death before the fall by ronald osborn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 136
D E A T H B E F O R E
T H E F A L L
R O N A L D E O S B O R N
Foreword by John Walton
Biblical Literali sm and the
Problem of Animal Suf fering
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 236
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 336
ldquoIn his book he auhor invies his readers o share his own proound journey arising
ou o melding his ormaive early experience o wildlie in Arica conemporary
evoluionary accouns and creaionis biblical lieralism In clear coheren and well-argued narraives he akes apar he assumpions common o scienism and cre-
aionism and draws on he Chrisian radiion and biblical sources in order o con-
sruc an alernaive Tis is an inelligenly argued ye pasorally sensiive
exploraion o he challenges aced by evoluionary heiss and creaioniss alike
bu is implicaions go much urher han his For Osborn succeeds in achieving
somehing ha ew auhors manage namely a sel-criical bu compassionae and
someimes humorous accoun o he difficulies or heiss in coming o erms
wih suffering in he animal world I deserves o be read and appreciaed no jusin suden courses on God and evoluion bu more widely rom differen ec-
clesial radiionsrdquo
Celia Deane-Drummond proessor o heology Universiy o Nore Dame
ldquoA beauiully writen book Ron Osborn wries no wih spie and ire bu wih
wisdom and generosiy o spiri Where lieralism once ruled as he only way o
honor Scripure here he deeper dimensions o Godrsquos compassion and sabbah res
come o ligh Tis is he firs book Irsquove read on he evoluion and creaion debaeha brough ears o my eyesrdquo
Philip Clayton Claremon School o Teology auhor o ransorming Chrisian Teology
ldquoRonald Osborn draws ogeher a variey o sources and addresses key issues in his
rich projec His analysis o lieralism and biblical inerpreaion is sorely needed in
many circles oday And his insighs on animal suffering should prove helpul as
believers wresle wih he cenral issues o Godrsquos grace in a world o boh pleasure
and pain holiness and harrowing abuserdquo
Tomas Jay Oord Norhwes Nazarene Universiy Nampa Idaho
ldquoAs religious communiies sruggle o make sense o heir aih radiions afer
Darwin hey rely on houghul and sensiive seers o lead hem beyond he
shallows o lieralism o a deeper encouner wih new scienific discoveries Ronald
Osbornrsquos sophisicaed reflecions on lieralism and animal suffering will be helpul
o Chrisians o all denominaions who are roubled by he wild ways o evoluionrdquo
John F Haught senior research ellow Woodsock Teological Cener GeorgeownUniversiy
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 436
DEATH BEFORE
THE F ALL
Biblical Literalism and the
Problem of Animal Suffering
RONALD E OSBORN
Foreword by John H Walton
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by onald E Osborn
All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy
Press
InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o
sudens and aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes
o America and a member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou
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d PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visi he IVCF websie a wwwinervarsiyorg
All Scripure quoaions marked 983150983137983155983138 are aken om he New American Sandard Biblereg copyrigh 983089983097983094983088 983089983097983094983090
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KYNSKI MAGNUS J (RNS) SOUNDS FEELINGS HOUGHS copy983089983097983096983089 by Princeon Universiy Press
eprined by permission o Princeon Universiy Press
Cover design David Fasset
Inerior design Beh Hagenberg
Images iger DEA G DAGLI OIGety ImagesCerificae copyedge983094983097
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983094-983093 (prin)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983091983095-983091 (digial)
Prined in he Unied Saes o America
InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmen and o he responsible use o nauralresources As a member o Green Press Iniiaive we use recycled paper whenever possible o learnmore abou he Green Press Iniiaive visi wwwgreenpressiniiaiveorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A caalog record or his book is available om he Library o Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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CONTENTS
Foreword by John H Walon 983095
Inroducion 983089983089
P983137983154983156 O983150983141 O983150 L983145983156983141983154983137983148983145983155983149
983089 Te Creaion 983090983093
A Plain eading
983090 Wha991257s Eaing Biblical Lieraliss 983091983097
Creaionism and he Enlighenmen Projec
983091 Unwholesome Complexiy 983092983097 Lieralism as Scienismrsquos Pale Mimeic ival
983092 Progressive Versus Degeneraing Science 983093983097
Weighing Incommensurable Paradigms
983093 Does Your God Need Sage Props 983094983096
On he heological Necessiy o Mehodological Aheism
983094 Te Enclave Menaliy 983095983094
Ideniy Foreclosure and he Fundamenalis Mind
983095 Te Gnosic Syndrome 983096983094
When Lieralism Becomes a Heresy
983096 Four Winesses on he Lieral Meaning o Genesis 983097983094
Barh Calvin Augusine and Maimonides
983097 I No Foundaionalism Wha Ten 983089983089983091
From ower Building o Ne Mending
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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P983137983154983156 T983159983151 O983150 A983150983145983149983137983148 S983157983142983142983141983154983145983150983143
983089983088 Sasis Decepion Curse 983089983090983094hree Lieralis Dilemmas
983089983089 A Midrash 983089983092983088
C S Lewisrsquos Cosmic Conlic heodicy evisied
983089983090 God o he Whirlwind 983089983093983088
Animal Ferociy in he Book o Job
983089983091 Creaion amp Kenosis 983089983093983095
Evoluion and Chris rsquos Sel-Empying Way o he Cross
983089983092 Animal Ehics Sabbah Res 983089983094983094
Conclusion 983089983095983095
Noes 983089983096983089
Subjec and Auhor Index 983089983097983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2336
1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2736
he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2836
30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 236
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 336
ldquoIn his book he auhor invies his readers o share his own proound journey arising
ou o melding his ormaive early experience o wildlie in Arica conemporary
evoluionary accouns and creaionis biblical lieralism In clear coheren and well-argued narraives he akes apar he assumpions common o scienism and cre-
aionism and draws on he Chrisian radiion and biblical sources in order o con-
sruc an alernaive Tis is an inelligenly argued ye pasorally sensiive
exploraion o he challenges aced by evoluionary heiss and creaioniss alike
bu is implicaions go much urher han his For Osborn succeeds in achieving
somehing ha ew auhors manage namely a sel-criical bu compassionae and
someimes humorous accoun o he difficulies or heiss in coming o erms
wih suffering in he animal world I deserves o be read and appreciaed no jusin suden courses on God and evoluion bu more widely rom differen ec-
clesial radiionsrdquo
Celia Deane-Drummond proessor o heology Universiy o Nore Dame
ldquoA beauiully writen book Ron Osborn wries no wih spie and ire bu wih
wisdom and generosiy o spiri Where lieralism once ruled as he only way o
honor Scripure here he deeper dimensions o Godrsquos compassion and sabbah res
come o ligh Tis is he firs book Irsquove read on he evoluion and creaion debaeha brough ears o my eyesrdquo
Philip Clayton Claremon School o Teology auhor o ransorming Chrisian Teology
ldquoRonald Osborn draws ogeher a variey o sources and addresses key issues in his
rich projec His analysis o lieralism and biblical inerpreaion is sorely needed in
many circles oday And his insighs on animal suffering should prove helpul as
believers wresle wih he cenral issues o Godrsquos grace in a world o boh pleasure
and pain holiness and harrowing abuserdquo
Tomas Jay Oord Norhwes Nazarene Universiy Nampa Idaho
ldquoAs religious communiies sruggle o make sense o heir aih radiions afer
Darwin hey rely on houghul and sensiive seers o lead hem beyond he
shallows o lieralism o a deeper encouner wih new scienific discoveries Ronald
Osbornrsquos sophisicaed reflecions on lieralism and animal suffering will be helpul
o Chrisians o all denominaions who are roubled by he wild ways o evoluionrdquo
John F Haught senior research ellow Woodsock Teological Cener GeorgeownUniversiy
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 436
DEATH BEFORE
THE F ALL
Biblical Literalism and the
Problem of Animal Suffering
RONALD E OSBORN
Foreword by John H Walton
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 536
InerVarsiy Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by onald E Osborn
All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy
Press
InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o
sudens and aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes
o America and a member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou
local and regional aciviies wrie Public elaions Dep InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088 983088 Schroeder
d PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visi he IVCF websie a wwwinervarsiyorg
All Scripure quoaions marked 983150983137983155983138 are aken om he New American Sandard Biblereg copyrigh 983089983097983094983088 983089983097983094983090
983089983097983094983091 983089983097983094983096 983089983097983095983089 983089983097983095983090 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983093 983089983097983095983095 983089983097983097983093 by Te Lockman Foundaion Used by permission
KYNSKI MAGNUS J (RNS) SOUNDS FEELINGS HOUGHS copy983089983097983096983089 by Princeon Universiy Press
eprined by permission o Princeon Universiy Press
Cover design David Fasset
Inerior design Beh Hagenberg
Images iger DEA G DAGLI OIGety ImagesCerificae copyedge983094983097
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983094-983093 (prin)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983091983095-983091 (digial)
Prined in he Unied Saes o America
InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmen and o he responsible use o nauralresources As a member o Green Press Iniiaive we use recycled paper whenever possible o learnmore abou he Green Press Iniiaive visi wwwgreenpressiniiaiveorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A caalog record or his book is available om he Library o Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 636
CONTENTS
Foreword by John H Walon 983095
Inroducion 983089983089
P983137983154983156 O983150983141 O983150 L983145983156983141983154983137983148983145983155983149
983089 Te Creaion 983090983093
A Plain eading
983090 Wha991257s Eaing Biblical Lieraliss 983091983097
Creaionism and he Enlighenmen Projec
983091 Unwholesome Complexiy 983092983097 Lieralism as Scienismrsquos Pale Mimeic ival
983092 Progressive Versus Degeneraing Science 983093983097
Weighing Incommensurable Paradigms
983093 Does Your God Need Sage Props 983094983096
On he heological Necessiy o Mehodological Aheism
983094 Te Enclave Menaliy 983095983094
