Was Adam a real man? Part 2.
by Rick Brentlinger
(Pace, FL, USA)
Church of St. Neot
Cornwall, England
Arguments Against Adam
Being A Real Man
- Argument: The human authors of the Bible may have believed Adam was a real man but they were mistaken. Or they may have known better but were accommodating the ignorance of their readers. In any case, the human authors of the Bible believed many things we don't believe today.
Answer: The idea that the human authors of the Bible were mistaken or knew better but were simply accommodating the ignorance of their audience is theoretical at best. A cultural accommodation hermeneutic leaves everything in scripture open to question. There is not a shred of historical or scriptural evidence to support this argument. - Argument: If Adam was not a real man, then Jesus and the human authors of the Bible who mention Adam make claims that are not true, use arguments that don't make any sense and create the impression that a mythical figure was real. Nothing in the Bible can be trusted if Adam was not a real man.
Answer: Those who argue that Adam was not a real man need to show how Jesus' argument in Matthew 19:4-5 and Paul’s arguments in Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15, and 1 Timothy 2 make sense if Adam and Eve never actually existed.
For example, how does Paul’s argument in Romans 5 make sense if Paul mixes non-historical events (one sinful act that never really happened but which brought universal death) with an historical event which really did happen (one righteous act that brought life)?
It’s not enough to deny the historicity of Genesis 1-4, as many unbelieving christians do. The burden of proof is on unbelievers who argue that Adam was not a real man. They must explain why Adam is treated as a real man every time he is mentioned in the Bible.
A Critical Presupposition
In scripture, the historicity of Adam functions as a critical presupposition of doctrinal arguments made by our Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul. They never attempt to prove that Adam was a real man. They simply assume it as fact (critical presupposition) because the Bible always presents Adam as a real historical man.
If Adam is a mythical man, then Jesus' argument about marital faithfulness is based on myth. Jesus' argument in Matthew 19:4-6, seems insulting and ridiculous IF Adam was only a fairy tale and not the first man, from whom all of us are descended.
The entire Christian view of redemption is based on the Biblical teaching that Adam was a real historical person, a special creation of God, the first man who ever lived. Paul argues for original sin, that all of humankind sinned in Adam, when he sinned, Romans 5:12.
Paul argues for penal substitutionary atonement when he cites Jesus as the last Adam, 1 Cor 15:45, the federal head of those who are saved. As federal head of those who get saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, Jesus was our substitute, 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18, 4:1.
He took our place, suffered the wrath of God for our sins, was buried in a lonely grave and rose victorious on the third day in a physical body, Luke 24:39. Paul argues for forensic justification, Romans 4:17, and denies that justification by faith is infused based on our good works, Romans 3:28, 4:5, 5:1, 9, Galatians 3:11.
Justification is always and only external and imputed, freely given by God's grace, apart from works, Galatians 2:21, 3:24, Romans 3:28. In the Bible justification is never internal and never infused via any grace which flows from the Catholic church.
Believing that Adam was only a mythical man and not a real man denies the entire doctrinal basis of Biblical Christianity. Denying that Adam was a real man is a direct assault on the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.
Denying that Adam was a real man identifies the denier as a rejector of Biblical truth. Bible believing Christians believe Adam was a real man from whom the entire human race descended. We reject unbelief and refuse to embrace the fairy tale of evolution as God's mechanism of Creation.
Where did Cain get his wife?
Was Adam a real man? Part 1.
Was Adam a real man? Part 3.
Was Adam a real man, Part 4
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