Were There “Boogers” Before the Fall?

I recently got into a conversation with my assistant Emily’s 11-year-old son on the topic of nasal mucus (otherwise known as snot). We were wondering would there be “boogers” before the Fall?

Obviously, Scripture doesn’t provide a direct answer to that question. But let’s list out what we know from the Bible:

1. God created a perfect world (Genesis 1:31); there was no death and suffering in this original creation,
2. We are fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalm 139:13) in his image (Genesis 1:27),
3. God’s perfect creation was marred by sin (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3); sin brought death, suffering, and disease into God’s creation,
4. Even though our bodies are marred by sin and the Fall, we still bear the hallmarks of being wonderfully designed by God (Psalm 139:13; Romans 1:20).

Now, let’s take a look at what we know from science about our nasal secretions. Our lungs, noses, throat, and mouth are all lined with mucus producing tissues. These tissues secrete 1 to 1.5 quarts of mucus every single day and much more if you’re sick or have allergies. And—this is a bit gross—you swallow most of the mucus you produce without even noticing! In your nose, for instance, tiny hairs push the mucus towards the back of the nasal passages where it trickles down your throat. Yuck!

But your nasty nose secretions have several important functions and are actually an amazing design. The mucus prevents the tissues underneath from drying out. It’s also sticky and rather thick. This means foreign particles such as dust, pollen, or bacteria get trapped before they can travel into the sensitive airways. Your mucus is your first line of defense against invaders!

Mucus also contains antibodies to recognize foreign invaders, enzymes that kill these would-be disease-causing intruders, proteins that make the mucus inhospitable to foreign particles, and much more. There’s a lot going on in your snot!

From science we can see that mucus lines up with point #2 (we are fearfully and wonderfully made) and #4 (despite the Curse, we really are amazingly designed). There’s no reason to think snot didn’t exist in the pre-Fall world. After all, we had to keep our sensitive airways from drying out and keep pollen and dust from getting in and snot does a wonderful job doing that.

But we need to remember this world isn’t as it was. Originally snot wasn’t used to keep harmful bacteria or allergens out—that’s a post-Flood use of something God originally created very good.

So the next time you blow your nose think about how wonderfully God has designed your body and how well it works even in a sin-cursed and broken world. We truly are fearfully and wonderfully made—right down to our boogers!

Camp Infinity

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