Ideniy Foreclosure and he Fundamenalis Mind
983095 Te Gnosic Syndrome 983096983094
When Lieralism Becomes a Heresy
983096 Four Winesses on he Lieral Meaning o Genesis 983097983094
Barh Calvin Augusine and Maimonides
983097 I No Foundaionalism Wha Ten 983089983089983091
From ower Building o Ne Mending
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 736
P983137983154983156 T983159983151 O983150 A983150983145983149983137983148 S983157983142983142983141983154983145983150983143
983089983088 Sasis Decepion Curse 983089983090983094hree Lieralis Dilemmas
983089983089 A Midrash 983089983092983088
C S Lewisrsquos Cosmic Conlic heodicy evisied
983089983090 God o he Whirlwind 983089983093983088
Animal Ferociy in he Book o Job
983089983091 Creaion amp Kenosis 983089983093983095
Evoluion and Chris rsquos Sel-Empying Way o he Cross
983089983092 Animal Ehics Sabbah Res 983089983094983094
Conclusion 983089983095983095
Noes 983089983096983089
Subjec and Auhor Index 983089983097983091
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1136
INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1836
18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 336
ldquoIn his book he auhor invies his readers o share his own proound journey arising
ou o melding his ormaive early experience o wildlie in Arica conemporary
evoluionary accouns and creaionis biblical lieralism In clear coheren and well-argued narraives he akes apar he assumpions common o scienism and cre-
aionism and draws on he Chrisian radiion and biblical sources in order o con-
sruc an alernaive Tis is an inelligenly argued ye pasorally sensiive
exploraion o he challenges aced by evoluionary heiss and creaioniss alike
bu is implicaions go much urher han his For Osborn succeeds in achieving
somehing ha ew auhors manage namely a sel-criical bu compassionae and
someimes humorous accoun o he difficulies or heiss in coming o erms
wih suffering in he animal world I deserves o be read and appreciaed no jusin suden courses on God and evoluion bu more widely rom differen ec-
clesial radiionsrdquo
Celia Deane-Drummond proessor o heology Universiy o Nore Dame
ldquoA beauiully writen book Ron Osborn wries no wih spie and ire bu wih
wisdom and generosiy o spiri Where lieralism once ruled as he only way o
honor Scripure here he deeper dimensions o Godrsquos compassion and sabbah res
come o ligh Tis is he firs book Irsquove read on he evoluion and creaion debaeha brough ears o my eyesrdquo
Philip Clayton Claremon School o Teology auhor o ransorming Chrisian Teology
ldquoRonald Osborn draws ogeher a variey o sources and addresses key issues in his
rich projec His analysis o lieralism and biblical inerpreaion is sorely needed in
many circles oday And his insighs on animal suffering should prove helpul as
believers wresle wih he cenral issues o Godrsquos grace in a world o boh pleasure
and pain holiness and harrowing abuserdquo
Tomas Jay Oord Norhwes Nazarene Universiy Nampa Idaho
ldquoAs religious communiies sruggle o make sense o heir aih radiions afer
Darwin hey rely on houghul and sensiive seers o lead hem beyond he
shallows o lieralism o a deeper encouner wih new scienific discoveries Ronald
Osbornrsquos sophisicaed reflecions on lieralism and animal suffering will be helpul
o Chrisians o all denominaions who are roubled by he wild ways o evoluionrdquo
John F Haught senior research ellow Woodsock Teological Cener GeorgeownUniversiy
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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DEATH BEFORE
THE F ALL
Biblical Literalism and the
Problem of Animal Suffering
RONALD E OSBORN
Foreword by John H Walton
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InerVarsiy Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by onald E Osborn
All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy
Press
InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o
sudens and aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes
o America and a member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou
local and regional aciviies wrie Public elaions Dep InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088 983088 Schroeder
d PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visi he IVCF websie a wwwinervarsiyorg
All Scripure quoaions marked 983150983137983155983138 are aken om he New American Sandard Biblereg copyrigh 983089983097983094983088 983089983097983094983090
983089983097983094983091 983089983097983094983096 983089983097983095983089 983089983097983095983090 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983093 983089983097983095983095 983089983097983097983093 by Te Lockman Foundaion Used by permission
KYNSKI MAGNUS J (RNS) SOUNDS FEELINGS HOUGHS copy983089983097983096983089 by Princeon Universiy Press
eprined by permission o Princeon Universiy Press
Cover design David Fasset
Inerior design Beh Hagenberg
Images iger DEA G DAGLI OIGety ImagesCerificae copyedge983094983097
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983094-983093 (prin)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983091983095-983091 (digial)
Prined in he Unied Saes o America
InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmen and o he responsible use o nauralresources As a member o Green Press Iniiaive we use recycled paper whenever possible o learnmore abou he Green Press Iniiaive visi wwwgreenpressiniiaiveorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A caalog record or his book is available om he Library o Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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CONTENTS
Foreword by John H Walon 983095
Inroducion 983089983089
P983137983154983156 O983150983141 O983150 L983145983156983141983154983137983148983145983155983149
983089 Te Creaion 983090983093
A Plain eading
983090 Wha991257s Eaing Biblical Lieraliss 983091983097
Creaionism and he Enlighenmen Projec
983091 Unwholesome Complexiy 983092983097 Lieralism as Scienismrsquos Pale Mimeic ival
983092 Progressive Versus Degeneraing Science 983093983097
Weighing Incommensurable Paradigms
983093 Does Your God Need Sage Props 983094983096
On he heological Necessiy o Mehodological Aheism
983094 Te Enclave Menaliy 983095983094
Ideniy Foreclosure and he Fundamenalis Mind
983095 Te Gnosic Syndrome 983096983094
When Lieralism Becomes a Heresy
983096 Four Winesses on he Lieral Meaning o Genesis 983097983094
Barh Calvin Augusine and Maimonides
983097 I No Foundaionalism Wha Ten 983089983089983091
From ower Building o Ne Mending
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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P983137983154983156 T983159983151 O983150 A983150983145983149983137983148 S983157983142983142983141983154983145983150983143
983089983088 Sasis Decepion Curse 983089983090983094hree Lieralis Dilemmas
983089983089 A Midrash 983089983092983088
C S Lewisrsquos Cosmic Conlic heodicy evisied
983089983090 God o he Whirlwind 983089983093983088
Animal Ferociy in he Book o Job
983089983091 Creaion amp Kenosis 983089983093983095
Evoluion and Chris rsquos Sel-Empying Way o he Cross
983089983092 Animal Ehics Sabbah Res 983089983094983094
Conclusion 983089983095983095
Noes 983089983096983089
Subjec and Auhor Index 983089983097983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1036
Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1136
INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 436
DEATH BEFORE
THE F ALL
Biblical Literalism and the
Problem of Animal Suffering
RONALD E OSBORN
Foreword by John H Walton
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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InerVarsiy Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by onald E Osborn
All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy
Press
InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o
sudens and aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes
o America and a member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou
local and regional aciviies wrie Public elaions Dep InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088 983088 Schroeder
d PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visi he IVCF websie a wwwinervarsiyorg
All Scripure quoaions marked 983150983137983155983138 are aken om he New American Sandard Biblereg copyrigh 983089983097983094983088 983089983097983094983090
983089983097983094983091 983089983097983094983096 983089983097983095983089 983089983097983095983090 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983093 983089983097983095983095 983089983097983097983093 by Te Lockman Foundaion Used by permission
KYNSKI MAGNUS J (RNS) SOUNDS FEELINGS HOUGHS copy983089983097983096983089 by Princeon Universiy Press
eprined by permission o Princeon Universiy Press
Cover design David Fasset
Inerior design Beh Hagenberg
Images iger DEA G DAGLI OIGety ImagesCerificae copyedge983094983097
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983094-983093 (prin)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983091983095-983091 (digial)
Prined in he Unied Saes o America
InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmen and o he responsible use o nauralresources As a member o Green Press Iniiaive we use recycled paper whenever possible o learnmore abou he Green Press Iniiaive visi wwwgreenpressiniiaiveorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A caalog record or his book is available om he Library o Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 636
CONTENTS
Foreword by John H Walon 983095
Inroducion 983089983089
P983137983154983156 O983150983141 O983150 L983145983156983141983154983137983148983145983155983149
983089 Te Creaion 983090983093
A Plain eading
983090 Wha991257s Eaing Biblical Lieraliss 983091983097
Creaionism and he Enlighenmen Projec
983091 Unwholesome Complexiy 983092983097 Lieralism as Scienismrsquos Pale Mimeic ival
983092 Progressive Versus Degeneraing Science 983093983097
Weighing Incommensurable Paradigms
983093 Does Your God Need Sage Props 983094983096
On he heological Necessiy o Mehodological Aheism
983094 Te Enclave Menaliy 983095983094
Ideniy Foreclosure and he Fundamenalis Mind
983095 Te Gnosic Syndrome 983096983094
When Lieralism Becomes a Heresy
983096 Four Winesses on he Lieral Meaning o Genesis 983097983094
Barh Calvin Augusine and Maimonides
983097 I No Foundaionalism Wha Ten 983089983089983091
From ower Building o Ne Mending
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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P983137983154983156 T983159983151 O983150 A983150983145983149983137983148 S983157983142983142983141983154983145983150983143
983089983088 Sasis Decepion Curse 983089983090983094hree Lieralis Dilemmas
983089983089 A Midrash 983089983092983088
C S Lewisrsquos Cosmic Conlic heodicy evisied
983089983090 God o he Whirlwind 983089983093983088
Animal Ferociy in he Book o Job
983089983091 Creaion amp Kenosis 983089983093983095
Evoluion and Chris rsquos Sel-Empying Way o he Cross
983089983092 Animal Ehics Sabbah Res 983089983094983094
Conclusion 983089983095983095
Noes 983089983096983089
Subjec and Auhor Index 983089983097983091
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1136
INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1436
14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1836
