In my opinion, taking the view that there was no death before the Fall
commits one to a Young Earth position. If the Bible demands that--so be
it. I don't think that it does. There appears to be lots of evidence of
death--extinctions even, millions of years before any human beings appeared
on the scene. Since the Fall did not take place until after the creation
of the first man then since these deaths and extinctions occurred before
there was any evidence of human beings around, death must have occurred
before the Fall (unless the earth is young and our whole old earth dating
scheme is wrong).
Terry G.
>Being fairly new to this list, I was wondering if this very issue had
>ever been discussed. I have always wondered how theistic evolutionists
>address this very pertinent scriptural and doctrinal issue. Thanks to
>Steve Larsen for bringing it up.
>
>I was wondering how TE's view scripture (not doctrinal confessions) as
>this is very pertinent to their explanation regarding origins. Is the
>Bible God's inerrant and inspired written message/revelation to mankind?
>
>In TE an assumption is made that the God of the Bible exists, and this
>assumption necessarily comes from revelation in scripture. But, if TE
>asserts that scripture can be in error in part, then it may be in error
>as a whole, and the assumption of the God of the Bible logically
>becomes fundamentally flawed. If the existence of God is therefore
>suspect, does it not follow that theistic evolution is also?
>
>However, if scripture is always inerrant in part, then it is inerrant
>as a whole, and the God of the Bible is real. Since the existence of
>God is then not suspect, and scripture is not suspect, then by reason
>the Biblical references to God's acts of creation are valid and true.
>
>One's perspective on the reality, inerrancy, and inspiration of
>scripture results in a different set of assumptions regarding origins.
>In addition to this, as Steve mentioned, there flows a whole new
>theology regarding mankind's destiny and salvation if the Bible is not
>the true inspired Word of God in its totality.
>
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>------------------------------
>"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17"
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>------------------------------
>Paul Durham pdd@gcc.cc.md.us
>Oakland, Maryland
_____________________________________________________________
Terry M. Gray, Ph.D. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Calvin College 3201 Burton SE Grand Rapids, MI 40546
Office: (616) 957-7187 FAX: (616) 957-6501
Email: grayt@calvin.edu http://www.calvin.edu/~grayt
*This mission critical message was written on a Macintosh with Eudora Pro*