Why Believing in a Literal Adam is Important

There are professing Christians who have not given much thought to what they believe, especially regarding the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Unfortunately, they are often carried along by the currents of liberal theology or disinterested clergy — even in churches that are conservative in other ways.

People may have opinions that Adam and Eve were mythological or they were part of an incidental Bible story. God does not care about opinions. He has given us his Word, and we need to get an understanding of the foundations of our theology.

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Johann Wenzel Peter

There was a pastor who responded to my inquiry about creation by saying that he never really thought about it. Then he added, "The Framework Hypothesis, I suppose." He is teaching doctrine to people, but didn't dig enough into Genesis, which is foundational to all major Christian beliefs. His teachings are incomplete in many ways. This pastor will have some explaining to do (James 3:1).

As discussed in "The Genesis Flood in the New Testament," when Christians wave off or even disbelieve sections of Scripture, they are denying its authority. Further, they are calling Paul, Peter, Jesus, and others liars by putting secular science views in the superior position! They accepted the global Genesis Flood as history, as well as a literal Adam and Eve. (Indeed, the Gospel of Luke took the genealogy of Jesus all the way back to Adam.) Denying a literal Adam causes these professing Christians serious theological problems.

In recent years, in an effort to harmonize the evolutionary story and timeline with Scripture, a growing number of professing evangelicals have been doubting or denying Adam’s existence or at least denying some of the details about Adam in Genesis. Some would even seek to cast Genesis 1–11 as a poetic myth that does not accord with historical reality. But do these attempted harmonizations work, and does it matter what we believe about Adam?

You would do well to continue reading at "The Necessity of Believing in a Historical Adam."