18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2736
he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 536
InerVarsiy Press
PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094World Wide Web wwwivpresscom
Email emailivpresscom
copy983090983088983089983092 by onald E Osborn
All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy
Press
InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o
sudens and aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes
o America and a member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou
local and regional aciviies wrie Public elaions Dep InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSA 983094983092983088 983088 Schroeder
d PO Box 983095983096983097983093 Madison WI 983093983091983095983088983095-983095983096983097983093 or visi he IVCF websie a wwwinervarsiyorg
All Scripure quoaions marked 983150983137983155983138 are aken om he New American Sandard Biblereg copyrigh 983089983097983094983088 983089983097983094983090
983089983097983094983091 983089983097983094983096 983089983097983095983089 983089983097983095983090 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983093 983089983097983095983095 983089983097983097983093 by Te Lockman Foundaion Used by permission
KYNSKI MAGNUS J (RNS) SOUNDS FEELINGS HOUGHS copy983089983097983096983089 by Princeon Universiy Press
eprined by permission o Princeon Universiy Press
Cover design David Fasset
Inerior design Beh Hagenberg
Images iger DEA G DAGLI OIGety ImagesCerificae copyedge983094983097
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983092983088983092983094-983093 (prin)
ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983093983091983095-983091 (digial)
Prined in he Unied Saes o America
InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmen and o he responsible use o nauralresources As a member o Green Press Iniiaive we use recycled paper whenever possible o learnmore abou he Green Press Iniiaive visi wwwgreenpressiniiaiveorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A caalog record or his book is available om he Library o Congress
P 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089
Y 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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CONTENTS
Foreword by John H Walon 983095
Inroducion 983089983089
P983137983154983156 O983150983141 O983150 L983145983156983141983154983137983148983145983155983149
983089 Te Creaion 983090983093
A Plain eading
983090 Wha991257s Eaing Biblical Lieraliss 983091983097
Creaionism and he Enlighenmen Projec
983091 Unwholesome Complexiy 983092983097 Lieralism as Scienismrsquos Pale Mimeic ival
983092 Progressive Versus Degeneraing Science 983093983097
Weighing Incommensurable Paradigms
983093 Does Your God Need Sage Props 983094983096
On he heological Necessiy o Mehodological Aheism
983094 Te Enclave Menaliy 983095983094
Ideniy Foreclosure and he Fundamenalis Mind
983095 Te Gnosic Syndrome 983096983094
When Lieralism Becomes a Heresy
983096 Four Winesses on he Lieral Meaning o Genesis 983097983094
Barh Calvin Augusine and Maimonides
983097 I No Foundaionalism Wha Ten 983089983089983091
From ower Building o Ne Mending
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 736
P983137983154983156 T983159983151 O983150 A983150983145983149983137983148 S983157983142983142983141983154983145983150983143
983089983088 Sasis Decepion Curse 983089983090983094hree Lieralis Dilemmas
983089983089 A Midrash 983089983092983088
C S Lewisrsquos Cosmic Conlic heodicy evisied
983089983090 God o he Whirlwind 983089983093983088
Animal Ferociy in he Book o Job
983089983091 Creaion amp Kenosis 983089983093983095
Evoluion and Chris rsquos Sel-Empying Way o he Cross
983089983092 Animal Ehics Sabbah Res 983089983094983094
Conclusion 983089983095983095
Noes 983089983096983089
Subjec and Auhor Index 983089983097983091
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 836
FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1036
Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1136
INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2036
20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 636
CONTENTS
Foreword by John H Walon 983095
Inroducion 983089983089
P983137983154983156 O983150983141 O983150 L983145983156983141983154983137983148983145983155983149
983089 Te Creaion 983090983093
A Plain eading
983090 Wha991257s Eaing Biblical Lieraliss 983091983097
Creaionism and he Enlighenmen Projec
983091 Unwholesome Complexiy 983092983097 Lieralism as Scienismrsquos Pale Mimeic ival
983092 Progressive Versus Degeneraing Science 983093983097
Weighing Incommensurable Paradigms
983093 Does Your God Need Sage Props 983094983096
On he heological Necessiy o Mehodological Aheism
983094 Te Enclave Menaliy 983095983094
Ideniy Foreclosure and he Fundamenalis Mind
983095 Te Gnosic Syndrome 983096983094
When Lieralism Becomes a Heresy
983096 Four Winesses on he Lieral Meaning o Genesis 983097983094
Barh Calvin Augusine and Maimonides
983097 I No Foundaionalism Wha Ten 983089983089983091
From ower Building o Ne Mending
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P983137983154983156 T983159983151 O983150 A983150983145983149983137983148 S983157983142983142983141983154983145983150983143
983089983088 Sasis Decepion Curse 983089983090983094hree Lieralis Dilemmas
983089983089 A Midrash 983089983092983088
C S Lewisrsquos Cosmic Conlic heodicy evisied
983089983090 God o he Whirlwind 983089983093983088
Animal Ferociy in he Book o Job
983089983091 Creaion amp Kenosis 983089983093983095
Evoluion and Chris rsquos Sel-Empying Way o he Cross
983089983092 Animal Ehics Sabbah Res 983089983094983094
Conclusion 983089983095983095
Noes 983089983096983089
Subjec and Auhor Index 983089983097983091
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FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
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INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1836
18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 736
P983137983154983156 T983159983151 O983150 A983150983145983149983137983148 S983157983142983142983141983154983145983150983143
983089983088 Sasis Decepion Curse 983089983090983094hree Lieralis Dilemmas
983089983089 A Midrash 983089983092983088
C S Lewisrsquos Cosmic Conlic heodicy evisied
983089983090 God o he Whirlwind 983089983093983088
Animal Ferociy in he Book o Job
983089983091 Creaion amp Kenosis 983089983093983095
Evoluion and Chris rsquos Sel-Empying Way o he Cross
983089983092 Animal Ehics Sabbah Res 983089983094983094
Conclusion 983089983095983095
Noes 983089983096983089
Subjec and Auhor Index 983089983097983091
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 836
FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1136
INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2036
20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 836
FOREWORD
I 983150 983156 983144 983141 983139 983157 983154 983154 983141 983150 983156 983139 983148 983145 983149 983137 983156 983141 983151 983142 983139 983151 983150 983158 983141 983154 983155 983137 983156 983145 983151 983150 concerning
science and aih many issues are brough under scruiny Some involve
he rapid advances in geneics and ohers he applicaion o ancien Near
Easern lieraure o he inerpreaion o Scripure Evoluionary biology
physical and culural anhropology neuroscience quanum mechanics
heology and hermeneuics all have heir conribuions o make o he
complex discussion Many dispues concern how subsanial he scienific
conclusions are while ohers ocus on how we should inerpre he Bible
and wha claims i makes
One o he mos commonly discussed opics is wha i means o in-
erpre he biblical ex lierally In his book Osborn does readers he grea
avor o delving deeply ino he issue o wha he labels ldquolieralismrdquo o dem-onsrae how such a hermeneuic can be and has been abused by iner-
preers who have oher agendas Many o hose who conend or narrow
lieralism are quie selecive in wha hey read lierally and in he end all
prey o he pos-Enlighenmen demands o scienism Osborn conends
ha narrowly lieralis scienific creaionism no only ails o offer a sound
reading o he ex bu acually damages he ex
A second opic ha in conras is litle discussed in he modern conver-
saions is animal suering despie he ac ha many would ideniy i
as he main reason ha hey canno accep evoluionary heory Osbornrsquos
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1836
18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2736
he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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8 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
case is ha while here are no easy answers hose who believe in lieralism
and creaionism are no in any beter posiion on animal suffering han
hose who accep evoluionary models In oher words evoluionary heory
is no he problem Tis is an imporan poin o be made or hose who
have used animal suffering as he single mos imporan reason ha evo-
luion canno be considered
Tis powerully writen book is eminenly worh reading or persons o
all belies or none who wan o hink deeply abou some o he issues in
science and aih ha perplex us oday Osbornrsquos insighs can bring us yeanoher sep along he pah oward finding peace rom he animosiy and
angs ha surround hese issues Bu beyond ha he calls us o be beter
conversaion parners beter people And ha is always a message worh
lisening o
John H Walon
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Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
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INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1036
Bless he L983151983154983140 O my soul
You appoin darkness and i becomes nigh In which all he beass o he ores prowl abou
Te young lions roar afer heir prey
And seek heir ood om God
When he sun rises hey wihdraw
And lie down in heir dens
Man goes orh o his work And o his labor unil evening
O L983151983154983140 how many are Your works
In wisdom You have made hem all
Te earh is ull o Your possessions
Tere is he sea grea and broad
In which are swarms wihou number
Animals boh small and grea
Tere he ships move along
And Leviahan which You have ormed o spor in i
Tey all wai or You
o give hem heir ood in due season
You give o hem hey gaher i up
You open Your hand hey are saisfied wih good
You hide Your ace hey are dismayed
You ake away heir spiri hey expire
And reurn o heir dus
You send orh Your Spiri hey are creaed
And You renew he ace o he ground
P983155983137983148983149 1048625104862410486281048625 10486261048624-10486271048624 983150983137983155983138
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1136
INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1836
18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1136
INTRODUCTION
A 983155 983137 983139983144 983145 983148 983140 983143 983154 983151983159 983145 983150 983143 983157 983152 983156983151 983149 983145 983155 983155 983145 983151 983150983137 983154983161 983152983137 983154 983141 983150 983156 983155 in Zim-
babwe no long afer is independence rom he aparheid regime o Ian
Smihrsquos Rhodesia deah in naure was somehing I had been exposed o
rom an early age albei no in everyday lie My amilyrsquos home was in a
quie suburb o he serene and modern ciy o Harare amous or is well-
