Was There Death Before the Fall?

In discussions amongst Christians of all stripes regarding the doctrine and details of creation, the foremost disagreement is often that of interpretation of the creation days themselves; whether the six days of creation represent solar days or longer lengths of time. But a close second to this for many may very well be the question of whether there was death in the world before the Fall of mankind. As Henry Morris, founder of the Institute for Creation Research, posits, “One of the hardest things to understand is how anyone who claims to believe in a God of love can also believe in the geological ages, with their supposed record of billions of years of suffering and death before sin came into the world. This seems clearly to make God a God of waste and cruelty rather than a God of wisdom and power and love.”

For Young Earth Creationists (YECs), the possibility of death before the fall is largely seen as nonexistent and to a great degree unnecessary given the sheer lack of time or necessity of death and decay to work throughout the rough week of creation’s existence. And for Old Earth Creationists (OECs), death is largely required given the vast timeframes the creation process covered prior to the creation of mankind or their fall. A variety of alternative explanations and interpretations of scientific evidence of course exist, with varying degrees of plausibility, but the scientific concensus is largely set and depends heavily on one’s interpretive framework for science as a whole. 

For the rigorous Christian, their answer to this question does and should proceed from Scripture. So, we ask: does Scripture have anything to say about death before the all? And, if it does, which side does it seem to support? Let’s find out, shall we?

The Usual Suspects

There are a few verses and passages within scripture that are usually pointed to in determining whether death and decay before the Fall is consistent with the Biblical narrative and, by extension, God’s character. One of those passages is the numerous references God makes to His creation in Genesis 1. Each day, God declares the work done and the state of that creative work as “good” and, distinctly, after creating mankind, as “very good.” Given a “good” created order, it could be stipulated that there existed no death, decay, predation, parasites, etc prior to the Fall.

While, on its face, this logic seems to have some merit, there are some important points to bear in mind. The first, more general, point is that God declares creation “good”, not “perfect” or “idyllic.” Any assumption that such language does describe a “perfect” creation is a logical leap, not an obvious message borne out by the text. As well, God of course has perfect knowledge, knowing the manner and timing with which humanity would fall, the best ways to manage that fallen humanity, and the eventual work of Christ.

Recall as well that Adam was not actually the first fallen being. That honor actually belongs to Satan. And it is within this context of fallible creation that God will eventually bring forth the new creation spoken of in Revelation, a creation with no sin, no pain, and no evil. As Hugh Ross describes it, “the present creation is very good in that it is the best possible creation for God to redeem those humans who so desire freedom from their slavery to sin.”

Another book with passages that addresses death and the Fall is that of Romans. Romans 5:12 is often cited as a proof text of sorts for both sides of the argument.

“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”

– Romans 5:12

With a certain interpretive approach, this verse can be read in such a way that all death is the result of the sin of Adam. But upon a more detailed reading, this interpretation has some problems. The first issue is that the passage does not exactly state that all death of any kind is the result of sin. Specifically, it states that death spread to all men or mankind because, in Adam, all sinned. The verse also explicitly mentions sin three times and this is important considering that the ability to sin is a uniquely human characteristic. Thus, to include death spreading to animals through sin because of their sin is categorically ruled out. The passage is not quite as precise as we may like in order for it to unequivocally answer the question of the nature and extent of death before the Fall; such a burden is too much for us to expect and not the explicit intent of Paul’s writing here. But, upon close inspection, it seems as though Romans 5:12 certainly does not preclude death of any kind before the Fall.

Some Less Likely Suspects

Luckily, there are a number of other passages in Scripture that give us some indication about the nature of death before and after the Fall.

One such passage is 1 Corinthians 15:20-22:

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

– 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

Here again, while an inclusive reading of certain portions of this passage could imply some more universal effect of the Fall, a more consistent reading would be exclusive. Verse 21 tells us that death came through man but also that resurrection from the dead has also come by a man and that in Christ all shall be made alive. But the parallel here seems to be exclusive to human death. The Bible does not give us any indication that animals or any other life share in man’s sin nature or Christ’s resurrection so a consistent definition and scope for life and death within the passage would be restricted to that of human life and death.

Another section of scripture that can provide some background to the state of creation past is Job 38 and 39. As many Christians are aware, Job is widely regarded as the earliest written book of the Bible and its events take place hundreds of years before Moses and the events recorded in the Pentateuch, possibly even before 2,000 BC. Job 38 and 39 actually contain references to creation, thereby making it an even earlier account than that of Genesis 1 and 2. 

