Do We Need A Historical Adam?
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Introduction
In our previous lesson, we explored genetics and evolution and try to understand if the science is consistent with the Bible. Masao gave a scientific case that Adam was possibly a historical person.
Today will be a follow up lesson and we’re going ask ourselves, “Do We Need A Historical Adam?” I believe this is an important question to ask ourselves. Do we need to believe that there was Adam and Eve? Does it even matter?
I believe this is an important question to ask ourselves. Do we need to believe that there was Adam and Eve? Does it even matter?
Here’s what I mean behind those questions:
Historical Adam does / does not impact the Bible.
Historical Adam does / does not impact the gospel.
Historical Adam does / does not impact the Christian life.
As I tackle this question, I want to define “historical Adam.”
Historical Adam - our first father who was created by God through miracle out of the dust as recorded in .
1. Historical Adam does / does not impact the Bible.
The Bible assumes the existence of Adam and Eve in the beginning of Genesis. We are told how God created them. But let’s say...
There Was No-Historical Adam.
Let’s just assume that was all poetry. Adam and Eve were symbolic representations of humanity in general. Let’s just say we don’t need to believe in a historical Adam in order to understand the Bible.
You don’t necessarily need to believe in the historical Adam in order to understand the Bible. You can read the story of Moses, David and Jesus, for instance, and understand generally the message and the main point.
Adam is seldom mentioned in the rest of the Bible. His name is mentioned only around 18 times in the Bible. So, because he is seldom mentioned in the Bible, some Christians may conclude that it is not important to believe in a historical Adam to understand the Bible.
Rebuttal: However, to say that Adam was not repeated a lot in the Bible is not the best argument for a non-historical Adam. Quality usually trumps quantity. What I mean by “quality” is that the authors of the Bible argue for the importance of a historical Adam. Although Adam was not repeated a lot in the Bible, he is actually an important historical figure to many of the authors in the Bible because they viewed Adam a real historical figure, not a fictional or mythological character.
Genealogies treat Adam as a historical figure ( and ). Those genealogies are consistent with the Genesis account.
38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
1 Adam, Seth, Enosh;
The Apostle Paul and Jesus treated Adam as a historical figure. (I’ll get to that later).
The Apostle Paul and Jesus treated Adam as a historical figure. (I’ll get to that later).
So, you either have to admit that Adam was historical because the authors of the Bible treat him as a real person, OR you would have to admit that Jesus and Paul were probably wrong about their information.
Now, let’s say...
There Was A Historical Adam, But God Used Evolution.
In the previous lesson, someone asked or commented to Masao that if evolution were true, then God could have simply guided the process of evolution in history. Masao responded that there are Christians who believe that, such as Theistic Evolution. However, Masao responded that evolution is not consistent with the Bible.
I want to follow up his comment and affirm with Masao that evolution is not consistent with the creation account.
Look at closely. It says that the LORD God “formed the man of dust from the ground.” The text does not say that God created matter and left it to evolve over a process of millions and billions of years and eventually Adam popped up. What is fascinating abou this is that God is a personal God who is creating a human being. He’s like the artist who is shaping this being exactly the way He want him to be.
In the Bible, God is like a potter who shapes the clay the way He wants it.
8 But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.
If evolution were true, then you would have to assume that there were many evolved men and women who were intelligent, not just one ancestral couple.
However, the Bible clearly tells us that Adam was the first human being on earth.
47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve;
More can be said on this point.
Although you may not need to know the historical Adam to understand some part of the Bible, you do need the historical Adam to CONSISTENTLY understand the whole Bible.
2. Historical Adam does / does not impact the gospel.
The gospel is the good news and message of salvation through Jesus Christ. I talk about the fact that God created you to glorify and enjoy Him, but you sinned against God; therefore, God will punish sin. However, God in His love sent Jesus Christ to die for your sins and was raised on the 3rd day; and He’s calling you repentance and faith in Jesus for salvation.
Almost most of the time, whenever I tell you about the gospel, I don’t talk about Adam. So, does that mean that the historical Adam does not impact the gospel?
You don’t need to believe in the historical Adam in order to believe in the message of the gospel.
But, do we NEED the historical Adam to understand the gospel?
Theologians would summarize the gospel by breaking into four categories:
Creation
Fall
Fall
Redemption
Redemption
Restoration
Restoration
These four categories not only tell us about the gospel, but it tells us the big picture of the storyline of the Bible from beginning until the end.
Creation
We talk about God as the Father who created the world. When we talk about God as the Creator, we should talk about the people whom He created: namely Adam and Eve, and why He created them and us.
Fall
This category is probably important when it comes to the historical Adam. How did sin come into the world? Why is there evil and suffering in the world?
Without the historical Adam, you can’t satisfactorily answer those questions. We are told in that Adam and Eve rebelled against God and rejected His love; hence, sin came into the world.
