My latest YouTube video explores a fascinating question posed by Todd Wood: Did Adam and Eve need an immune system in the Garden of Eden?
This topic allows me to engage a number of ideas I have had about the nature of the original created state of the world from different theological perspectives. Todd Wood has me asking important questions about the nature of the pre-Fall world, the role of the immune system, and the implications for young Earth creationism.
In the video, I start by discussing a recent article I read on the New Creation blog. I admit, I hadn’t checked it out in a couple of weeks due to a busy schedule, but this particular piece caught my eye and I couldn’t resist diving into it. The article is a republished blog post by Todd Wood, a prominent figure in the creationist community.
Todd tackles the question of whether Adam and Eve needed an immune system before the Fall. This is one of the many questions I’ve pondered about the Garden of Eden. If they lived in a perfect paradise, what did that look like? Was there no competition, no natural selection, no mutations, and perfect genomes? What role, if any, did the immune system play in such a world?
To provide some context, the germ theory of disease, which explains that specific infections are caused by microbes, is well-established and works very effectively in our current world. However, if we consider the pre-Fall world described in the Bible, where there were no harmful viruses or bacteria, it’s natural to wonder if Adam and Eve even needed an immune system.
Todd Wood explores this question by examining the possible roles of the immune system both before and after the Fall. One of the key points he raises is whether certain features, like the immune system, were part of the original design but only became necessary after the Fall. This idea suggests a sort of “front-loaded” design, where God created features in advance, knowing they would be needed later.
If Adam and Eve didn’t need an immune system, why do we have one now? Did God create the original immune system, or did it come into existence later? Todd dives into these questions and discusses the challenges this presents for young Earth creationism. One of the things I appreciate about Todd is his openness to discussion. He acknowledges that he doesn’t have all the answers but is willing to explore possible ideas.
The immune system, as we know it today, is our body’s defense against infections. It detects and eliminates foreign invaders, protecting us from various diseases. However, before the Fall, there were no pathogens to cause disease, so what was the immune system’s purpose? Todd suggests that the immune system was designed to maintain harmony with beneficial microbes, rather than just fighting harmful ones. Joe Francis, a creationist microbiologist, supports this idea by arguing that the immune system is as important for allowing good things in as it is for keeping bad things out.
This perspective challenges the traditional view that the immune system’s primary function is to combat disease. Instead, it posits that in the pre-Fall world, the immune system was part of a perfect creation, ensuring that Adam and Eve lived in harmony with their environment. It wasn’t until after the Fall, when the world became corrupted by sin, that the immune system had to adapt to a new reality filled with harmful pathogens.
Another interesting point Todd raises is the idea that the immune system’s failures today, such as allergies, are a result of the Fall and the subsequent changes in the world. Our immune systems are no longer perfect and can sometimes overreact, leading to conditions like autoimmune diseases. This idea aligns with the broader young Earth creationist view that the world we live in today is a fallen version of the original perfect creation.
In conclusion, I find that Todd Wood’s exploration of whether Adam and Eve needed an immune system offers a thought-provoking look at the complexities of the pre-Fall world. It challenges us to think deeply about the nature of God’s creation and the ways in which it has changed over time. While there are no definitive answers, I think the discussion itself is valuable.
If you’re interested in exploring these ideas further, I encourage you to check out the full video on my YouTube channel from the link above. Until next time, take care!
Naturalis Historia 
You don’t mention death in the text. I find it mindless nonsense to suppose there was no death “pre-Fall.” Skin cells? Gut biome and food-waste elimination? Short lived insects? If they didn’t die, how long before ecological population collapse? Days? Weeks? Existence without entropy, decay, subsidence, and death is not possible in the real world as we know it, and no assumption can eliminate death at any point in creation. Not for more than an instant. Death is part of life, and it has always been. The inevitable conclusion is God created death as well as life. Scripture supports this understanding. Why would there be a tree of life if death wasn’t part of the “pre-Fall” creation?
As to the immune system, did Adam and Eve have no gut biome? It seems impossible for digestion to work without the extensive and complex biome thriving in our GI tract. With no immune system, how might the biome be regulated to not consume the entire body rather than just the consumed food? How might the gut biome be contained and regulated at all without death and decay of the trillions of single-cell lifeforms involved?
“maintain harmony with beneficial microbes” by killing them off at a balanced rate? If not killing, then how is harmony maintained by microbes that do nothing but eat and multiple? Exponential growth is natural and inevitable without death, and population collapse becomes inevitable quickly.
We are silly to suppose the laws of physics and chemistry are changeable. That is, the laws of physics and chemistry are now as God created them at the beginning, regardless how the beginning is defined. From the chemistry of physiology, we know that all living cells die, and any food consumed was previously alive, and to be consumed, it dies. In plucking the fruit, the plant and the fruit chemically react in the same we our bodies react to inflicted pain. In the plucking of the fruit (intentionally or through natural ripening and incidental falling), the fruit dies and the chemical changes occur. Eating the fruit and digesting it results in the death of all those cells in the fruit that were previously living.
As to the natural ripening and falling, how might that occur without decay and death?
Fundamentally, we must realize that God’s creation included entropy, death, and decay, and it was good.
The universe functions to convert enthalpy in to entropy. That is, the universe works. Work is the point of everything in the universe. While the universe works, it creates, it destroys, and it decays. All activity consumes time and energy resulting in entropy. Entropy always increases. That is the creation God gave.
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Hi Joel, Hope you’re doing well. I’m trying to leave comments to your “Immune In Eden…” essay, but after I type them and hit SEND, a window comes up asking for my WordPress user name and Password. (In the past this didn’t happen, but I seem to remember it coming up the last time I posted too). Anyway, I entered my WordPress user name and Password, and it seemed to accept them (at least I didn’t get any error message), but my comments didn’t post. Nor did I get any “pending” message. Do you know what’s going on?
Thanks! Glen
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