Those familiar with the events of Job will recall that Job 38 is God’s answer to Job’s haughtiness and is quite an enjoyable read as God “taunts” Job with all of the times and events that he must know given that Job is so wise and knowledgeable. Chapter 38 talks about the laying of the foundation of the Earth (vs 4-7), the seas and early atmosphere (vs 8-11), and also covers night and day, the seasons and weather cycle and, finally, the created order of animals. Now, while Job 38 lacks the obvious structure and stages of Genesis 1, it certainly tracks quite closely to the order of events of Genesis 1 and offers a sort of consistent supplement to the welcome detail that those later creation accounts would supply.

But, most interestingly, verses 39-41 contain obvious references to predatory behavior, with the lioness and the raven.

Can you hunt the prey for the lion, or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in their thicket? Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?

– Job 38:39-41

These references come at the end of the creation account in Job 38, thus consistent with the created order revealed elsewhere in Scripture, but also talk about the lion and raven hunting for prey and providing food for their young. Job 39 continues, detailing the behavior of many different categories of created animal then again concludes speaking of the hawk and eagle, birds of prey that “spy out their prey” and whose “young ones suck up blood, and where the slain are, there is he.”

There are, perhaps, two ways of reconciling this account. It is possible that God is here speaking of the created order after the fall. However, in this case, there is no clue or evidence that this is actually the case, especially given the fact that much of the unbroken account occurs explicitly prior to mankind, including the creation of soulish animals. So it is not a stretch to assume that this account, along with its descriptions of death and predation, predates the creation of mankind.

But, even if these passages describe some activity after the creation of mankind and the Fall, there is still the matter of the way in which predatory behavior is portrayed here. Job 38 and 39, along with other passages of Scripture like Psalm 104, speak of God providing food for predators in a glorious, honoring way. If, indeed, predatory behavior and the animal death that it necessitates is an evil consequence of the Fall, it seems a bit out of character for Scripture, even the very direct voice of God, to praise His own activity in aiding that process to occur. But, instead, we find that God provides the very necessary sustenance for all of creation, even that which requires death and decay.

Evidence From Eden

Another line of evidence from scripture might have something to tell us about the state of life and death in early creation.

Genesis 2 is largely believed to further describe the specifics of the founding of the Garden of Eden and the special creation of humanity. Verse 8 of that chapter tells us that “the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” This simple sentence contains much in need of unpacking for our purposes here. For one, the fact that God plants a specific garden, Eden, in the east, along with the eventual story of the Fall of man in chapter 3, gives us a great indication that Eden does not describe some idyllic condition of the entire created order across the globe. As well, the text also lets us know that the first man was not created within that garden but from without and later transplanted there, further solidifying the separation of conditions.

Further, in chapter 3, after Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden, God expresses the concern that Adam may”reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever”, and are thus barred from returning to Eden. Again, this passage contains some further insight. There is some disagreement between scholars regarding exactly what factors contributed to Adam and Eve’s potential long or eternal life within Eden; whether it was their intimate relationship with God enjoyed in the garden itself, or whether it was the actual fruit of the Tree of Life as is suggested by verse 22. 

However, regardless of interpretation, some implications are borne out of the text. For one, this scripture seems to privilege humanity over other creation. If, indeed, there were animals outside of the garden, they did not seem to enjoy the same intimacy of relationship with God in the garden and they most certainly did not partake of the fruit of any of the trees there, much less the Tree of Life. And with their own expulsion from the garden, Adam and Eve have evidently lost their own access to eternal life made possible there, further implying that life outside of the garden had no access to eternal life either. While one could theoretically argue that these deathly conditions were themselves the aftereffects of the Fall, that argument is not well sustained here and would have to be done from other passages of Scripture further removed from the firsthand account.

The Bottom Line

These passages of Scripture are just a few of the Biblical arguments that point to the possibility and consistency of the existence of death of any kind prior to the fall of mankind. And they represent just one aspect of a cumulative case that can be made to support God’s good nature and design for the world, even with this death and decay present. In the future, we may continue to take a look at other evidence for this. But, regardless, we can always rest assured that death of at least one kind, Christ’s death on the cross and the Christian’s own death in and with Him, forever reflects God’s goodness and love.