[Rhadaghast]

It is simply logical deductive reasoning from the words of scripture. Either Adam was the first man and scripture attests to this or he was not.

Then you need to take it to the next step.

If he was the first man, was he placed in the garden as an infant? or a functional human being?

Then the next step, how old was he when he was formed? He would appear as a fully functional human most likely of complete growth, i.e. 20-25 years old. Did he have calluses or bacteria? and so on.

Once you get to the passage of scripture latter on in the Pentateuch that describe the curse, and the results of the curse, then you get the full picture of the decay that was not part of God being present in the earth, after Genesis Chapter 3.

Faith is not compromised by these observations, and neither is science.

[js1138]

Science is only compromised when someone in a position of authority says science must conform to a particular interpretation of the Bible.

For many centuries, church officials read the passage dealing with the sun standing still in the sky as indicating that the sun revolves around the earth.

There are people today that believe Genesis defines the age of the earth and the exact physical history of creation. As long as this is not proclaimed by people having political power or authority over other people's children, I see nothing wrong.

[2nsdammit]

What happened to all the animal waste products, which were the result of eating all that plant fiber? Did it just lay around? Or did it decay back into the soil, so the plants could use it? If it decayed, doesn't that imply that decay would be part of the cycle? And if it didn't decay, how would the plants use it?