Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men, because all sinned.
World English Bible
Romans 5:12
This verse is examined in more than one Scripture Analysis section. Each lens is shown on its own terms, in the section's own words; GEBible reaches no verdict of its own.
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WEB World English Bible Public Domain ✓ - Modern English
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Examined in Scripture Analysis
Science (1)
Historical claims about the natural world, weighed against the scientific record.
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Death did not exist anywhere on Earth until the first human committed a moral transgression about 6,000 years ago.
Biology · Romans 5:12
The scientific record: The fossil record documents roughly 3.8 billion years of life and death, including predator-prey relationships and five major mass extinctions, all predating humans. (National Park Service)
Contradictions (3)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
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Must everyone die?
Romans 5:12 says death passed upon all men through Adam. Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed unto men once to die.
Critical scholarship: Genuinely disputed among scholars.
Theology
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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Are we punished for the sins of others?
Romans 5:12 has Paul teach that death passed upon all humanity because of Adam's single sin — the archetypal transgenerational punishment. Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Kings 14:6, Jeremiah 31:29-30, and Ezekiel 18:20 insist the opposite: each person dies for his own sin and no one bears the iniquity of another.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Theology
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
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Who was to blame for original sin?
1 Timothy 2:14 pins the fall on Eve and explicitly says Adam was not deceived. Romans 5:12 puts the entire entry of sin and death into the world on "one man" — Adam.
Critical scholarship: Widely regarded as a genuine contradiction.
Theology
More on this question
The proposed answers and sources for each reading are on the question page.
Each section sets the viewpoints side by side; you weigh the evidence. Here, "critical scholarship" means academic study, not a value judgment. How this is built →
Other verses examined for the same kind of question or claim
Within each section, grouped by shared field or question type — not a cross-section comparison.
Cite this page
This citation refers to this GEBible page — the verse and the analysis gathered here. To cite the underlying scholarship, cite those sources directly.
"Romans 5:12 — Scripture Analysis" GEBible, https://gebible.app/analysis/verse/romans/5/12?version=WEB (retrieved 26 August 2026).