Genesis 3:14-19

I don’t want to speculate too much about this passage. What seems to be important is that we are being given a very early lesson in the consequences of sin. The fruit that before had heightened all our desire and convinced us that life would not be the same without it, has resulted in the complete disturbance of the peace and harmony of Eden. Yielding temptation of sin is usually sharply followed by a series of very painful consequences (although these consequences do not always present immediately). In this case the climax of the consequences that followed was death. Death had not been a part of God’s perfect creation, now unfortunately it has entered the scene.

I have purposely avoided the scientific debate over Genesis. The first chapters are clearly not given for the purpose of detailing the scientific method by which we arrived here. They are helping us understand the ‘why’ questions rather than the ‘how’ questions. However a point that I have often felt is important not to ignore is that an evolutionary world view ultimately requires us to believe death was an integral part of God’s creation. Did God look at world in which death was the fundamental mechanism for development and really say ‘it is good’? According to this passage death entered the stage as a severe consequence for our rebellion against God and not as a mechanism for our evolution. Darwinism is presented as a sound and unshakeable theory in our school classrooms but amongst the more serious scientific circles there seems to a strong recognition that the argument for this theory is increasingly becoming untenable. I am not a scientist and will avoid this debate but it seems to me that it is not just the science that is untenable but also the theology.