Philosopher and theologian Travis Campbell offers a biblical and philosophical look at the mortality of Adam and Eve before they fell into sin. Could Adam die before the fall? The answer to this question bears consequences in the debate between old-earth and young-earth creationists. If the answer is no, as most Christians believe, then the consequence is minimal. However, if the answer is yes, then a common young-earth argument against old-earth creationism has been mitigated. Proponents of a young Earth have long argued that God would be immoral if he allowed death to precede the fall. This contention is a philosophical imposition onto the biblical text. If human beings are naturally mortal, then there was nothing capricious about God allowing billions of years of animal death before the arrival of the first human pair.
Were the disciples hallucinating when they met Jesus after his crucifixion? Do psychiatric disorders explain the disciples’ belief in Jesus’s resurrection?
