From dust . . . to dust

Nevertheless, some have been reluctant to adopt this view [that "dust" equals mortality] because of a sense that other scriptural passages contradict it. Specifically, many have concluded that since Paul states that “death [came] through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Rom 5:12), people were created immortal. We must carefully consider whether this is what Paul is saying. Besides the likelihood that Genesis 3:19 suggests people were created mortal, another piece of evidence in Genesis offers even stronger evidence. In the garden, God provided a tree of life. Immortal people have no need for a tree of life. The provision of one suggests that they were mortal.—The Lost World of Adam and Eve, p. 73