Chapter 9—Was It Sin?

Mrs. White describes the “amalgamation of man and beast” as a “sin” and a “base crime,” but why should the amalgamation of various species of animals be thus described?Amal 7.6

Note first that Mrs. White, in the chapter “Crime Before the Flood,” is using the word “crime” as loosely synonymous with “sin.” The key word before us, therefore, is “sin.” And what is sin? It is transgression of the law of God. This is often restricted in theological thinking to violations of the Ten Commandments, the moral law. That Mrs. White frequently uses the word “sin” in a much larger sense, as including any violation of so-called natural laws, is evident from an examination of her writings. The reason she does this is that she declares that these so-called laws of nature are as truly an expression of the mind and will of God as are the Ten Commandments. For example: “It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the ten commandments, for we cannot do either without breaking God’s law.”—Testimonies for the Church 2:70.Amal 7.7

Now let us turn to the Bible record of the condition of the whole created world, man and beast, before the Flood:Amal 7.8

“And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” Genesis 6:7.

Why should the Lord repent that He had “made them,” the beasts and birds and creeping things, as well as man? In a few verses farther on is found the answer:Amal 7.9

“And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his [A.R.V. their] way upon the earth.” Genesis 6:12.

“And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man.” Genesis 7:21.