No Literal Adam & Eve?

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Dr. Albert Mohler writes on the new wave of disregarding the Biblical creation story of Adam & Eve:

At this point we are looking at a repudiation of the Bible’s account of beginnings. We are not talking about an argument over the interpretation of a few verses or even chapters of the Bible. We are now dealing with the straightforward rejection, not only of the existence of Adam and Eve, but of both Eden and the Fall. Look carefully at Professor Schneider’s words — “there never was any such paradise to be lost.”

Though shocking, this line of argument is not really new. The new development is the fact that growing numbers of Evangelicals are apparently buying the argument.

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Ever since the challenge of Darwin and evolutionary theory appeared, some Christians have tried to argue that the opening chapters of the Bible should not be taken “literally.” While no honest reader of the Bible would deny the literary character of Genesis 1-3, the fact remains that significant truth claims are being presented in these chapters. Furthermore, it is clear that the historical character of these chapters is crucial to understanding the Bible’s central message — the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul, for example, clearly understood Adam to be a fully historical human who was also the genetic father of the entire human race. The fall of the human race in Adam sets the stage for the salvation of sinful humanity by Jesus Christ. But now, Professor Schneider is telling us that “in the moral experience of human beings, there never was any such paradise to be lost.”

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The implications for biblical authority are clear, as is the fact that, if these arguments hold sway, we will have to come up with an entirely new understanding of the Gospel meta-narrative and the Bible’s storyline.

The denial of an historical Adam and Eve as the first parents of all humanity and the solitary first human pair severs the link between Adam and Christ which is so crucial to the Gospel.

If we do not know how the story of the Gospel begins, then we do not know what that story means. Make no mistake: A false start to the story produces a false grasp of the Gospel.

Read the whole thing.

Related articles

• False Start? The Controversy Over Adam and Eve Heats Up (liveeternally.wordpress.com)


• "Gallup and Pew Research Polls Show That 4 Out of 10 Americans Believe in the Genesis Story of Adam and Eve" (barefootpreachr.org)


• NPR: The veracity of Adam and Eve is a crisis for faith (whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com)