groomed gol courses boanical gardens and wide boulevards lined wih
jacaranda and flame rees ha bloomed specacular shades o purple whie
or orange depending on he season o he year Here he mos deadly
animal one migh encouner was a mamba boomslang or oher poisonous
snake alhough sighings o even hese were exremely rare Urbanizaion
and arming had long since driven Aricarsquos amed wildlie ar rom he
places mos Zimbabweans lived Harare was a leas o his childrsquos eyes aranquil paradise wih endless advenures o be had wih my classmaes on
sunny afernoons as we roamed he ciy on our bicycles afer shedding he
gray knee socks and cramped black shoes o our school uniormsmdashhe
crueles legacy I callowly assumed a he ime o Briish colonialism I had
much o learn Ofen hough my parens would load my wo sisers and
me ino our mechanically challenged diesel Mercedes sedan and we would
leave he emperae plaeau on which Harare sis o camp some
104862610486291048624 miles o he norh a a place known as Mana Pools
Mana Pools is a remoe wildlie preserve and UNESCO World Heriage
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12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2336
1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2736
he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2836
30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1236
12 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Sie wih some o he mos specacular game viewing anywhere in Aricarsquos
souhern hemisphere I was one o my amilyrsquos avorie rereas during he
years we lived in Zimbabwe Afer passing he final sese fly conrol saion
on he main roadmdasha low mud hu rom which a man in a crumpled khaki
uniorm would sleepily emerge armed wih a rusy in caniser o spray he
undercarriage o our car wih a noxious-smelling liquid inended o preven
he deadly insec rom reurning wih usmdashwe were ruly ino he wild or
ino he bundu as i is called in banu slang (One o my prized possessions
during my elemenary school years was a worn copy o he 1048625104863310486301048631 classicsurvival manual Donrsquo Die in he Bundu by Col D H Grainger o he Rho-
desian Army I never had any reason o pu ino pracice he lessons in his
book bu hey provided rich odder or anasies o heroic eas o a young
boy alone agains Aricarsquos elemens armed wih nohing more han his
rusy Swiss Army knie)
Te final leg o he journey ino Mana Pools ollows a desolae unpaved
rack surrounded by hick brush and doted by colossal baobab rees ha
look like he remnans o a los Jurassic Park One migh drive or hours on
his pah wihou spoting anoher vehicle or human being Te firs ime
my amily enered his dusy road however we had no gone ar beore we
encounered a resh lion kill Tree young emales had aken down a Cape
buffalo which hey had no ye dragged ino he cover o he bush Is legs
were splayed a odd angles and is side was opened exposing an impressiverib cage in shades o whie and crimson Te lions were easing on he
carcass in he middle o he road paning heavily as hey ore ino is body
heir chess and muzzles soaked in blood Te air was filled wih he sench
o deah My aher urned off he car engine and we sa in awed silence
waching hem eas a a disance o several meers A las we coninued on
our way dipping ino he sandy shoulder o he rack as we navigaed abou
his scene o beauiul carnage Te lions paid us litle noice I was nine oren years old a he ime bu he memory is sill vivid
I was usually lae in he afernoon when we would a las arrive a he
Mana Pools campsie which lies beneah a grove o acacia rees on a high
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Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1836
18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1336
Inroducion 13
bank overlooking he Zambezi River Afer darkness had setled someone
migh shine a powerul spoligh or ldquoorchrdquo over he nearby marshy inles
and we would wach he gleaming eyes o he crocodiles blink and hen
eerily vanish beneah he waer like dying sars We would lie sill in our
ens as he campfire dwindled o embers and lisen o he hauning cries o
jackals in he disance
Tere is anoher disinc sound I remember rom hose nighs as we lay
in our beds in he bundu Tere were no ences or walls in Mana Pools and
wild animals ofen made heir way hrough camp Our mos common vis-iors (apar rom he klepomaniac verve monkeys always seeking a chance
o seize unatended ood) were herds o elephans We could ofen hear
heir sof read and breahing jus he oher side o our en flaps as hey
picked up he pods ha ell rom he acacia rees we slep under Tey
would requenly pass close enough o sep on our en ropes alhough even
in he black o nigh hey had an uncanny awareness o he lines and never
so much as grazed hem Beore dawn my parens would already be waking
my sisers and me or a new saari since he early hours o he day when he
air was sill cool and crisp were he bes ime o spo rare animals All
around us was a world ha was deeply myserious unamed dangerous
beauiul and good waiing o be explored And he danger was par o is
goodness and is beauy
Herein lies he cenral riddle o his book One migh o course imagineoher worlds in oher universes wihou predaory creaures such as croco-
diles and lions and hese migh be very good and very beauiul worlds as
well Bu he paricular goodness and beauy o Aricarsquos wild places ha were
such an imporan par o my childhood were inexricably linked o cycles o
birh and deah as well as suffering erociy and animal predaion One need
no subscribe o seveneenh-cenury German philosopher Gotried Leib-
nizrsquos claim (sairized by Volaire in Candide) ha he world as we know i isldquohe bes o all possible worldsrdquo o neverheless see ha adjecives such as evil
and cursed when applied o he realiies o lie and deah in he animal
kingdom somehow jus do no ring rue Mana Pools was very goodmdashis lions
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14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1436
14 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
jackals leopards fish eagles and cobras included Ye Mana Pools as a mi-
crocosm o naure as a whole was also an unamed and even unremitingly
harsh world a sealed economy in which all o lie was in he final analysis
susained by he deahsmdashofen in specacular and prolonged waysmdasho oher
creaures Tere is a doubleness o all o animal exisence exending righ
back o he very beginning as ar as we can ell wih birh and deah comedy
and ragedy suffering and grandeur appearing as he inerwoven and insepa-
rable aspecs o a single realiy ha defies easy moral caegorizaion
For believers in he God o Jewish and Chrisian Scripure his poses agrave heological and moral dilemma ha is differen in kind rom he
problem o evil arising rom he exercise o human ree will I also disinc
rom (i perhaps relaed o) he problem o ldquonaural evilrdquo posed by geo-
logical upheavals ha ake human lives such as he 1048626104862410486251048624 earhquake in Haii
and he sunamis in Indonesia and Japan Simply saed he rouble is his
Animals as ar as we know do no have he capaciy or anyhing ap-
proaching human moral reasoning and will never be able o comprehend
heir own suffering in meaphysical or heological erms ha migh give ha
suffering meaning or hem Why hen would a jus and loving Godmdashno
he impersonal spiri o Hegelian idealism ha achieves is final ends
hrough he violen dialecics o ldquohisory as slaugher-benchrdquo1 nor he di-
viniy o Hindu belie who is a once Brahma he creaor and Shiva he de-
sroyer o worlds bu he undivided and good Creaor God o he HebrewBible and New esamenmdashrequire or permi such a world o exis Tis
world is one in which he harrowing suffering o innocen creaures hrough
he violence o oher creaures appears a once raugh wih errible sav-
ageness and a he same ime par o an order ha is delicaely balanced
achingly beauiul and finely uned o susain remendous diversiy o lie
I here is a raionally discernible ldquoinelligen designrdquo o he naural world as
some believers claim should we no conclude ha he design reveals apiilessly indifferen i no malevolen inelligence Why is i ha cre-
aioniss who read ldquodesignrdquo rom he surace o naure never rhapsodize
abou he wondrous irreducible complexiy o AIDS viruses or apeworms
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1536
Inroducion 15
or serraed shark eeh iered five rows deep ldquoI is as i he enire cosmos
were somehow predaoryrdquo wries Easern Orhodox heologian David Har
ldquoa single organism nourishing isel upon he deah o everyhing o which
i gives birh creaing and devouring all hings wih a errible and impassive
majesyrdquo2
Te pervasiveness o errible impassive and majesic orms o predaion
in naure exends rom he grea carnivores a he op o he ood chainmdash
he prides o lions ha have been capured on film killing baby elephans in
scenes o such proraced agony ha I find hem impossible o wachmdashohe inies o insecs in he mos seemingly ranquil English garden Aphids
would muliply exponenially o unahomable numbers i no devoured
coninuously by oher creaures Parasiic wasps hach housands a a ime
o eed wih ravenous hunger inside heir hoss Deah in naure ldquois more
han exravagancerdquo Annie Dillard concludes ldquoi is holocaus parody glurdquo3
Dillard recouns he ldquounholy revulsionrdquo o devou nineeenh-cenury
French nauralis J Henri Fabre afer he observed a macabre drama unold
beween a bee a Philanhus wasp and a praying manis Te wasp paralyzed
he bee and squeezed is belly so ha i would disgorge is swee syrup
eeding by licking he dying insecrsquos ongue A his momen a manis sud-
denly appeared pinned he wasp and began o munch is abdomen As he
wasp was isel being eaen i coninued o lick he ongue o he dying bee
unable o orgo he sweeness o he honey even as i wrihed in is owndeah agony ldquoNaure is above all profligaerdquo Dillard wries ldquoNaure will
ry anyhing once Tis is wha he sign o he insecs says No orm is oo
gruesome no behavior oo groesque Tis is a spendhrif economy
hough nohing is los all is spenrdquo4
Ye in anoher ligh he bee he wasp and he manis are no groesque
creaures a all bu raher inricaely beauiul and noble acors who aih-
ully ulfill heir myserious pars in he drama o lie Te deahs we observein naure in he presen scieniss ell us are only he inies par o a process
ha has exended over many millions o years more han niney percen o
all he species ha have ever appeared on earh are now exinc5 Sricly
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1836
18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1636
16 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
speaking hough he problem o naurersquos doubleness is no one o evo-
luion as such I is he problem o exisence Why his world in his orm
raher han anoher
Like millions o Chrisians I was raised o believe ha God creaed all
o earhrsquos creaures in six lieral days in he relaively recen pas In he be-
ginning here was no moraliy and no predaion o any kind Te naural
worldmdashmy parens pasors and elemenary school eachers all sincerely
believed and augh memdashwas radically alered as a resul o Adam and Eversquos
decision o ea he orbidden rui Te blame or all deah and all sufferingin naure hus ell squarely upon rebellious humans Tis was why lions now
killed Cape buffalo in Mana Pools and why here were crocodiles and bil-
harzia parasies in he Zambezi and Limpopo rivers Bu o course no