If there were no historical Adam, then you would have to find other ways to explain the existence of sin.
Theistic Evolution has a big problem that they would need to overcome in order to fit evolution with the Bible. If evolution were true, then you would have to assume the death occurred in the beginning of creation. Knowing the process of evolution, animals/mammals have to die over the process of millions and billions of years in order for apes to eventually reach its human form. In other words, if you believe that God used evolution to guide the process of creation, you would have to assume that God allowed death to happen in the beginning. The Bible clearly tells us that death didn’t just appear based on naturalism…but death came into world because of sin. In other words, you would have to assume that when God created the world in the beginning, He also created and injected sin and death into the world.
Going back to evolution,
It’s quite possible to argue that death did not happen to anything over the process of millions and billions of years, but then again it still leads to other problems that do not run consistent with the rest of the Bible where Adam is the first human being created by God.
So, we have choices: we either have to affirm that God created death and sin through the process of evolution;
Redemption
Following up with the Fall is Redemption. This is important.
The Apostle Paul in the book of Romans is building an argument for the gospel. In chapters 1-3a, Paul describes sin or the Fall. Chapters 3b-4 desribes Redemption. Chapters 5-8, Paul describes what happens when Christ died for your sins, helping us understand why we need Christ and what happens when we come to believe in Jesus.
In chapter 5 of Romans, in the middle of making a logical argument, the Apostle Paul turns and talks about Adam and Jesus. Paul explains how sin came into the world.
READ .
Just as the Apostle Paul assumes the historical Jesus, so he assumes the historical Adam. Paul in other places compares Adam with Jesus. Adam was the one who brought sin and death; Jesus is the one who brings life.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Without the historical Adam, we won’t understand how death, sin and suffering came into the world. If we remove the historical Adam, then Paul’s argument in Romans will break apart.
Without the historical Adam, we won’t understand how death, sin and suffering came into the world. If we remove the historical Adam, then Paul’s argument in Romans will break apart.
[Paul] most definitely wanted to teach us that Adam and Eve were real historical figures. When you refuse to take a biblical author literally when he clearly wants you to do so, you have moved away from the traditional understanding of the biblical authority. . . .If Adam doesn’t exist, Paul’s whole argument—that both sin and grace work ‘covenantally’—falls apart. (Christianity Today, June 2011)
So, do we NEED the historical Adam to understand the gospel? According to the New Testament teachings, yes, we do need a historical Adam. Historical Adam does impact the gospel. You may not talk about Adam when telling others about Jesus, but you certainly need Adam to understand the gospel and the Bible.
3. Historical Adam does / does not impact the Christian life.
What I mean by the Christian life is being a follower of Jesus Christ. The Christian life consists of obeying Jesus. It includes
I would argue that “Yes” it does matter.
Loving God: reading your Bible, praying, desiring to know God, growing in your relationship with Him, growing the fruit of the Spirit
Loving others: seeing their needs, being selfless, attending Bible Study or Fellowship...
Serving the world: telling others about Jesus
Is it possible to live a victorious Christian life without the historical Adam?
Well, did Jesus tell you to believe in the historical Adam in order to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Did Jesus tell you to believe in the historical Adam in order to love your neighbours?
Certainly, it’s possible to be a Christian without the historical Adam.
But, without historical Adam and Eve, we can’t understand what it means to be a human being, what it means to be a man and woman, what marriage looks like, why we work.
Historical Adam does not necessarily impact your Christian life entirely, but it can impact the “WHYS” of the Christian life.
Without historical Adam and Eve, we can’t understand what it means to be a human being, what it means to be a man and woman, what marriage looks like, why we work, and we can’t understand and interpret the whole Bible consistently. Here’s the big punch: without the historical Adam and Eve, you will not understand WHY you are commanded to love God and to love others.
Why do I say that? It’s because loving God and loving others are commands bound up on what it means to be human. I’ll go deeper in the future lesson. But let me leave you with this.
Conclusion
I believe that rejecting the historical Adam has huge theological ramifications and implications for how we understand the Bible. By rejecting the historical Adam, we can’t read and interpret the Bible consistently from beginning until the end and it leaves a big hole for how we understand the gospel. I would argue that without the historical Adam, we can’t understand where sin came from and why Jesus Christ had to die for our sins.
We took the time to talk about the origin of humanity because it is important to know and understand how God created humanity. I think it is important to establish how God created people before we can understand what it means to be human.
I believe that rejecting the historical Adam has huge theological ramification and implication for how we understand the Bible. By rejecting the historical Adam, we can’t read and interpret the Bible consistently from beginning until the end and it leaves a big whole for how we understand the gospel. I would argue that without the historical Adam, we can’t understand where sin came from and why Jesus Christ had to die for our sins.
In our next lesson, we will talk about what it means to be a human being by going back and look at .