - or that the physical death of plants and animals necessarily impugns God's character.

Young-earth creationists assume that physical death in any and all contexts is evil, an enemy of humanity.  I trust they will consider that in several contexts, the death of plants and animals is a friend.  Our food supply, our technology, our ability to harvest bio-deposits from Earth's crust to develop and sustain civilization - these blessings and more are available thanks to the death of plants and animals that came before us.  Our ability to print and disseminate Scripture comes from this same source."2

So, what do you think of Dr. Ross' explanation?  Please share in the comments!

You can get a copy of Dr. Ross' latest book here.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Footnote:
1. Dr. Hugh Ross, Rescuing Inerrancy: A Scientific Defense, p. 176.
2. Ibid, p. 176-177. 

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