human acion could have produced such an insananeous change no
simply in he insincs bu also in he anaomical srucures o counless
creaures Te idea ha he lions in Eden were docile vegearians wih
dagger-sharp claws originally designed by God or earing he bark off rees
appeared downrigh silly Somehow hose massive canine eeh and re-
racable claws or aking down living prey had go here Tis seemingly lef
only one possibiliy God himsel was responsible or he ransormaion
o all o naure in wha amouned o a hosile second creaion afer Adam
and Eversquos all All moraliy and all predaion in he animal kingdom were
he resul o a divine punishmen or ldquocurserdquo Te vexing quesion o he jusice o such an acmdasho why God would inflic deah and suffering on
innocen creaures o punish sinul humansmdashdid no ener my mind as a
child I simply assumed ha older and wiser people whom I loved and
rused had done he hard heological work and ha here were no deeper
quesions abou he creaion lef o be asked Te ask o believers was no
o raise difficul problems bu o provide confiden answers
Tankully my parens never sifled my own religious quesioning andhe conversaions around our amily dinner able were always ree and open
Neverheless biblical lieralism creaionism and he imporance o ldquosimple
aihrdquo in Godrsquos Word were powerully impressed on my mind in counless
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2336
1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2636
28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2736
he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1736
Inroducion 17
ways rom my earlies memories as a child Tese memories include a
vividly illusraed se o childrenrsquos booksmdashUncle Arhurrsquos Bedime Soriesmdash
writen in he 1048625104863310486291048624s by one Arhur Sanley Maxwell o insill virues o
honesy obedience and rus in a personal and loving God who inervenes
consanly in he lives o hose who remember o say heir nighly prayers
I was only much laer in lie as I began o seriously wresle wih he problem
o suffering in Jewish Holocaus lieraure as an English major a a small
Chrisian liberal ars college in New England ha I ruly began o grasp he
weaknesses and inadequacies o many o he belie srucures in which I had been raised Or raher I came o see how hese srucures had insilled
imporan belies in me a a cerain sage in my religious developmen bu
also how he world o Uncle Arhur is a world one can only remain perma-
nenly atached o by sealing onesel in a comoring bu finally deadening
menal and heological cocoon
Te somewha peculiar religious communiy in which I was raised and
coninue o find Chrisian ellowship I should perhaps sae here is he
Sevenh-day Advenis Church which races is roos o he Mehodis as
well as Anabapis radiions and has long been concerned wih he so-
called heodicy quesionmdashhe problem o how a perecly good and all-
powerul God can allow evil or suffering o any kind o exis Mos Adven-
iss are also sronglymdasha imes unorunaely sridenlymdashcommited o
a highly lieralisic way o reading he creaion sory in he firs chapers oGenesis Tis is no a coincidence As one Advenis official declared in an
angry atack on heisic evoluioniss wihin he Advenis communiy (an
admitedly small minoriy) individuals who allow or evoluionary ideas in
heir worldviews
donrsquo worship he God o he Bible or ha God didnrsquo use a long
proraced and vicious dog-ea-dog survival-o-he-fites par-
adigmmdashone ha goes agains everyhing He has augh us abou love
and sel-sacrificemdashand hen lie o us abou i by claiming He creaed
lie here in six days when He didnrsquo6
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3136
he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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18 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
As a resul o heir concern no only or he auhoriy o Scripure bu also or
he heodicy problem posed by evoluionary biology Adveniss have played
an imporan role in he dubious projec o ldquocreaion sciencerdquo beginning wih
he ireless effors o sel-augh creaionis George McCready Price (whose
now horoughly discredied ideas abou geology were relied on by William
Jennings Bryan in he inamous 1048625104863310486261048629 Scopes ldquoMonkey rialrdquo and who helped
inspire modern American creaionism via he work o John Whicomb and
Henry Morris in he 1048625104863310486301048624s7) Tis book which has grown ou o a series o
occasional aricles firs published by Specrum Magazine online in 1048626104862410486251048624 and1048626104862410486251048625 is hus o a large exen an open letermdashin he orm o a somewha
eclecic musering o argumens ruminaions inervenions and invesiga-
ionsmdashaddressed o he roubled Chrisian communiy o which I am
mysel a par a communiy ha now finds isel in a sae o increasing
urmoil among many o is members over quesions o aih heodicy and
evoluionary science (wih some church officials atemping o resolve he
ensions once and or all by urning sric biblicism or lieralism on Genesis
ino a dogmaic limus es o ldquoruerdquo Advenis ideniy)
Ye hese reflecions are no only or or abou Adveniss (who by he
year 1048626104862410486261048624 may number as many as ory million adherens and regular
church atendees worldwide mosly in Arica and Lain America) Many
Chrisians o all denominaional backgrounds are wresling wih he grea
atriion rae o heir young aduls as hey head off o colleges and univer-siies where hey will be exposed o a bewildering array o ideas ha are
ofen openly hosile o religious aih In he ace o he challenges o secular
moderniy including he corrosive claims o philosophical maerialism or
scienism he naural insinc o many devou believers in he US and else-
where is o ry o shore up radiional belies hrough increasingly narrow
docrinal ormulaions ha migh resore a los sense o cerainy in an in-
creasingly uncerain world Tis insinc has ofen ranslaed ino sric li-eralism on Genesis and he menal gymnasics o young earh or young lie
creaionism A 1048626104862410486251048624 Gallup poll ound ha ully ory percen o people in
he US subscribe o highly lieralisic readings o Genesis and creaionis
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Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 1936
Inroducion 19
ideas8 Among evangelical Chrisians he percenage is much higher Te
move oward ldquoscienificrdquo creaionism however simply drives many
houghul young people and ohers away rom religious belie all he aser
When scienifically rained individuals conclude ha creaionis apolo-
geics are no inellecually credible Old esamen scholar John Walon
noes ldquohey have oo ofen concluded ha he Bible mus be rejecedrdquo9
Tese ragic decisions agains coninued paricipaion in religious com-
muniy rom a sense o inolerable cogniive dissonance as a resul o wha
Scripure is assumed o eachmdashwihou any room or hones quesionsopenness o he weigh o empirical evidence or new inerpreaions o he
biblical narraivesmdashare no he casualies o evoluionary science Tey are
I seek o show rom muliple perspecives in par one o his book ldquoOn
Lieralismrdquo a senseless loss o engaged minds rom he body o Chris as a
resul o problemaic philosophical reasoning he exclusionary logic o un-
damenalism and he incoherencies o wooden lieralism isel Chrisians
can and mus do beter
Any nonlieralisic approach o Genesis and quesions o origins mus
however respond o he obvious moral hazards posed by evoluionary
heory My criique o lieralism in par one o his book alhough filling he
mos pages is o a large exen prolegomena o wha I wan o say abou he
heodicy dilemma o animal suffering and moraliy in boh lieralisic and
evoluionary paradigms As Caholic heologian and heisic evoluionis John Haugh wries sric Darwinismrsquos depicion o all o lie as nohing
more han he final oucome o a purposeless and ruhless sruggle or scarce
resources ldquoexposes a universe apparenly unended by divine compassionrdquo10
I is o his challenge ha I urn in par wo ldquoOn Animal Sufferingrdquo
While here is a large body o lieraure providing srong heological
grounding or environmenal ehics here are surprisingly ew books in
prin on he opic o animal predaion as a disincive heodicy problemeven hough he suffering o animals may be he mos severe heodicy di-
lemma o all given he undamenal quesions i raises abou Godrsquos char-
acer as Creaor As I wrie Google Books (an imprecise bu sill helpul
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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20 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
index) liss only sixy iles ever writen ha include somewhere wihin
heir pages reerence o ldquoanimal sufferingrdquo ldquoevoluionrdquo and ldquonaural evilrdquo O
hese works hiry-seven have been published since 1048626104862410486241048624 I ldquoheodicyrdquo is
subsiued or ldquonaural evilrdquo he number o iles shrinks o fify-wo wih
hiry-our published since 1048626104862410486241048624
My hope hen is ha his book will conribue in a modes way o a
small bu growing body o Chrisian reflecion on a significan heological
riddle I wrie no only or hose predisposed o agree wih me and do no
expecmdashor or ha mater desiremdasho win all readers over o all o my viewsI can hink o nohing duller han a world in which all criical discussion
comes o an end I hope hough ha whaever conclusions readers ake
rom his book will be he conclusions o careul wresling wih wha I have
acually writen difficul hough his may be given he unavoidably conro-
versial naure o some o wha I am consrained o say
Readers should be airly warned rom he ouse ha I offer ew con-
fiden answers o he problem o animal suffering in he manner o some
Chrisian apologiss Indeed I usually find such ldquoanswersrdquo o be morally
repellen in he ace o he challenges which I ake o be insoluble his side
o he parousia (and quie possibly he oher side o he parousia as well11)
Neverheless i would be jus as morally irresponsible o abandon he
search or clues o he heodicy dilemma rom a oregone conclusion ha
he search can yield no answers Te ideas presened in hese pages are o-ered in an open-ended exploraory orm based on he belie ha parial
answers do exis
My goal is no o exhaus possibiliies bu o provoke hones even i un-
setling conversaions as one member in he body o Chris addressing
ohers I make no atemp o survey all o he available posiions and I re-
alize ha he opics in each o hese chapers deserve heir own book-lengh
scholarly reamens I have emphasized he ideas o highly radiional be-lievers in par because I share much o heir radiionalism and in par be-
cause I wan o demonsrae o lieraliss ha one can be a horoughly or-
hodox Chrisian and embrace evoluionary conceps wihou conradicion
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Inroducion 21
As a resul I have no doub ailed o do jusice o he work o oher im-
poran hinkers whose ideas I am by no means closed o Sill I hope hese
reflecions migh provide a helpul even i incomplee map hrough or-
bidding errain marking some o he pialls in lieralis accounsmdashespe-
cially when hese accouns are urned ino religious dogmasmdashand high-
lighing oher pahs ha now hold greaer heological promise
Te episemology ha inorms my ldquomehodrdquo (insoar as I have one)
ollows wha has come o be known as he Wesleyan Quadrilaeral so
named because i reflecs he ideas o Mehodis reormer John Wesley I believe in he paramoun auhoriy o Scripure in maters o aih illumi-
