@jongarvey this is where also we might be to start working out a Cosmic Fall of some sort. Let me define that, explain the wrong way to go about it, hint at a better way, and see if you can take it further.
When we realize how grand and vast the universe is, A Cosmic Fall seems totally implausible. How could actions here on Earth by Adam have an effect on other galaxies, stars, planets in the vast expanse of a universe that we have seen? This just seems absurd.
In the YEC view, and perhaps even in some traditional theology, it is sometimes proposed that the laws of nature throughout the whole universe changed when Adam fell. Early on at their origin 50 years ago (The Origin of Young-Earthism 50 Years Ago) they proposed, for example, that the 2nd law of thermodynamics is an effect of the fall. That does not make any sense, and has been rejected by most modern YECs. Still, how do we give an account for how the vastness of the universe is conscripted into Adam’s fall?
So, is there a hint of a different way? What if we start by saying that the natural law was not altered by the fall, but its intended purpose was twisted toward darkness instead. What we read instead is that the seed of a new law, a new order, was withdrawn when Adam was cast from the Garden. So how does this affect the stars outside Adam’s causal horizon? Let me propose possible ways:
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Perhaps God had a purpose for the stars within human society that was lost by Adam’s rebellion. Perhaps their purpose was to declare God’s eternal attributes: He is ancient, powerful, and vast. Perhaps, in the Fall, the become twisted into objects of worship. In our moment, they are often conscripted into arguments against God too. In this way, the stars and the cosmic heavens are fallen. Not because they natural law has been altered by Adam’s sin, but because their original purpose is twisted to darkness.
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Perhaps the Garden was a seed of a new natural law that was intended to transform all Creation, inducting even the stars and distant galaxies into a new natural order. The original purpose of nature as we know it might have been to be the substrate to be inaugurated into a grander reality. With the closing off of the Garden, rather than being perfected this way, it is now stuck in limbo. An analogy might be a high school student suck in first year classes for several years. It is expected that first years will take first year classes, then graduate to go on to better. Held back year after year, the groaning and the frustration grow.
I wonder if either or both these this directions might be the foundation for a coherent account of a cosmic fall. What do you think @jongarvey?