For years this question has tempted people to believe the story of Genesis was more mythical than factual. Opponents have long used this question as, "so-called evidence" the Bible cannot be taken literally as these ages are biologically impossible.

Over and over again, the book of Genesis routinely records long human life spans, which seem outrageous by today's standards. Adam lived to 930 years, Noah, to 950 years, and Methuselah, the longest, to 969 years.

We tempt ourselves to compare these ages to what we see today and, initially, we think these ages are ridiculous. But what we fail to do is calculate into such a thought that today’s "fallen" environment is far different then that in which the pre-flood patriarchs lived.

The Bible is in no way shy about the number of characters it refers to attaining such great ages. Nor do these ages appear to be anything other than ordinary. Today, even if one avoids all fatal diseases and exercises regularly, the chance to live much past 100 is infinitesimal.

The big question is what was so different in the early earth as opposed to today's environment? Perhaps there was a higher level of carbon dioxide, or perhaps, God simply wrote man's future upper-limits into our genetic code. This question is best-answered using two biblical models. First, the Bible tells us that Adam and Eve's choice to disobey God brought death and decay to the entire world (Gen. 2:17). The simple biological side of this must therefore be in our genetic makeup. And second, what effect would a water vapor canopy, "firmament", in the earths atmosphere and it's increasing of the earths air pressure have on all life forms (Genesis 1:6-8)?

At the end of the creation week, God declared on the sixth day that it was, "very good." Now a perfect Holy-God would certainly not create an imperfect man if he, after all, was created in God's image (Genesis 1:26)! This would certainly mean that the original genetic make-up of Adam and Eve was absolutely perfect. No genes destined for heart disease, wrinkly-skin, or cancer, it was "very good"! And it only supports the idea that God did not create us to grow old and die, but rather to live forever and have fellowship with Him. Prior to sin, Adam would not have known what "death" was because death itself did not exist in a pre-sin environment. After all, let us not forget that the, "..wages of sin is death…." Adam and Eve’s decision to sin against God resulted in the inception of decay and thus, the degeneration of our gene pool. "…Creation will be liberated from its bondage to decay." (Romans 8:21)

As generations passed, the fact that our genes were now susceptible to disease and decay meant each generation of offspring would inherit additionally bad genes because of the fact they are passed on by both parents. And so the more generations that passed, the diseases and deformities would have therefore multiplied.

The pre-flood patriarchs lived longer because they consisted of the original perfect, or close to perfect, gene. It's their children, and their children's children that would truly end up paying the ultimate price Adam and Eve's choice brought onto the entire world.

When studying the decisions of parental choices and the effects of those choices on their children, we quickly conclude that those choices highly-influence the future of their children. The same is true when examining the effects Adam and Eve's choices had on all their children (all of mankind descended from Adam and Eve and are truly therefore their children). Their choice to sin against God effected the environment for which all future generations to come would live in.

The second model that helps to answer the shortened life span is that of a "firmament" of water in the earth’s atmosphere (a water vapor canopy). It is important to illustrate that we can only build models of these ideas that are within the framework of the various laws of science as none of us were there to examine these events. Such a water vapor canopy would have increased the air pressure here on earth while sheltering the pre-flood world from the constant bombardment of cosmic radiation.

There are currently several groups studying the complexity of such a canopy and its effects and initially, although it can't be proven, such a canopy may not be the sole reason for expanded life spans but it most likely slowed the aging process because of its blockage of solar radiation.