naed hough no bound by he inerpreive radiions o he church across
ime which mus be coninually esed in he ligh o boh reason and ex-
perience o discern presen ruh I am enough o a posoundaionalis
hough o see he difficulies in his idy division o labor All knowledge
comes o us hrough a complex web o inerpeneraing and inerwoven
channels ha are bes grasped holisically as a unified field By loose
analogy we do no say ha a personrsquos mind is he ldquooundaionrdquo on which
heir physical body and lie hisory are only secondarily buil We say ha
human personhood involves muliple dimensions o being none o which
can be imagined (alhough some have ried) apar rom he ohers even i
we migh a differen imes place greaer emphasis on one or anoher aspec
o a personrsquos being Tis is also how we ough o hink abou he inerrela-ions beween revelaion radiion reason scienific observaion and expe-
rience I here is a reading o Scripure ha somehow sands prisinely on
is own apar rom all o he messiness and coningency as well as all o he
richness o human culure and radiion reason observaion and expe-
rience i is one I have ye o find
Bu I am already ar ahead o mysel Te bes place o begin is o course
a he beginning
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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Par One
ON L ITERALISM
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1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2736
he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2336
1
THE CREATION
A Plain eading
I 983150 983156 983144983141 983149 983137983143983145 983155983156 983141 983154 983145 983137983148 983148 983137 983150 983143983157 983137983143983141 983151983142 he King James Bible ldquoIn he
beginning God creaed he heaven and he earhrdquoi Genesis 10486251048625 is however
an ambiguous ex ha can be ranslaed as he sar o a process raher
han a ai accompli In he Jewish Publicaion Sociey ranslaion (ol-
lowing he grea medieval rabbi Rashi) i is rendered ldquoWhen God began
o creae heaven and earh rdquo Whichever way he verse is read here is
he srong suggesion o a significan ime gap beween he creaion o
basic mater and he creaion o lie and is supporing srucures Te
earh was ldquowihou orm and voidrdquo he ex reads and ldquohe Spiri o God
moved upon he ace o he waersrdquoTe heme o creaion as process as well as even is coninued hroughou
he narraive in richly suggesive ways In Genesis 10486251048627 God says ldquoLe here
be lighrdquo and immediaely ldquohere was lighrdquo Te creaion o ligh is hus ex
nihilo insananeous and sricly by divine fia Te Lord spoke and i was
so However when we arrive a Genesis 104862510486251048625 we find ha God does no only
creae ex nihilo He recruis and involves wha he has already creaed in he
nex acs o he unolding drama ldquoLe he earh bring orh grass he herb yielding seed and he rui ree yielding rui afer his kind whose seed is
i All bibl ical quoaions are rom he K ing James Version unless oherw ise noed
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2436
2 6 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
in iselrdquo God says And ldquohe earh brough orhrdquo vegeaion Te earh
isel hereore paricipaes as an obedien servan o God in he creaion
processeven Lie is a gif o God A he same ime he language is clearly
ocused on naural generaion and conveys a srong impression o organic
emergence God commands bu somehing very differen is under way
han in he creaion o ligh in verse 1048627 Te earh is charged wih a ask Te
earh brings hings orh
In Genesis 104862510486261048626 he ex suggess an incomplee or sill-empy creaion
wih ecological niches waiing o be filled by living creauresmdashagain noinsananeously or by divine fia as in he case o ligh bu by he animals
hemselves hrough procreaive processes ha will exend across ime Te
birds and creaures o he seas are commanded by God o ldquoBe ruiul and
muliplyrdquo o ldquofill he waers in he seasrdquo and o ldquomuliply in he earhrdquo Te
ex does no resric he muliplicaion o animals o quaniaive mulipli-
caion alone We are lef enirely ree o hink ha he Creaor migh be
delighed o see his creaion muliply no only in number bu also in kind
Godrsquos way o creaing is hereore organic dynamic complex and ongoing
raher han merely a sequence o saccao puncuaion marks by verbal
decree Te God o Genesis recruis he creaion as a coparicipan in his
work as i unolds so ha no all o he earh is ou o nohing or by un-
mediaed speech acs
In ac he number o verbs used o describe Godrsquos creaive aciviy in hehighly compressed narraives o Genesis 1048625ndash1048626 is asounding and by no means
limied o he Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo Te New American Sandard Bible
renders hese verbs as ollows God ldquocreaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048625 10486261048625 10486261048631) He ldquomovesrdquo
(Gen 10486251048626) He ldquosaysrdquo (Gen 10486251048627 1048630 1048633 10486251048628 10486261048628) He ldquoseparaesrdquo (Gen 10486251048628 1048631) He ldquocallsrdquo
(Gen 10486251048629 1048632) He ldquomakesrdquo (Gen 10486251048631 10486251048630 10486261048629 10486261048628) He ldquogahersrdquo (Gen 10486251048633) He
ldquoplacesrdquo (Gen 104862510486251048631 10486261048632) He ldquoblessesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048626 10486261048632 10486261048627) He ldquogivesrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048633
10486271048624) He ldquocompleesrdquo (Gen 10486261048626) He ldquosendsrdquo (Gen 10486261048629) He ldquobreahesrdquo (Gen 10486261048631)He ldquoormsrdquo (Gen 10486261048631 10486251048633) He ldquoplansrdquo (Gen 10486261048632) He ldquocausesrdquo (Gen 10486261048633 10486261048625) He
ldquocommandsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048630) He ldquobringsrdquo (Gen 104862610486251048633 10486261048626) He ldquoakesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He
ldquoclosesrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048625) He ldquoashionsrdquo (Gen 104862610486261048626) He ldquoressrdquo (Gen 10486261048627)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3236
34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2536
he Creaion 27
Te Creaor iniiaes emergen and generaive processes ha anicipae
a coninuous creaion wih (in philosophical erms) ldquosecondary causesrdquo
God desires a world ha will in some sense be ree rom his direc conrol
and he creaion is in cerain ways marked rom he very firs momen by
he presence o reedom Freedom we migh say is precisely one o he
hings ha God creaes Bu he only way ha reedom can be creaed is by
opening a space in which reedom occurs or unolds Te key rerain Le991252
ldquoLe here berdquo ldquoLe he waersrdquo ldquoLe he earhrdquomdashshould serve as a clarion
signal ha Godrsquos way o bringing order ou o chaos involves no only di-recly ashioning or conrolling bu also graning permiting and delegaing
We mus hink o he creaion no only in erms o divine acion bu also in
erms o divine resrain Raher han simply dominaing he world in he
very ac o bringing he world ino exisence God is in a cerain sense al-
ready wihdrawing himsel rom imdashor perhaps beter limiing himsel
wihin imdashin order or i o be ree God is he susaining ground o all being
so nohing exiss apar rom God ye he very ac ha hings exis ha are
onologically oher han God implies a simulaneously presenabsen
Creaor rom he very sar
Ener Adam Like he animals beore him Adam is no creaed ou o
nohing nor by divine fia bu rom preexising maerials aken direcly ou
o he earh which God ldquoormsrdquo Te name ldquoAdamrdquo pracically all com-
menaors noe is eymologically relaed o rsquoadamah meaning ldquosoilrdquo Adamrsquosname can be read o mean ldquorom he soilrdquo or even ldquohe earh creaurerdquo
Srangely some believers have hough ha he idea ha humans migh be
relaed o oher animals deracs rom heir glory as creaures uniquely
made in he image o God Being relaed o soil hardly seems like a more
noble disincion Ye he ac ha humans share he same maerial origins
as oher animals is plainly saed in Genesis In Genesis 104862610486251048633 we learn ha
God ldquoormed every beas o he field and every owl o he airrdquo rom ldquoouo he groundrdquo Humans birds and he beass o he field hus share a
common ancesrymdashhey all come rom ou o he same earh ldquoDarwin and
Feuerbach hemselves could no speak any more sronglyrdquo wries Dierich
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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28 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Bonhoeffer ldquoManrsquos origin is in a piece o earh His bond wih he earh
belongs o his essenial beingrdquo1 Te language o Genesis is a once shrouded
in analizing mysery and absoluely clear Adam and he oher animals are
beings o he same mater he same essenial ldquosuffrdquo Tey are inimaely
relaed alhough he link ha binds hem is no simply mater bu he
orming hand o God We do no know how God ldquoormsrdquo creaures ou o
preexising mater I would be a aal misake o imagine he Creaor o he
universe in anhropomorphic erms as orming wih physical hands Bu he
inimae language o ldquoormingrdquomdasho creaing hrough he gahering andshaping o already exising elemensmdashmus be read as somehing very di-
eren rom Godrsquos speaking hings ino exisence
As in he case o he animals Adam is commanded o be ruiul and
muliply Bu Adam is given an addiional ask ha may be our firs signi-
ican clue o wha Karl Barh reerred o as he ldquoshadow siderdquo o he creaion
he nihil or nohingness ha a world creaed ou o chaos and nohingness
is always in danger o slipping back ino2 In Genesis 104862510486261048632 Adam is old o
kabash or ldquosubduerdquo he earh Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible he word
kabash is used almos exclusively o reer o one hing violen miliary con-
ques (c Josh 104862510486321048625 Judg 104863210486261048632 1048626 Sam 1048626104862610486281048624) Te implicaion hen is ha
here is a difficul and even marial ask or humaniy in relaion o he res
o he creaion Adam mus lierally ldquodominaerdquo ldquosubjugaerdquo or ldquoconquerrdquo
he res o he creaionTis sense is amplified in he accoun o he creaion o Eve in chaper 1048626
In Genesis 104862610486251048632 God says he will make Adam an ezer kenegdo ldquoHelperrdquo is
oo weak a ranslaion Rober Aler noes Wha he word really connoes
is an acive susainer or ally in miliary conexs3 We are hereore aced
wih a grea riddle Why is Adam charged by God wih ldquosubduingrdquo (o-
geher wih Eve his sraegic ally) he res o he creaion According o
some readers such as seveneenh-cenury English philosopher John LockeGod gave Adam warran o exploi or ldquoownrdquo he creaion by adding his labor
o i4 Genesis is hus read as a manieso or capialis appropriaion surplus
heory o value and privae propery righs Oher commenaors have ried
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he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
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he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
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38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2736
he Creaion 29
o sofen he language o subduing by reraming i in erms o ldquosewardshiprdquo
