Is Death Good? (Genesis 1:31)
Death is Very Good? Understanding Genesis 1:31 in Context! Evolutionary Creationism
Introduction
In my last article on Genesis, I argued that physical death existed before the fall. It was part of the creation mandate in Gen 1:26-30. I also maintain that Adam and Eve were mortal. We lost the chance for immortality (and thus die) due to Adam's sin (Gen 3:22, Rom 5:12). Christ brings back that which was once lost for all who believe.
Part of the issue with understanding death as part of initial creation is Genesis 1:31. It is written, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (NIV). How is it possible that God declares a creation that includes death? Many believe God made the world absolutely morally perfect and entirely without death. This view is, in part, based on this verse. I will propose here that "very good" has something to do with beauty and purpose, not morality or immorality.
YEC is Not Off The Hook
Before we get into the Bible, I want to flag something very relevant but often dismissed. Many Christians believe that all creatures are vegetarians and that nothing dies before the fall. The problem is that the two claims are logically contradictory. We know plants, fruits, and vegetables are alive (Boyd and O’Leary, 2013; Skiver, 2023).
What you have in the YEC perfect creation is the same thing you have in Evolution and a post-fall world, namely, killing massive amounts of life just to survive, the scale that appears different. Either not all creatures were Vegetarians in which case some animal death occurred, or all were vegetarians and killed vegetation every day. Either way, there was death before the fall. Therefore YECs must also explain why God's very good (perfect in their view) world included so much killing and death.
Word Study
In this section, I will discuss the Hebrew words we translate as very good. Doing this will deepen our understanding of what is happening in Genesis. Dr. Paul (2020) has a discussion of the Hebrew. I will summarize here. The Hebrew word for good here transpires hundreds of times if you include related terms. This word is used for beautiful things (a wife is a delight or beautiful in Prov 18:22). There usually is an aesthetic element to the term, like in Ex 3:8, possibly also in Ex 2:2 (Tov, n.d.). Furthermore, the Hebrew language had a separate word translated as perfect (Lev 22:21, Deut 32:3-4). Therefore, the understanding should be pretty good and beautiful regarding aesthetics, not flawless or idealized.
Hamilton (1990) states, “Two features distinguish this last verse of the chapter from the preceding verses. First, “beautiful” now becomes very beautiful” (comments on verse 31). As noted in the last article, Gen 1 shows God setting up the universe as his cosmic temple (Drimalla et al, 2021). Given this context, the term is also referring to functionality. As Ramantswana states, “…the “goodness” of creation has to do with the functionality of the cosmos and not the idealization of creation in its original state (Ramantswana, (2012), P. 237). This also has to do with ancient concepts of chaos and order. Evidence for this is found in Genesis 1:2 describing the earth as “formless and void”. Routledge (2010) notes {bracket mine},
"... the description of the earth... recall{s} the idea of creation as the transformation of primordial chaos found in other Ancient Near Eastern creation myths, and elsewhere in the Old Testament," (P. 87)
Discussion
There are several points of discussion we have from the present study. Most relevant is that God did not make an idealized or perfect creation. This would seem to reflect poorly on God, yet this is not so. Irenaeus was an ancient Christian theologian who argued “...nothing in creation can emerge perfect as God is perfect simply because intrinsic, unchanging perfection characterizes only that which is divine” (McCoy, 2018, section: What did the fathers say?). Under this view, it would be a logical contradiction (which God cannot do/be) to say that God created initial perfection because you are essentially saying God made God.
Instead, perfection makes imperfection “destined for perfection” (Grow, 2018). However, Adam and Eve fall (Gen 3:8-23), resulting in the need for Christ to achieve perfection (Eph 4:24, 1 Cor 15:35-58). Under this principle, one could maintain that the Most High gave purpose and order to a cosmos with death in it. God cannot be accused because again, initial perfection is logically contradictory.
These principles come together to paint a picture of “the possibility of the return of chaos, God’s ongoing power to bring order and renewal to the lives of his people, and the promise of his final eschatological victory” (Routledge, 2010, P. 87-88). God did not just bring chaos into order in Genesis God IS bringing chaos into order. God is still creating and working, and the salvation of the faithful is evidence of this (2 Cor 5:17). God takes our chaotic state and brings it into order, a work finalized in the eschaton (Rev 21:4).
