Natural Evil and the Death of Animals

Natural evil is evil for which no non-divine agent can be held morally responsible for its occurrence. Examples include the sufferings resulting from earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. The idea is that these events are bad but cannot be blamed on the moral lapses of Man. Some Christians believe that such environmental phenomena are the result of the Fall of Man and would not have occurred in an unfallen world as God originally intended. The point of this article is not to critique this overall theory but to confine myself to a specific subset of it.

One of the primary results of the Fall of Man - as told in the story of Genesis 3 - was that humanity was prevented from accessing the fruit of the Tree of Life. The idea is that God had intended humanity to live forever by eating this fruit (Genesis 3:22), but disobedience and sin put a break on that intention. The result was humanity’s descension into corruption and death (Genesis 2:16; 3:3, 19). Death then reigned through humanity until the resurrection of Jesus (Romans 5:12-21). Eventually, death will be completely defeated (1 Corinthians 15:26, 54-55; Revelation 20:14; 21:4). At that time, those who are believers in Jesus will be resurrected into incorruptible, physical bodies that are immune to decay and death (Romans 5:17, 21; 6:4-9, 23; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 54; 2 Corinthians 1:10; Revelation 20:6; 21:4).

Importantly, the biblical verses concerning death and its solution explicitly do so with regards to humanity. Death is the inevitable result of sin, but life comes from God through Jesus the Christ (Romans 6:23). However, despite this explicit human death context, there are those who argue that the references to death implicitly refer to death in creation. The idea is that all death, including the death of animals, is the result of the Fall of Man. In this thinking, if Man had not originally sinned, animals would not die. Furthermore, if animals would not die, then humans would not have killed animals and animals would not kill animals. The corollary to this interpretation, obviously, is that animals would not kill other animals for food. Presumably, they would kill plants for food.

I specifically remember a well-known evangelical leader writing an article a decade ago about his experiences watching the Discovery Channel. He noted a scene in one nature show showing a python swallowing a pig whole. He concluded that such a scenario could not have been God’s original intention for his creation. But is his conclusion correct? It seemed to be based more on subjective feelings of disgust rather than on sound Biblical theology. Can we use the Bible to learn whether God intended animals to kill other animals for food?

I think the clearest Biblical answer comes from Psalm 104. This is a psalm of praise to God, specifically identifying his greatness as Creator. God is majestic because he has created a wonderfully good and ordered world. And in and through this ordered world, God cares for the sustenance of his living creatures.

“He sends forth springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.” (vv. 10-11)

“He causes the grass to grow for the cattle” (v. 14)

Then we have these important verses:

“You appoint darkness and it becomes night,
In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about.
The young lions roar after their prey
And seek their food from God.” (vv. 20-21)

 These two verses are followed by the following:

“O LORD, how many are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all;
The earth is full of Your possessions.
There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Animals both small and great.
…
They all wait for You
To give them their food in due season.
You give to them, they gather it up;
You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.” (vv. 24-25, 27-28)

What verses 20-21 explicitly state is that young lions seek other animals to eat for food and that this process is from God. While verse 14 indicates that God ordered his good and wondrous creation so that some animals should be fed on the plants of the earth, verses 20-21 indicate God orders this same creation so that other animals will devour other creatures for their food. Animals eating other animals is a part of God’s good and ordered intention for his created world.

I made this argument more than a decade ago, reasoning through my observations of how God created animals.

“Examine the carnivore animals of God’s creation: lions, cheetahs, eagles, bear, vultures, wolves, sharks, etc. They are designed by God to hunt and kill other animals. The teeth, the claws, the speed, and the senses – it is all designed to find, chase down, kill, tear apart and devour other animals. Examine many of the animals of God’s creation that are hunted by carnivores: deer, skunks, porcupines, elephants, rhinoceroses, fish, lizards, rabbits, etc. They are designed by God to escape, defend, and hide from other animals. The camouflage, the speed, the defensive capabilities are a part of their being. These capabilities assume a life of potential death and the ability to kill and avoid being killed.”

The teachings of Scripture indicate that God always intended for animals to prey on each other and that this process is a part of his good and ordered creation. Casual observation of that created order confirms this interpretation of Scripture. Working backwards from this corollary, we can then infer that God does not have a problem with the death of animals in his good creation, and that the death of animals is not a result of the Fall of Man. Instead, the death that resulted from the humanity’s sin was specifically concerned with that of human beings created in the image of God. This being the case, whatever we think about natural evil, it should generally exclude the death of animals.