Are the laws of physics a result of sin? The Bible says death and decay are a result of sin and the second law of thermodynamics states that the natural order of things is to decay. Did physics work differently before the fall?
The answer to the question, “Are the laws of physics a result of sin?” is: I really don’t know… Neither do the smartest of scientists. We can try to explain all day long what the intricacies of the world are, but if scripture isn't clear on it, we can only understand things that fit in our frame of reference.
Scientific Law:
A generalized rule to explain a body of observations in the form of a verbal or mathematical statement. Scientific laws (also known as natural laws) imply a cause and effect between the observed elements and must always apply under the same conditions.
So really our question has to come down to this:
- Is the 2nd law of thermodynamics a constant in the universe
that has always been a part of it?
or
- Does it depend on a starting point
that threw the known universe into a state of disorder?
2nd Law of Thermodynamics:
The total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time, and is constant if and only if all processes are reversible. Isolated systems spontaneously evolve towards thermodynamic equilibrium, the state with maximum entropy.
When energy changes from one form to another form, or matter moves freely, entropy (disorder) in a closed system increases.
Differences in temperature, pressure, and density tend to even out over time.
Basically, the entire argument for entropy starting at the fall of man, comes from people reading Gensis 1:31 and assuming that "very good" means perfect.
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
So if that argument was true, it would mean that the world was completely 100% PERFECT and nothing at all was capable of breaking down before sin entered the world.
Romans 8:20-22
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
God tells us that He puts the whole world into a bondage of decay, which scientists today would attribute to the 2nd law of thermodynamics.
We also see the results of the second law of thermodynamics before AND after man sinning.
1. Stars
Genesis 1:14
And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night
2. Digestion
Genesis 1:29
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
Stars shining and the metabolism of a living creature are both processes that are incredibly sensitive to even the tiniest changes of the laws of physics. The likelihood of those things both working before and after a major change in physics are incredibly low.
So, did the second law of thermodynamics exist before the curse of sin in Genesis 3? I would say yes, entropy did already exist, but, the curse of sin altered the final result of entropy so that it now eventuates in death. Before that, it would have eventuated in more and more disorder, but not death.