This interpretation affirms the goodness of humans. All creation was orderly and beautiful and, therefore pretty good. While the fall did happen and sin abounds (Romans 3:23 and 5:12-21), it is still written, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim 4:4). We should be happy to proclaim with Roberts (2016),
"God declares this embodied nature “very good,” along with rest of the physical creation (Gen 1:31). This affirmation must center our theological exploration of what it means to be human, including human sexuality as an aspect of our embodied reality" (Para. 7)
Finally, how should we answer the question posed in the title? You can maintain that death and suffering are part of the imperfection, which ceases in the eschaton (Rev 21:4). Another way to understand it given the present study is to propose that non-human creaturely death is not evil, given God's command appears to be in a good light in Gen 1:28-30. The death of vegetables and animals may be good in some sense. The contextual analysis allows for either one.
Conclusion
In conclusion, God calls the universe very good because it is functioning suitably and beautifully, not perfect or ideal. The material world is still pretty and functioning and thus good, though not very good post-fall. This understanding has implications for our defenses of God in light of animal suffering (theodicy). Also, massive implications for the Christian doctrines of man, salvation, and Christ follow. What is the succeeding article about? In our next article, I will articulate more views on how to understand animal death in light of my interpretation of Genesis. Many views have been proposed for how to deal with this so I want to discuss those there.
References:
Boyd and O’Leary. (2013). Your vegetables are alive—And they change in response to light and dark. Www.Elsevier.Com. Retrieved from
Skiver, R. (2023). Yes, plants are alive—Just not in the same way as animals. Green Matters. https://www.greenmatters.com/community/are-plants-alive
Drimalla et al. (2021). Were Adam and Eve priests in Eden? BibleProject. Retrieved from https://bibleproject.com/articles/were-adam-and-eve-priests-eden/
Tovtav in step bible with Greek and Hebrew helps | esv. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.stepbible.org/?q=version=ESV|srchJoin=(1o2)|strong=H2896A|strong=H2869&opti ons=HVNUG
Hamilton, P. V. (1990). The New International Commentary: Genesis. Eerdmans
Image by Ron Szalata on Unsplash
Ramantswana, H. (2012). FROM BAD TO GOOD: A DIALOGIC READING OF GENESIS 1. Journal of Semantics, 21/2, P. 237-268.
https://www.academia.edu/9859583/From_Bad_to_Good_A_Dialogic_Reading_of_Genesis_1
Routledge, R. (2010). DID GOD CREATE CHAOS? UNRESOLVED TENSION IN GENESIS 1:1-2. Tyndale Bulletin 61(1):69-87. 10.53751/001c.29296
Grow, B. (2018, September 7). Thinking of creation in elevated and eschatological terms with Irenaeus: And allowing such terms to bring eternal perspective to temporal realities. Athanasian Reformed. https://growrag.wordpress.com/2018/09/06/thinking-of-creation-in-elevated-and-eschatological -terms-with-irenaeus-and-allowing-such-terms-to-bring-eternal-perspective-to-temporal-realities/
Paul, I. (2020). And god saw that it was…pretty good (Gen 1) | psephizo. https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/and-god-saw-that-it-waspretty-good-gen-1/
McCoy, A. (2018). Irenaeus, Augustine, and Evolutionary Science. Henry Center. From https://henrycenter.tiu.edu/2018/05/irenaeus-augustine-and-evolutionary-science/#:~:text=For %20Irenaeus%2C%20nothing%20in%20creation,only%20that%20which%20is%20divine
Ramantswana, H. (2012). FROM BAD TO GOOD: A DIALOGIC READING OF GENESIS 1. Journal of Semantics, 21/2, P. 237-268.
https://www.academia.edu/9859583/From_Bad_to_Good_A_Dialogic_Reading_of_Genesis_1
Roberts, S. L. (2016). Toward a Theological Anthropology: A Study of Genesis 1-3. Direction Journal, Vol 45, no. 2, P. 136-148.
https://directionjournal.org/45/2/toward-theological-anthropology-study-of.html
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