>The Gap Theory, which was once very popular among evangelicals, involved death before the Fall. In fact, most of the fossils were attributed to the ruin of creation caused by the fall of Satan. I don't recall ever having heard of Scofield being lambasted for this supposed heresy back before the rise of Henry Morris's movement. This would lead me to suspect that the propagandizing by Morris's followers has played a very major role in giving people the idea that death before the Fall is heretical.
I believe that several pre-old earth theologians advocated animal death before the fall, including Augustine and Calvin. Very slight effort on my part has not located the relevant references. Various aspects of the Genesis account were taken to indicate such death, including the lack of need for being fruitful and multiplying unless there is attrition and the meaninglessness of "you shall surely die" as a warning unless Adam and Eve had some clue as to what it meant.
Dr. David Campbell
"Old Seashells"
Biology Department
Saint Mary's College of Maryland
18952 E. Fisher Road
St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001 USA
dcampbell@osprey.smcm.edu, 301 862-0372 Fax: 301 862-0996
"Mollusks murmured 'Morning!'. And salmon chanted 'Evening!'."-Frank Muir, Oh My Word!
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