Adam and Eve?

I was recently invited by a co-worker of mine to attend a lecture at a church (will remain un-named) where the question of whether Adam and Eve were real people or an allegory was posed. The pastor proceeded to eloquently discuss the issue without a leaning as to where he stood. Finally, in the question and answer time, his stance seemed to become more evident. He seemed to support the idea that Adam and Eve were an allegory. When the question of how sin came into the world was posed, the pastor postulated that sin came into the world when humans evolved into consciousness, thus choosing to rebel against God.

I discussed this with my co-worker after, and he seemed to not have an issue with the idea that Adam and Eve could be an allegory. After all, this doesn’t change his in faith in God. Immediately, I had to examine personally if this was something that needed to be held on to or whether it was something that should be left open. After Paul did exhort Titus to teach what is in accordance with sound doctrine, and there are theological doctrines which are not viewed as primary and are indeed still questioned and scrutinized, and it’s ok. Then it hit me. The allegory concept seems to inadequately deal with how sin came into the world. Thus, it is clear that this issue is not one of those issues that is secondary and open for discussion.

So - if sin came into the world via an evolved state of human consciousness, then how would that effect the earth itself? Scripture tells us that the earth became cursed once Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. - Genesis 4:17b, 18 - "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat of the plants of the field." An evolved human consciousness does not deal with this truth. - Romans 8:20, 21 - "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." So if sin came into the world through evolved human consciousness, then how does the earth become cursed? For a further discussion of Romans 8:20, 21, you can copy these links into your url.

-Matthew Henry's Commentary

-John Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament

Since the evolved state of consciousness doesn’t adequately deal with sin coming into the world and all of creation becoming cursed, this line of reasoning minimizes what Christ accomplished at the cross. In Ephesians 1:9, 10, God’s will is to bring all things in heaven and earth under one head, who is Christ. Jesus did die for us, but He also died to redeem the rest of His creation since we subjected it to the curse. This is seen in Revelations 21:1 where a new heaven and a new earth are created come into existence. This is where the redeemed will spend eternity with God.

Further, the more I thought about this, the more I became convinced that Adam and Eve being an allegory was not sound doctrine. No matter whether one takes the Creation story literally or not, what Scripture does tell us is that God created Adam and Eve and then communed with them in the Garden of Eden before the fall. Communing with God denotes consciousness and rationality. This is seen in Genesis 2:16 when the LORD God says to Adam that he can eat of any tree in the garden he was placed in, but is commanded to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why would one give a command to a being who could not process it? The second indication that we have that Adam and Eve were indeed fully conscious and rational human beings is found in Genesis 2:25 when it says they were both naked and they felt no shame.


To continue, in Romans 5:12-21, Paul refers to Adam as "one man" over eight times in these last verses of Romans 5. Paul goes on in Romans 5:14 to call Adam a "pattern of the one to come." The Greek word for "pattern" is Typos which means a prototype, pattern, model after which something is to be made. It would seem that Paul, being well versed in the Torah/Old Testament, and being a Jew himself, was not referring to Adam as an allegorical figure. Just as sin came into the world through the trespass of one man (Rom. 5:15), so also the gift that came by the grace of one man, Jesus Christ.

Further, if Adam and Eve were allegories, when does the allegory stop and real history start being recorded. Am I to believe Noah was not real either?

Is a stance on this issue necessary for salvation? No. However, it is necessary for sound doctrine. Theology should never be over-run by science - or science simply can not dictate theological interpretation. This is eisogesis which means the interpreter is bringing his or her own interpretation to the text instead of digging out of the text the original intended meaning. In this case, there is enough in the text to point to Adam and Eve being real. Even if one is a proponent of theistic evolution, one must not ignore the text and go so far as to say they were not real. It is clear that the allegory concept does not adequately deal with sin coming into the world, and it is also clear that Paul, being a student of the text conceived of Adam as being a real person.

Still - Trying to put together a post....

After months of not blogging and vowing that I will attempt this whole blogging thing, I am currently working on a blog. It is a response the question, "Is Adam and Eve real or are they an allegory?" Check back.