The Bible teaches that death is the direct result of Adam’s sin. Therefore, there was no death prior to the Fall. Scripture tells us that God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it. He commanded Adam: “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17).

This truth is affirmed throughout Scripture, but the Apostle Paul spells it out most plainly in Romans 5:12–21: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—”

Of course, this stands in direct opposition to evolutionary thinking, which is a secular worldview that is fundamentally anti-biblical. According to evolution, death has existed since the first living organism arose spontaneously from nonliving matter billions of years ago. Sadly, some Christians have adopted this view, prioritizing secular ideas over the clear teaching of God’s Word.

All of this raises some very good questions: How does God define life and death? Does “death” include animals, plants, insects, microbes, and single-celled organisms? Or is it limited to humans? Were there carnivores before the Fall?

In a compelling video interview, host Eric Hovind sits down with paleontologist Dr. Marcus Ross to explore these two opposing worldviews. Their discussion centers on how much the church has embraced secular concepts- such as death, disease, suffering, and extinction existing from the beginning while still claiming God’s original creation was “very good.” This deception, says Hovind, is not good theology, but capitulation. It’s “secular naturalism baptized in Christian language.”

As the interview highlights: “If death existed before Adam sinned, then death is not the penalty of sin. If creation is always groaning, then the fall explains nothing… and the cross solves nothing.”

This is truly an important theological discussion because the authority of God’s word is challenged. One thing I really appreciated about this interview is Dr. Ross’s approach: he is remarkably charitable and gracious towards believers who accept evolutionary ideas. He doesn’t attack them. Instead, he recognizes that these “dueling perspectives” have been part of church history for centuries, even going back to Augustine.

Dr. Ross carefully addresses many of the arguments raised by evolutionists and builds a strong, logical case from Scripture showing why death before the Fall is untenable. This discussion isn’t aimed at atheists; it’s directed at believers who are trying to harmonize secular ideas with the Bible. To make evolution fit, they often have to either reject Genesis outright or reinterpret it in ways that strain the text. But the bigger problem is that this forces a reinterpretation of the rest of Scripture- which consistently treats Genesis as true, historical narrative.

I encourage you to watch the interview. It’s a thoughtful, Scripture-centered reminder of why we must hold fast to the Bible’s authority from the very first verse.