Did Adam and Eve really sit down with lions?

Adam and Eve would certainly have been in mortal danger if a lion even saw them at a distance. To try and sit down by a lion and then stroke said lion’s mane, as is portrayed in a lot of pictures, would have meant an easy dinner for the lion and a quick death for Adam and Eve. The problem in the Garden of Eden though, at least for a hungry lion, is that no death could occur. The lion also would have had no appetite for human meat or indeed for any meat. All animals, including lions were herbivores. In fact the Bible says that lions ate straw.

In the absence of death, all living creatures would have lived in harmony with each other. Whether or not Adam and Eve sat down with a lion is not the point. Scripture declares that the lamb could safely lay down beside a lion so for sure, Eve could have brushed the mane of a lion if she wanted.

Evolutionary models within the secular view of our origins do cite changes within the structures of teeth but they do not go as far as to say that predatory cats had teeth more suited to grinding plants, although some ideas are out there. The difference between evolution and biblical accounts is that evolution will detail the improvements made within species, such as a lion being able to kill prey more efficiently over time. Scripture says the direct opposite, which specifies that all animals (along with mankind) be subject to degeneration, so the lion for example deteriorated within the scheme of life. It is worsening of the harmony originally made by God for life on Earth when a creature changes from herbivore to carnivore. The Bible teaches a kind of reverse evolution.

We know Lions did eventually go on to kill and eat meat, however this was at a much later time, far away from the Original Garden.

We should also note that people have been close to lions and tigers in this day and age, either through training but often through a developed closeness arising from nurturing a big cat from its days as a cub. Whilst a lion may not be fussed about making a friendship with a human, it has been known to happen. How much more so then in the Garden, where no meat was eaten and where there was a far higher degree of intellect stemming from lions. Remember that the Bible teaches evolution in reverse, so lions have become dimmer, as has man.

Nevertheless, as I was not there at the time, I have no idea whether Eve cuddled a lion or whether Adam rode one about the perfect fields.