Q & R: Death, Fall, and Creation

Here’s the Q:

Adam and Eve – not historical
Death – not an intrusion into a good creation
I have found many books and articles that claim to defend the Bible against the above statements (which basically say that they are wrong because otherwise the Bible is wrong – {never admitting that perhaps it may be a particular interpretation of the Bible that is being challenged}).
However hard I have searched I cannot find anything which wrestles with the implications of death being an integral part of creation, there being no Fall – and the consequences on what the life, death and resurrection of Jesus means and accomplished.
Please can you say whether you have come across anything that deals positively with this?
Many thanks

Here’s the R:
On a critique/different vision of the Fall – I’ve written on this in A New Kind of Christianity, and it will come up again in Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road.
On death – I agree with you – this is a subject that deserves so much more attention than it has gotten.
You’ll find a good discussion on the subject at Open Source Theology (a place where intelligent theological conversation happens daily): http://www.opensourcetheology.net/node/954
I was recently with Tony Jones in the Boundary Waters wilderness of northern Minnesota with a bright and bold group of Fuller Seminary students engaging topics like these under the rubric of “Doctrine of Creation.” Here’s a video about our trip …

Really, a theology of death needs to be part of our doctrine of creation … especially in light of a scientific worldview. For starters on that subject, I’d recommend Moltmann’s “God in Creation” for a scholarly grappling with many of the issues you raise. I’d also recommend John Haught’s work, beginning with “God After Darwin.”
On the subject of death, I grappled with it to some degree in “The Story We Find Ourselves In”. I hope to do more writing on this subject in the future (if I live long enough!).