Ms. B hammers the fall of Adam

Here, dear reader, continues the conversation of Mr. A and Ms. B from "Ms. B points out that physical death came before Adam's fall"

Ms. B: So Mr. A, how do you explain the fact that Genesis 1 claims that God created a world of vegetarians?

Mr. A: Well Ms. B, I have this friend, MGT2...

Ms. B: That's a strange name.

Mr. A: Yes, well he suggested that the Garden of Eden was a "restricted area."

Ms. B: Come again?

Mr. A: He says it could be that only within the garden were animals vegetarian whereas outside the garden the world was full of carnivorous animals.

Ms. B: Fanciful, Mr. A. But the text says something different. The Hebrew word "'erets" refers to the whole earth. That is, every plant on the whole earth and every tree that has fruit had been given for food, not just those which were within the garden. Nor does the text allow for carnivorous animals outside the garden: "to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food." The writer could not have been more clear. According to the text, God created the entire world without death, predation or carnivory.

Mr. A: I must admit then that short of embracing young earth creationism, I'm not sure what to do. But what does that have to do with your view of the fall?

Ms. B: It has everything to do with it, Mr. A. Before I explain what I think the fall means in light of our understanding of the world, I want to know what you think it means. Let me ask you another question.

Mr. A: Must you?

Ms. B: Do you accept the theory of plate tectonics?

Mr. A: Of course. While the details may be disputed, the framework is clear enough. This is one of the most well established theories in the earth sciences.

Ms. B: So there were volcanoes and earthquakes prior to the Adamic fall?

Mr. A: There must have been. Yes, there certainly were.

Ms. B: But not in the garden?

Mr. A: Come Ms. B, I think you're poking fun at me.

Ms. B: No really, Mr. A. We live in a vicious world of volcanoes that blast boiling mud, lava, ash and steam for miles, devastating earthquakes that can trigger a massive landslide even as they displace enough water to launch a thirty foot tsunami that washes away an entire beach front. Massive meteorites have slammed into our puny world causing mass extinctions. The sedimentary layers are packed with the skeletons of poor, miserable creatures. And underlying it all is the fact that entropy - disorder and chaos - is ever increasing. In what sense was this ever a good world to begin with? Once you've answered me that, you can explain what you mean by the fall of Adam. And then I'll be most happy to explain what I mean.