>His entire argument hinges on this
>interpretation of fossils. Because fossils are the result of death and
>death resulted from the fall then all fossils had to have been created
>POST-six-day creation.
When YEC's don't understand science we can all wince, but when they
don't understand the Bible either it really makes me groan.
This is out of my book, The Origins Solution:
Young-earth creationists maintain the Bible prohibits death, even in the
animal
world, until Adam commits Original Sin. Genesis 3:17b and Romans 8:22 are
summoned for oblique support, but essentially this idea of no death in the
animal
kingdom before Adam hinges on their interpretation of about one half of one
verse
in Romans.
Citing Romans 5:12, Henry Morris explains that death “entered into the
world” only
when sin came by man. And, he continues:
"... it is as obvious as anything could be that the fossil record now found
in the sedimentary rocks of the earth’s crust could only have been formed
sometime after man sinned."
Is that what the Bible says? All the world’s predator animals had to wait
for sin before
they could put their claws and fangs into tasty red meat? Can you envision
black
clouds of hungry buzzards egging Eve on? Does that sound plausible?
Let us get some perspective. What did Paul say in Romans? “Wherefore, as
by one
man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ...” (Rom. 5:12a). Does
this mean
Adam’s sin caused death in the animal world too? Did sin inflict both man
and animals
in the eyes of Paul?
There are at least two reasons that death was not dealt to the animal world
through
Adam’s fall. First, the fossil record is replete with over half a billion
years worth of
animal death. That predates Adam by a wide margin. The second reason is
that
animals do not belong in the same “world” as man, attested to by the Bible
writers
themselves.
Notice that Morris did not use the entire verse. He stopped in
mid-sentence, in fact.
This is what follows the semi-colon. Romans 5:12b: “and so death passed
upon all
men, for that all have sinned.” So the Bible tells us, “as obvious as
anything could be,
” who or what is affected by Adam’s sin - men, not animals.
Additional clarification can be found in the following verse. Romans 5:13:
“For until
the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
Who was
under the law, men or animals? Did animals tithe, fast, celebrate feasts,
honor the
Sabbath, keep the commandments, or offer up unblemished sacrifices?
In Romans 4:13: “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world,
was not to
Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of
faith.” Were
animals “through the righteousness of faith” to be joint heirs of the world
along with the
descendants of Abraham?
Had Adam’s sin carried a death sentence for the animal world as well, those
concerned
critters could take heart with I Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive.” So, if young-earth proponents are right, keep
stocking those pet
cemeteries, there’s a new day a-comin’. The trumpet will blow, and
millions of years worth
of animal life will burst forth!
Putting frivolity aside, Scripture forbids such a ludicrous interpretation
of Romans 5:12.
Adam’s sin of disobedience caused death unto all his generations. In
addition, the death
referred to in this passage more probably refers to spiritual death than
physical death. With
continued access to the tree of life, Adam would have lived forever despite
Original Sin,
according to Genesis 3:22.
Dick Fischer - The Origins Solution, http://www.orisol.com
"The answer we should have known about 150 years ago."