Submitted by john doyle on Tue, 04/12/2007 - 11:02.
Paul says in 5:12 that "through one man (i.e. Adam) sin passed into the world, and through sin death." You interpret this passage as meaning that because of Adam "death passed through to all men." I agree that this reading makes the most sense in context. Paul is talking about sin and death in humankind, not the cause of death in nature more generally. In the redemptive context of Romans 5 it doesn’t really make sense for Paul to be contending here that Adam’s sin resulted in a wholesale corruption of the natural order, introducing death into a world where up until then there had been only life.
In 1 Cor. 15, where Paul discusses the resurrection of the dead, he says that the "earthly," "perishable," "natural" human body must take on the "heavenly," "imperishable," "spiritual" resurrection body. Paul asserts that mortality is the natural condition of humanity rather than a corruption caused by Adam’s sin. In Genesis 2-3 God creates man out of the dust, and in expelling the disobedient Adam from the Garden He returns Adam to the dust. Only through access to the Tree of Life would the naturally mortal man have been able to achieve a supernatural immortality, but after Adam’s expulsion from Eden that access is barred. The original potential of that divinely-provided immortal supplement to human nature is now made available to Adam’s descendents through Christ.
death passed through
Paul says in 5:12 that "through one man (i.e. Adam) sin passed into the world, and through sin death." You interpret this passage as meaning that because of Adam "death passed through to all men." I agree that this reading makes the most sense in context. Paul is talking about sin and death in humankind, not the cause of death in nature more generally. In the redemptive context of Romans 5 it doesn’t really make sense for Paul to be contending here that Adam’s sin resulted in a wholesale corruption of the natural order, introducing death into a world where up until then there had been only life.
In 1 Cor. 15, where Paul discusses the resurrection of the dead, he says that the "earthly," "perishable," "natural" human body must take on the "heavenly," "imperishable," "spiritual" resurrection body. Paul asserts that mortality is the natural condition of humanity rather than a corruption caused by Adam’s sin. In Genesis 2-3 God creates man out of the dust, and in expelling the disobedient Adam from the Garden He returns Adam to the dust. Only through access to the Tree of Life would the naturally mortal man have been able to achieve a supernatural immortality, but after Adam’s expulsion from Eden that access is barred. The original potential of that divinely-provided immortal supplement to human nature is now made available to Adam’s descendents through Christ.