When it comes to real life, are Adam and Eve any more relevant than Hansel and Gretel?
A leading Christian apologist, beloved in many conservative and evangelical theological circles, now claims that Adam and Eve were non-homosapien cavemen that lived 750,000 years ago.
This view of our first parents is concerning, and I believe it’s loaded with serious implications. And, if you will allow me, I’d like to address a handful of the key implications in the form of “why Adam and Eve matter” …
1. Adam and Eve matter because their real lives begin the record of human history. As a lover of literature, I’m not at all oblivious to the literary styles included within Genesis 1-3. Of course, the account reads as a compelling story – not as a science textbook. I totally get that. In fact, I would make the case that to try to reduce early Genesis to “science” would be to completely miss the main point. The earliest chapters of the Bible are much more important than that. Genesis is the story of the origin of humankind. But let me remind you: Just because it’s a story, doesn’t mean that it’s not true. In fact, it’s entirely true, my friends, because it’s the Word of the living God!
2. Adam and Eve matter because they’re referenced in the Scriptures subsequent to Genesis. And they’re never referenced in a metaphorical sense whatsoever. Instead, the Bible always presents them as actual historical figures. Consider the genealogy of Christ as it’s recorded in Luke 3:23-38. It doesn’t just connect the dots back to Abraham – but all the way to Adam. And consider our Savior’s own words (Matthew 19:4-6; see also Mark 10:6-9): “He answered, ‘Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.’” In my opinion, our Lord Jesus validated the historicity of early Genesis.
3. Adam and Eve matter because they underlie many of the Bible’s core doctrinal propositions. By way of example, our first parents are central to our understanding of original sin and the fall of man – which includes the Bible’s clear explanation of humanity’s moral accountability to God. I offer Romans 5:12 as Exhibit A: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned –” I don’t see how it’s possible to keep the Bible intact while diminishing the personhood of Adam and Eve. It’s my contention that the veracity of Genesis 1-11 underlies the reliability of the doctrines which follow. Genesis presents Adam and Eve as actual people in a specific place and time. It’s difficult to square an honest reading of the narrative with the idea that Adam and Eve were a pair of hominids elevated to human status. And I don’t see how you can hold to generations of death prior to sin – any kind of death – without undermining essential Christian doctrine.
4. Adam and Eve matter because the gospel is at stake. The Apostle Paul understood Adam to be nothing less than the very first man created by God … the historical figure whose sin universally plunged all humanity into death … the representative moral head of the human race … and a prominent type – a theological pattern – of the Christ who was to come. Paul’s reasoning for the good news of Jesus requires Adam’s historicity (1 Corinthians 15:19-22) – linking Adam’s literal act of pride and rebellion to Christ’s literal, gracious, saving, and redemptive work accomplished by His bloody cross and His gloriously empty tomb!
5. Adam and Eve matter because intellectual approval often comes at a steep price. I know that some apologists seek to squeeze Christian doctrine into a form that’s compatible with modern scientific evidence. But we must be careful not to compromise the truth as God has chosen to reveal it to us. Ultimately, we know that the Bible and science are not at war with each other – in fact, both reflect the glory of our great God. Affirming Scripture doesn’t require a prima facie dismissal of empirical and rational evidence. But I agree with Martin Luther that theology is the “queen of the sciences.” Regardless of the world’s potential applause, we who know Christ must be careful that the cart is not driving the horse. Relegating Adam and Eve to mere symbols of human imperfection would be a fatal flaw.
6. Adam and Eve matter because they teach us an important principle, namely, that the “science” to which many appeal in refuting them isn’t pure science. Many, without realizing it, are appealing completely to philosophy – not science. And some “science” rests entirely on an atheistic worldview. For example, I’ve read a little on the subject of population genetics (bottom line: humans couldn’t have originated from a single couple). These studies depend largely on an evolutionary paradigm, and they’re obviously unvalidated. They don’t adequately take into account variables like population structure, migration, selective mating, and the like. Much of it is, in my opinion, observation with questionable conclusions. Always remember: Mixing atheistic philosophy with theology is inherently dangerous.
7. Adam and Eve matter because they remind each one of us of our human limitations. Though you and I do not, our Lord walks on the water! If we are trusting in a sovereign God who operates above and beyond space, time, and the laws of physical science, then we shouldn’t be the least bit surprised when we reach a place in our study where some things – many things – are beyond our understanding. I believe that some of our questions regarding creation and origins fall into this resoundingly humbling category. From my own study, for example: How were “evening and morning” measured before there was a sun? Admittedly, I still have absolutely no idea, but it really doesn’t matter that I can’t explain that. Our infinite Creator’s supranatural acts are, by definition, way above our pay grade.
I hope that I haven’t bored you with my ramblings today, but I really believe that this matters. Adam and Eve matter. Where our understanding of some of the details leaves us still wondering – that’s precisely as it should be – we can rest in the character of our perfect Christ. You and I don’t have to understand everything right now, and it’s best to stay humble this side of heaven.
Sometimes we’re too smart for our own good. Relying on our own cleverness is a central theme in many fairy tales, including “Hansel and Gretel” and others. Based on our modern sensibilities, James Finn Garner has humorously rewritten the classic tale of “Little Red Riding Hood”: “The wolf said, ‘You know, my dear, it isn’t safe for a little girl to walk through these woods alone.’ Red Riding Hood said, ‘I find your sexist remark offensive in the extreme, but I will ignore it because of your traditional status as an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop your own, entirely valid, worldview. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way.’”
I’m so glad we’re not resting on a fairy tale.
Pastor Charles
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