I came across a post from GotQuestions.org, a creationist website, that describes what they call “Progressive Creationism“. One of the characteristic beliefs of a Progressive Creationist apparently is that:

Death and bloodshed have existed from the very beginning of creation and were not the result of Adam’s sin. Man was created after the vast majority of earth’s history of life and death had already taken place.

Without geting into the whole thing I would like to respond to this passage:

Another error of Progressive Creationism is that death existed prior to the Fall, which undermines the Bible’s clear teaching that death is a result of sin (see Romans 5:12 and 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Any theory which places man or animal death prior to the Fall of Adam must be rejected.

Now I’m not even going to respond to the whole assertion there, just the quoting of those passages to support death only existing after “the fall”.

 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

  20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Romans 5:12

 12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

So in Corinthians we see that death for men came “through a man” and “in Adam all die”. Then in Romans we hear that death through sin is the “way death came to all men”.

Firstly I see nothing here to say that this is the only way death comes. Indeed in this passage of Romans we hear that sin is not taken into account when there is no law, and presumably before Adam there was none (indeed Adam’s version of God’s law appeared to only have that one rule that he and Eve broke). We also are reminded that death comes to those who do not sin and an allusion is made to Christ.

Secondly how does human death reflect at all on destruction in creation. Most notably on animal death? Their is nothing to say that Adam was a vegetarian is there? What did the lions eat? Did fruit flies live forever?

I’m sure I’ll come back to this.