Corruption and Decay of Paradise

The corruption and decay of paradise began with man’s sin and God’s judgment (Gen 3:14-19) (CAT-18)

In another blog entry we have already seen that the original creation was not a perfect paradise but that it was perfect for the task with which God intended. So this whole section of CAT proceeds from a false assumption.

DEGENERATED UNIVERSE: Nothing in our fallen world is really perfect today. One day the Creator will burn it all and create a fresh new universe. (II Pet 3:10-13, Isa 65:17, 66:22) In the original world, all was “very good.” It is therefore evident that animals and all creation have degenerated. (CAT-18)

Well, we agree that our world is fallen today. We agree God will burn it all away and create a new heavens and earth – but we believe that it will be FAR better than the original creation. (see the next blog entry on the new creation). We agree the world was “very good.” However, the next statement is that it is therefore evident that things had degenerated.

What exactly makes this evident? Animal suffering and carnivorous activity? We’ve already seen that this is actually a good thing for ecosystems. Tornadoes, hurricanes, and other “natural” evils? In regards to our weather, we have an extremely fine tuned planet where just right conditions bring about just enough of these weather events, but not enough that it is catastrophic to advanced life. Just as an example:

"[Hurricanes] counterbalance the ocean's tendency to leach carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This leaching, if unchecked, would result in a catastrophic cooling of the planet. On the other hand, hurricanes prevent the oceans from trapping too much of the sun's heat by helping to circulate greenhouse gases globally as they shade the ocean locally, preventing heat from building up too dramatically for the safety of certain sea creatures."'[1]

Likewise earthquakes play a vital role in providing for mankind's survival. Without them, "nutrients essential for land life would erode off the continents and accumulate in the oceans. In a relatively brief time, land creatures, at least the advanced species, would starve."[2] But thanks to the movements of the Earth's tectonic plates, these nutrients are recycled back onto the continents.[3]

The Fall and God’s curse are the ultimate reasons why our world today is so imperfect… (CAT-18)

There are aspects of our world today that are stunningly beautiful – or still work with such complexity and simplicity at the same time that it brings honor and glory to God. Even though nature has been affected by sin, it still reveals the glory of God. Certainly sin is a horrible blight – but I don’t think we should judge that the world is so imperfect. We can see from the blog entries on the purpose of death, that even death and evil are used in God’s plan to further His glory and benefit His children. Nature on planet earth is mainly affected by fallen caretakers.

THORNS AND THISTLES. Progressive Creationists would be forced to say that thorns and thistles (and all other weeds) did not begin with the Fall, for they are found deep in the fossil record (millions of years before Adam, according to their theory – but buried by the Flood or later, according to young earth creationism. (CAT-18)

Genesis 2:2-3 states, “And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (emphasis added)

It should be very clear from this text that God’s creative work was complete after the day 6 activities culminated by Adam and Eve. So both YEC and OEC camps must account for thorns and thistles after the fall. From this text we see that the creation of thorns and thistles had already occurred at the time of the Fall.

The concept of thorns and thistles is well addressed by Rich Deem at godandscience.com. Please refer to the full article for more depth. I will summarize with the following based on his article.

When Adam and Eve sinned, part of the result was a curse on the guilty parties. Part of the curse given to Adam was the curse on the ground…Genesis 2 describes the location of the creation of man in detail. The site was picked by God Himself. Not only that, but God Himself planted the garden and selected the plants "every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food" (Genesis 2:9). My guess is that God did not plant any weeds in the garden…

Let's get back to the curse. The curse of the ground is three-fold:

1. "In toil you shall eat of it"
2. "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow"
3. "you shall eat the plants of the field"

The first point is pretty obvious. Adam was going to have to plant his own crops … and work a lot harder than he had been. The second point is that the weeds were going to grow a lot more. Quite significantly, the text does not say that God created the weeds - only that they would grow. The text says that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden into the real world of weeds and untended land (land that was in need of being "subdued").

The whole key to the curse is the third part. Adam was going to have to work the fields and could no longer just go up to a tree and grab some "fast food." The curse for Adam was being kicked out of the garden into the real world. [4]

I recommend to you the entire article again for a more in depth understanding of the curse and the ground.

THE EFFECTS OF SIN. Progressive Creationism contradicts the Bible by limiting the effects to the spiritual death of Adam, exclusion from a non-paradise garden, and a decrease in pain tolerance during childbirth. Essentially… that the natural world under Adam’s rule remained exactly the same before and after Adam’s sin. (CAT-18)

The effect of sin meant the following:

• spiritual death of Adam
• exclusion from the garden
• decrease in pain tolerance during childbirth. (notice that pain was present prior to the fall because God increases the pain that would be encountered during childbirth)

CAT claims that PC limits the effects of the fall to only items 1-3 – yet there are other effects that PC would adhere to that CAT conveniently leaves out in order to make a point.

• Eve's "desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." (Gen 3:16)
• eventual physical death of Adam and Eve (the tree of life was removed) and all humanity
• fallen humanity devastates the planet including the environment and animal populations
• curse on the serpent (satan) and yet the promise of a savior from Eve’s seed.
• curse on the land

To summarize:

Progressive Creationism does not go as far as the YEC in the extent of the curse on the land. Progressive Creationism does not contradict the Bible - it only contradicts the YEC interpretation of the Bible.

Remember the premise of this chapter is to show how the age of the earth is a significant theology. However, since these notions have been proven false, it still stands that the age of the earth is a trivial issue (compared to the Gospel)

Notes:
[1]Hugh Ross, "Hurricanes Bring More Than Destruction," Facts & Faith 12 (1998), pp.4-5. http://www.reasons.org/resources/faf/98q4faf/index.shtml accessed 07-15-2007

[2] Hugh Ross, "Temblors Touch Off Questions," Facts & Faith 63 (1992), http://www.reasons.org/resources/faf/92q3faf/index.shtml#temblors_touch_off_questions accessed 7-15-2007

[3] Hugh Ross, The Creator and the Cosmos, 2nd ed. (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1995), pp. 136-145.

[4] http://godandscience.org/youngearth/genesis3.html accessed 07-15-2007.