Bu i may be ha he language o miliary sruggle acually serves a vial
heological uncion
As unsetling as i may be or some readers o discover nowhere in
Genesis is he creaion described as ldquoperecrdquo God declares his work o be
ldquogoodrdquo or ob a each sage and finally ldquovery goodrdquomdashob mersquood991252a is end
Elsewhere in he Hebrew Bible ob mersquood describes qualiies o beauy
worhiness or finess or a purpose bu never absolue moral or onological
perecion Rebekah is ob mersquood or ldquovery beauiulrdquo (Gen 1048626104862810486251048630 983150983137983155983138) TePromised Land is ob mersquood or ldquoexceedingly goodrdquo is fierce inhabians and
wild animals nowihsanding (Num 104862510486281048631 983150983137983155983138) When Josephrsquos brohers
sell him ino slavery he resul is grea hardship and pain or Joseph over
many years ye he declares ha God providenially ldquomean i or ob in
order o bring abou his presen resul o preserve many people aliverdquo
(Gen 1048629104862410486261048624 983150983137983155983138) According o he book o Ecclesiases ldquoevery man who
eas and drinks sees ob in all his labormdashi is he gif o Godrdquo (Eccles 104862710486251048627
983150983137983155983138) In Lamenaions he prophe assers ha ldquoI is ob or a man ha
he should bear he yoke in his youhrdquo (Lam 104862710486261048631 983150983137983155983138)
In ac Mark Whoron wries nowhere else in Hebrew Scripure is ob
or ob mersquood inerpreed by biblical scholars ldquoas absolue perecion oher
han Genesis 104862510486271048625 and in ha case i is or senimenal raher han exegeical
reasonsrdquo5
Tere are oher words in biblical Hebrew ha are closer o heEnglish sense o ldquoperecrdquo han ob mersquood and ha migh have been used
insead Te book o Leviicus commands ha burn sacrifices be amim
ldquowihou deecrdquo (eg Lev 10486251048627 10486251048624 10486271048625 10486281048627 104862910486251048632 1048625104862810486251048624) Elsewhere in Genesis
Noah is said o be amim or ldquoblamelessrdquo (Gen 10486301048633) In Deueronomy 104862710486261048628
we read ha Godrsquos ldquowork is amimrdquo or ldquoperecrdquo or ldquoIs no He he Faher
who creaed you ashioned you and made you endurerdquo (Deu 104862710486261048630 983150983146983152983155)
Even in hese exs however he biblical undersanding o perecion or blamelessness lends litle suppor o modern creaioniss When we read
Deueronomy 104862710486261048628 in is ull lierary conex or example we find ha
Godrsquos amim work o creaionmdashhis ldquoashioningrdquo o he children o Israelmdash
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30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
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8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
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he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3236
34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3336
he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2836
30 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
is revealed precisely in he long perilous and conflicive process by which
human civilizaions evolved and he Israelies were brough ou o ldquoan
empy howling waserdquo ino a land o heir own
Te RockmdashHis deeds are perec
Yea all His ways are jus
A aihul God never alse
rue and uprigh is He
Children unworhy o Himmdash
Ta crooked perverse generaionmdash
Teir baseness has played Him alse
Do you hus requie he Lord
O dull and wiless people
Is no He he Faher who creaed you
Fashioned you and made you endure
Remember he days o oldConsider he years o ages pas
Ask your aher he will inorm you
Your elders hey will ell you
When he Mos High gave naions heir homes
And se he divisions o man
He fixed he boundaries o peoples
In relaion o Israelrsquos numbersFor he Lordrsquos porion is His people
Jacob His own allomen
He ound him in a deser region
In an empy howling wase
He engirded him wached over him
Guarded him as he pupil o His eye
Like an eagle who rouses his neslings
Gliding down o his young
So did He spread His wings and ake him
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
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he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3036
32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3136
he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3236
34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3336
he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 2936
he Creaion 31
Bear him along on His pinions
Te Lord alone did guide him
No alien god a His side
He se him aop he highlands
o eas on he yield o he earh
He ed him honey rom he crag
And oil rom he fliny rock
Curd o kine and milk o flocks
Wih he bes o lambs And rams o Bashan and he-goas
Wih he very fines wheamdash
And oaming grape-blood was your drink (Deu 104862710486261048628-10486251048628 983150983146983152983155)
I he reading I have offered so ar is a all correc and God recruis he cre-
aion a each sage o play an acive paricipaory role in wha ollows wih
Adam being charged wih an especially vial ask o ldquosubduingrdquo oher parso he earh hen here is a very good heological reason why God declares
he creaion o be ldquovery goodrdquo raher han ldquoperecrdquo Te creaion canno be
perec because in an imporan sense i is no enirely Godrsquos work Tere
are principles o reedom a work in he creaion and animals humans and
he earh isel have a God-given role o play as his coworkers Tere is also
a srong sense ha while he creaion is in one sense ldquocompleerdquo a he end
o he narraive i is no ye finished God ldquoended his work which he hadmaderdquo (Gen 10486261048626)mdashha is he compleed wha he had compleed Bu he
sory o Godrsquos creaive purposes or his world has in ac jus begun
When God ells Adam o culivae he Garden i is hus enirely consisen
wih he language and narraive arc o he sory o see his culivaion as in-
cluding he idea o expansion or developmenmdashGod wans Adam o in-
crease he Garden and here is a ension beween he world inside he
Garden and he world ouside i ldquoo be a creaure is necessarily o be incom-
plee unfinished imperecrdquo wries Andrew Linzey in Animal Teology
ldquoFrom his sandpoin he very naure o creaion is always ambiguous i
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3036
32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3136
he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3236
34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3336
he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3036
32 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
poins boh ways i affirms and denies God a one and he same ime A-
firms God because God loves and cares or i bu i also necessarily denies
God because i is no divinerdquo Hence ldquohe sae o naure can in no way be an
unambiguous reeren o wha God wills or plans or creaionrdquo6 Te ac ha
God ldquoresedrdquo or ldquoceasedrdquo rom his work on he sevenh day may hereore
represen no a erminaion poin bu a deeply pregnan pause Tere is more
o come and we mus wai o hear God say he words ldquoI is finishedrdquo
Ye wherever here is rue reedom a work here is also he possibiliy o
deviaion rom i no rebellion agains he divine will For beings wihmoral agency and spiriual cognizance such as Adam and Eve deviaion
would be rebellion pure and simple Bu we mus ask wheher beings pos-
sessing creaurely agency bu no moral awareness migh deviae in oher
ways ha were simulaneously no in harmony wih Godrsquos final plans bu a
he same ime sill wihin he sphere o wha God would call ldquovery goodrdquo
By way o analogy a wild horse mus be ldquobrokenrdquo by a skilled rainer Te
wildness o he horse is par o is glory I is very good Bu is energies mus
be disciplined and channeled in new direcions beore i can become a
horse ha wins he greaer glory boh or isel and or is maser o he
Kenucky Derby
In Genesis 1048625 here are implici and explici disincions made beween
domesic and wild animals or catle and ldquobeas[s] o he earhrdquo as well as
ldquocreeping hing[s]rdquo Te ldquowaers brough orh abundanlyrdquo ldquoevery livingcreaure ha movehrdquo Te seas eem no only ldquowih swarms o living crea-
uresrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048624 983150983137983155983138) bu also wih ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048625 983150983137983155983138)mdash
no a all sae or domesicaed creaures bu ormidable predaors i would
seem rom he book o Jobrsquos vivid descripions o he Behemoh and Levi-
ahan So here is a sill-unamed and wild aspec o he creaion Adam and
Eve mus wresle wih his side o he creaed world and bring i more com-
pleely under Godrsquos dominion wihou overriding or exploiing is reedomTis is heir high calling and i may be a ormidable ask Te language o
ldquosubduingrdquo in Genesis does no sugges pruning hedges I suggess doing
batle Pu anoher way Adamrsquos role is no simply ha o a careaker bu ha
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3136
he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3236
34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3336
he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3136
he Creaion 33
o a redeemer Te pressing quesion is Migh his wildness in he creaion
ha sill needs o be ldquosubduedrdquo or redeemed emerging rom principles o
reedom or indeerminancy buil ino he creaion have included deah as
well Could God have ever looked a a world ha included deah or pain o
any kind and pronounced i ldquovery goodrdquo And could an unamed and very
good creaion have included elemens o erociy and even predaion
I will reurn o he quesion o animal predaion in par wo o his book
For he momen we mus simply leave open he possibiliy ha naural
cycles o lie and deah involving plans and animals were indeed includedin Godrsquos good creaion in he beginning Te sronges argumen agains
such a reading is Genesis 104862510486271048624 in which he animals are given ldquoevery green
herb or meardquo Bu we mus noe ha while his verse hins agains pre-
daion being willed by God i does no resolve he quesion o wheher he
ldquogrea sea monsersrdquo or oher wild and creeping creaures migh no a heir
firs appearing in ac be predaory Inriguingly God does no address he
animals prior o he creaion o humaniy wih he words ldquoI have given
you every green herb or meardquo even hough earlier in he ex God does
speak direcly o he animals elling hem o ldquoBe ruiul and muliplyrdquo
Raher God (1048625) insrucs Adam and Eve o ldquosubduerdquo and ldquohave dominionrdquo
over ldquoevery living hingrdquo (Gen 104862510486261048632) (1048626) ells he human pair ha o hem
he has given ldquoevery herb bearing seedrdquo and ldquorui o a reerdquo or ldquomeardquo (Gen
104862510486261048633) and (1048627) declaresmdashsill addressing Adam and Eve he animalsuniquely creaed in Godrsquos own imagemdashha he has also ldquogivenrdquo he oher
creaures ldquoevery green herb or meardquo (Gen 104862510486271048624) I remains an enirely
open quesion wheher very good creaures lacking in moral awareness bu
possessing creaurely reedom or agency migh no ake ha which hey
have no been given Nor does he chaper speak direcly o he quesion
o moraliy as such (predaion and moraliy being relaed bu disinc
maters wih he later no requiring he ormer) Such an ideamdashha hecreaion was originally neiher immoral nor placid bu very good moral
