The Biological Harmony: Deep Time, Mortality, and the Tree of Life

Old Earth Creationism (OEC) provides a framework that integrates the geological reality of an ancient Earth with a literal but nuanced reading of the biblical text. One of the most persistent questions in this dialogue is the nature of death before the Fall of Adam. While Young Earth models suggest a "no-death" utopia for all creatures, the OEC position maintains that biological death, specifically animal death has always been part of the terrestrial ecosystem, whereas human death was a unique spiritual and physical consequence of the Fall.

Psalm 104: The Divine Design of Predation

Psalm 104 is often regarded by OEC scholars, such as Dr. Hugh Ross, as a "Creation Psalm" that parallels the Genesis 1 narrative. It provides a vivid description of the natural order as God established it. Crucially, verse 21 states, "The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God." From an OEC perspective, this indicates that predatory behavior and the resulting animal death are not a "curse" or a distortion of nature, but a providential arrangement. The text presents the lion’s hunt as a part of the "very good" creation where God is the provider. Verse 29 further reinforces this: "When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust." This cycle of life and death is depicted as an ongoing, God-ordained process, suggesting that the fossil record filled with evidence of predation and extinction over millions of years is consistent with the biblical description of the pre-Fall world.

The Mortality of Adam and the Tree of Life

A common misconception is that Adam was created "immortal" by nature. However, OEC proponents point out that if Adam were naturally immortal, the Tree of Life would have been redundant. Genesis 2:9 and 3:22 suggest that the Tree of Life was a specific provision to maintain human life indefinitely.

In this view, Adam was created biologically mortal possessing a body subject to the same second law of thermodynamics (entropy) as the rest of the physical universe. The "Tree of Life" likely functioned as a divine, perhaps "epigenetic" or biochemical, intervention. By eating its fruit, Adam’s cellular repair mechanisms could have been periodically "reset," effectively neutralizing the aging process and preventing biological decay. When Adam sinned and was barred from the tree, his body’s natural mortality took over. The "curse" was not a change in his biological makeup, but a removal of the supernatural/biological "shield" that kept him from aging.

The Longevity of the Antediluvians

Following the expulsion from Eden, the Bible records that Adam and his descendants (the antediluvians) lived for centuries Adam lived 930 years, and Methuselah reached 969. OEC explains this through a "residual effect" or a slow decline in the epigenetic vitality provided by the environment of Eden or the Tree of Life.

As generations passed, the "genetic baggage" of mutations accumulated, and the environmental or dietary benefits of the early Earth shifted. This explains the precipitous drop in lifespans after the Flood (from 900+ years down to the 120-year limit mentioned in Genesis 6:3). The antediluvian longevity was a lingering shadow of the perfection found in the Garden, eventually succumbing to the reality of a world separated from the source of life.

Romans 5: Death "Through One Man"

A pivotal text for this discussion is Romans 5:12: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." OEC scholars emphasize the specificity of Paul’s language. The text does not say death came to "all living things," but to "all people." In the Greek context, the "world" (kosmos) being discussed is often the world of human affairs. The theological "death" brought by Adam was the loss of spiritual communion with God and the onset of physical decay for humanity. This preserves the OEC view that animals could live and die for eons prior to Adam without contradicting the New Testament, as animals lack the moral capacity to sin and thus were never the subjects of the "death through sin" described by Paul.

References:

 * Ross, Hugh. Why the Universe Is the Way It Is. Baker Books, 2008. (Discusses the necessity of animal death and the "very good" nature of the laws of physics).

 * Collins, C. John. Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?: Who They Were and Why You Should Care. Crossway, 2011. (Provides a theological framework for the historicity of Adam and the nature of the Fyears.