How did the old Adamic nature and death enter the world?
By one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and with it came the old Adamic nature and death. Before Adam sinned, nothing died in the Garden of Eden; when he sinned, the curse fell on Adam, Eve, and the whole creation, and death accompanied that curse.
Les teaches that the text says, "by one man Adam sin, the old Adamic nature, entered the world," and death came with it. He does not believe anything died in the Garden of Eden until Adam sinned, not even in the animal world, because everything ate herbs, fruits, and grasses, so nothing lost its life to support another species. Death was an unknown entity until Adam sinned. Then the curse fell not just on Adam and Eve but on the whole creation, and with the curse came death. Les also wonders whether the whole universe came under the curse, though he has not reached a complete conclusion, and he ties this to good science and the laws of thermodynamics.
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
More Questions
What is the sin that entered the world through Adam in Romans 5:12?
In Romans 5:12, the sin that entered the world through Adam is identified as the old Adamic nature.
According to Romans 5:12, did sin enter the world through Adam or through Eve?
In Romans 5:12 Paul identifies Adam as "the one man" through whom sin entered the world, so Eve is not to be blamed for that entrance—it is Adam's fault.