Entropy — the second law of thermodynamics — says that every closed system moves from order to disorder over time. Things break down. Energy dissipates. Stars burn out. Bodies age. It's one of the most fundamental laws in physics. The question Christians debate is whether entropy existed in God's original "very good" creation, or whether it's a consequence of the Fall — part of the Curse that hit all of creation when sinned.
What Entropy Actually Is
Quick science recap: the second law of thermodynamics states that the total entropy (disorder) of an isolated system always increases over time. Hot coffee gets cold. Buildings crumble. Your room gets messy without effort. The universe is winding down.
This is the arrow of time. It's why you can't unscramble an egg. It's why stars eventually die. And it's intimately connected to Death itself — biological decay is entropy applied to living systems.
The question is: was it always this way?
The "Very Good" Problem
📖 Genesis 1:31 God looked at his finished creation and declared it "very good." Six times during creation he said "good," and at the end, with everything in place: "very good." That's a strong statement about the original state of reality.
If entropy — decay, degradation, the slow march toward death — was baked into creation from day one, can you still call it "very good"? Young-earth creationists typically say no: the second law in its current death-producing form is a result of the Fall. The original creation operated under different physics (or at least different conditions) where decay and death didn't exist.
Old-earth creationists and others push back: entropy isn't inherently bad. Digestion is entropy. Metabolism is entropy. The way your body converts food to energy requires thermodynamic processes. A universe without any entropy would be static, frozen, unable to change — and that doesn't sound "very good" either.
What the Curse Actually Changed
📖 Genesis 3:17-19 When Adam sinned, God pronounced a curse:
Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
"Dust to dust" — that's entropy in human terms. The return to disorder. But did this introduce entropy, or did it apply entropy to humans who were previously protected from it?
Some theologians propose a middle view: entropy as a physical process may have existed before the Fall, but God sustained creation (and especially humans) against its effects. The Tree of Life in Garden of Eden could have been the mechanism — continual access to God's sustaining power kept decay at bay. When Adam and Eve were cut off from the Tree, entropy's effects became fully operational.
This view preserves the physics while honoring the biblical narrative: the laws of thermodynamics existed, but God's presence overrode their death-dealing consequences.
Paul's Cosmic Picture
📖 Romans 8:20-21 Paul weighs in on the cosmic scope of the Fall:
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption.
"Bondage to corruption" — that's a theological description of entropy if there ever was one. Creation is enslaved to decay. Paul says this wasn't creation's choice and it wasn't the original design. Something happened — the Fall — that subjected the whole natural order to a pattern of breakdown.
Whether "subjected to futility" means entropy was introduced or unleashed is the core of the debate. Either way, Paul is clear: it's not the way things were meant to be, and it's not the way things will stay.
The New Creation Promise
📖 Revelation 21:1-4 Revelation describes a future reality where:
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
No Death. No decay. No pain. Whatever entropy is doing now, it gets fully resolved in the new creation. This suggests that the current thermodynamic regime — where everything winds down — is temporary. The final state of reality operates under different rules.
If the new creation doesn't have entropy (at least not in its death-producing form), and the original creation was also "very good," there's a reasonable case that the current state of entropy-driven decay is specific to this fallen era — a middle chapter, not the permanent condition.
Where to Land
Fr, this is one of those questions where intellectual humility goes a long way. The Bible doesn't use the word "entropy" or give a physics lecture. What it does say is clear:
- The original creation was very good
- The Fall broke something cosmic
- Creation is currently in bondage to corruption
- God is going to fix all of it
Whether entropy existed in a benign form before the Fall or was introduced by the Curse is a secondary question that faithful Christians can disagree on. The main thing: the decay you see around you isn't the final reality. Something better is coming. No cap.