finie and reemdashdoes no conflic wih any clear verse in Genesis or he
res o Hebrew Scripure
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3236
34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3336
he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3236
34 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
Te idea ha all deah in naure is ldquocruelrdquo ldquoviciousrdquo ldquosinulrdquo or ldquoevilrdquo does
no originae in ancien Jewish hough As Waler Brueggemann wries he
Hebrew Bible does no assume any sor o ldquomechanisic connecion o sin
and deahrdquo7 Deah in classical Jewish hough is a imes seen as a divine
punishmen or he consequence o sin bu a oher imes i is seen as he
God-appoined ulfillmen o ull lives One o he oldes Jewish commen-
aries on he creaion narraives he Genesis abba compiled around he
fifh cenury rom sill more ancien sources declares ha he divine as-
sessmen o ldquovery goodrdquo or ob mersquood in Genesis 1048625 is a kind o wordplay haimplies ob mo good deah God alone is able o see all o he creaion
hese expers o he orah mainained hence God alone is also able o de-
clare he creaion ldquovery goodrdquo is provisional sufferings and deah included
which o finie human beings wih limied perspecives migh a imes
appear as unmiigaed evils8
Wheher or no we accep his ancien Jewish midrash we mus see ha
Genesis is in ac compleely silen on he quesion o wheher or no par
o he wildness and reedom o he creaion included moraliy beore
Adamrsquos all verse 10486271048624 nowihsanding Ye his very silence may isel be
evidence ha deah and even predaion a leas o a kind were indeed ac-
ceped in earlies biblical hinking abou he creaion processeven I
predaors like lions and eagles were no par o he creaion and he ac o
heir exisence in he presen was perceived as a heological problem by heHebrew wriers we would expec Genesis or laer books o provide some
clues as o heir origins or ransormaion wheher by divine ldquocurserdquo or by
demonical re-engineering o naure on a massive scale Ye neiher o hese
ideas is remoely saed in Genesis or in he res o Jewish Scripure Indeed
hey are plainly conradiced by passages such as Psalm 104862510486241048628 (quoed a he
sar o his book) and he final chapers o he book o Job (which I will
discuss in due course) Argumens rom silence mus o course be highlyenaive Bu he noion ha all moraliy and all predaion in naure is he
resul o a divine curse is isel an inerpolaion we mus see ha has been
imposed by pious readers on he grea silences o he ex Te creaion
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3336
he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3336
he Creaion 35
narraives in Genesis are filled wih lacunae and unanswerable riddles ha
should preven careul readers rom making very many dogmaic sae-
mens o any kind
Te only creaure ha is alered or ldquocursedrdquo by Adamrsquos all is he serpen
ha was direcly responsible or i hough is curse is no becoming a
predaor bu raher being orced o crawl on is belly and ldquoeardquo he dus o
he ground (Gen 104862710486251048628)mdashclearly meaphorical and symbolic language no
o be aken lierally Some ranslaions render he curse upon he serpen
in Genesis 104862710486251048628 ldquomore cursedrdquo leading many readers o assume a generalcurse upon all animals Bu he King James Version wih is ldquocursed above
all catle and above every beas o he fieldrdquo comes closer o he acual
meaning Te proper sense o he verse in Hebrew commenaors have
long poined ou is no comparaive bu raher selecive9 Te serpen is
singled ou rom among he animals Aler hus renders he passage ldquoAnd
he Lord God said o he serpen lsquoBecause you have done his cursed be
you o all catle and all beass o he fieldrsquordquo10 o consrue his simple
saemen o mean ha God abruply and supernaurally ransormed
docile creaures a every level o animal exisencemdashno only in heir in-
sincs bu also in heir physical srucuresmdashino erocious predaors (or
permited a saanic being o do he same) is o ake no small libery wih
he ex Nor is here any menion in Genesis or any oher book o he
Hebrew Bible o moraliy being imposed or he firs ime upon he non-human animal world as a resul o human rebellion
In Genesis 1048626 he realiy o deah comes direcly ino he oreground
Adam and Eve are placed inside a ldquoGardenrdquomdasha place o eriliy and saeymdash
ha is spaially and qualiaively se apar rom he res o he creaion Te
Garden is a shelered environmen while he world beyondmdashhe world
rom which Adam was ormed rom ou o he groundmdashis inhospiable i
no hosile erriory Where Adam originally came rom will ironically become he place o his banishmen Eas o Eden is his original homemdash
ha is he ldquoground rom whence he was akenrdquo (Gen 104862710486261048627) When Adam is
expelled rom Eden i is hereore simulaneously an exile and a reurn
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3436
36 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F983137 983148983148
Tere is a ree in he Garden ha conains knowledge o good and evil
Adam is old by God ha i he eas is rui he will ldquosurely dierdquo (Gen 104862610486251048631)
In order or he divine command o have graviy or Adam (no less han or
us) he mus undersand wha deah is Oherwise Godrsquos words would or
him would be he semanic equivalen o ldquoyou will surely Xrdquo Is he
command inelligible o Adam because he has observed deah elsewhere in
he creaion perhaps in he land Eas o Eden ldquorom whence he was akenrdquo
Or has God revealed deah o Adam in he absence o any acual deah in
some oher way We do no know Bu he shadow o deah as an under-sood poenialiy i no an observed ac o naure is already a palpable
presence in he Garden Tus when Adam and Eve ea he orbidden rui
heir eyes are opened no o deah according o he ex bu o heir own
nakedness o heir vulnerabiliy and dependence Te resul o human re-
bellion careul readers mus also noe is no he miraculous invenion o
nerve endings in humans capable o experiencing pain or he firs ime
where no pain o any kind previously exised Raher we are old Eversquos pain
in childbirh would be grealy muliplied (Gen 104862710486251048630) Humans Genesis
plainly suggess knew pain beore he all even i no prolonged suffering
Te firs unmisakable deah is recorded in Genesis 104862710486261048625mdashand i is by all
indicaions God who is responsible or i ldquoUno Adam also and o his wie
did he L983151983154983140 God make coas o skins and clohed hemrdquo Why skin and
no wool Te radiional answer is ha Godrsquos ac o animal slaugher is aorm o moral pedagogy Adam and Eve mus learn ha he consequences
o heir sin are deah Bu an equally plausible (and perhaps no muually
exclusive) reading would be ha God knows ha Adam and Eversquos coverings
o fig leaves will no be enough o proec hem in he unshelered unamed
world ouside he Garden He merciully gives hem he kind o clohing hey
will need or heir new environmen Readers who hold o a high view o
Scripurersquos auhoriy mus be very careul hen abou projecing heir ownnoions o perecion and goodness ono he ex and ono naure in he
name o deending Godrsquos characer Tese readings may in ac pose ar
greaer heological and moral perils han he idea o deah o a kind beore
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3536
he Creaion 37
Adamrsquos rebellion o say ha seasonal changes and cycles o birh lie and
deah in naure are wihou qualificaion ldquosaanicrdquo ldquoevilrdquo and hings we will
someday escape by leaving his veil o ears and illusions behind may ac-
ually be an expression in Jewish perspecive o ingraiude i no conemp
or Godrsquos good creaion and he earhiness o maerial exisence Indeed
Alan Lewis noes in Beween Cross and esurrecionmdashhis mediaion on he
Chrisian meaning o he sabbah writen as he enered he final sages o
erminal cancermdashha he very naure o he human rebellion may lie pre-
cisely in Adam and Eversquos reusal o accep heir own nondeiy he empo-raliy and finiude o heir creaurely saus11
Such a reading o Genesis clearly opens he door o he possibiliy o
ldquoheisic evoluionrdquomdashor beter process creaionmdashwih believers seeing evi-
dences o redeeming purpose a work in a universe ha is neiher wholly
deermined nor wholly coningen where Darwin saw only laws o ironclad
necessiy (compeiion) and chaoic chance (random muaions) ldquoNo
many Chrisians oday find i necessary o deend he concep o a lieral
six-day creaionrdquo wries Anglican evangelical clergyman John Sot ldquoor he
ex does no demand i and scienific discovery appears o conradic i
Te biblical ex presens isel no as a scienific reaise bu as a highly
sylized lierary saemenrdquo Sot coninues
I is mos unorunae ha some who debae his issue (evoluion)
begin by assuming ha he words ldquocreaionrdquo and ldquoevoluionrdquo are mu-ually exclusive I everyhing has come ino exisence hrough evo-
luion hey say hen biblical creaion has been disproved whereas i
God has creaed all hings hen evoluion mus be alse I is raher
his naiumlve alernaive which is alse I presupposes a very narrow
definiion o he wo erms boh o which in ac have a wide range
o meanings and boh o which are being reshly discussed oday12
I would be a orm o culural imperialism John Walon concludes o read
Genesis as a scienific or hisorical record13 I is a heological ex con-
cerned wih heological meanings and i has conveyed hese meanings in a
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
8132019 Death Before the Fall by Ronald Osborn
httpslidepdfcomreaderfulldeath-before-the-fall-by-ronald-osborn 3636
38 D 983141983137 983156983144 B 983141983142983151 983154 983141 983156983144 983141 F 983137 983148983148
orm ha mus be grasped in erms o he prescienific worldview o is
original hearers raher han our own modern one
Ye his heological vision does impose imporan limis on oher his-
orical narraives o origins and on he scienific worldview Genesis is no
a sory o maerial origins Walon argues bu o ldquoemple inauguraionrdquo in
which God assigns he differen pars o he cosmos heir ordered uncions
in six days however long i may have aken or hem o be maerially ormed
God hen akes up his residence in his cosmic emple on he sevenh day
Sel-described lieraliss Walon conends have ailed o undersand whahe Hebrew word ldquocreaerdquo (bararsquo ) lierally means alhough scieniss who
sridenly declare ha here is no purpose in naure also go ar beyond wha
he maerial evidence can ell us Wheher or no one acceps Walonrsquos (o
his readerrsquos mind compelling) argumen Genesis reveals ha maerial and
biological exisence was and is creaed by a loving God even i hrough a
maerial process we do no ully undersand And no mater how much
coningency we may observe in naure we migh sill discern an underlying
order and sacramenal mysery in is fine-uningmdasha deep resonance as
Aliser McGrah wries wih he heological concerns o he biblical
wriers14 Genesis ells us ha humans are inimaely relaed o his world
and o oher creaures bu ha we are also qualiaively relaed o God in a
unique way ha includes dimensions o moral awareness reasoning and
responsibiliy ha canno be grasped in reducive or purely maerialisicerms I ells us ha he creaion has been marred or disored as a resul o
human rebellion And i reveals ha we are now alienaed rom each oher
and rom God as a consequence o our allen naures
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