Sin death and beyond

SIN, DEATH AND BEYOND: M.M.NINAN
B
WAS DEATH A PART OF GOD’S PLAN IN CREATION?
http://biologos.org/questions/death-before-the-fall
Thomas Aquinas
The Bible passages that teach about sin and death are clearly referring to the death of
humans. Do these passages also refer to animals? Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) didn’t think
so. He believed that God’s original creation included animals that killed each other, writing that
“the nature of animals was not changed by man’s sin.” Saint Thomas Aquinas. Summa
Theologica, Part 1, Question 93, Article 1
Pastor Daniel Harrell makes a logical argument for animal death, writing that “there had to be
death in the Garden, otherwise Adam would have been overrun by bugs and bacteria long
before he took that forbidden bite of fruit.” 2 Animal death is also necessary to maintain
population levels in a balanced ecosystem (see below for more). Some Bible passages portray
predatory animals as part of God’s original plan for creation (Job 38:39-41, 39:29-30, Psalm
104:21,29). Other passages speak of the “wolf laying down with the lamb” instead of killing the
lamb (Isaiah 11:6-7, Isaiah 65:25), but these verses refer to the future kingdom of God, not the
original creation. While animal death and suffering raises other theological questions, it does
not contradict Biblical teaching about death as a consequence of sin.
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