Articles
Is the Account of Adam and Eve a Fable?
Those who give undue regard to science and its various theories about the history of the universe scoff at the notion of a Creator-God making the universe, solar system, earth, all life and mankind in six literal days. This cannot be, they say, because modern scientific knowledge confirms a universe billions of years old and humans being the product of gradual evolutionary development. There was no Adam and Eve, no immediate creation of mankind, no “first couple” from which human life came. Adam’s naming of the animals, the formation of Eve from his rib, their residence in an idyllic garden with no deterioration and death should be understood as metaphorical.
There are several lines of argumentation to refute such views, but I’ll just suggest one: The NT consistently speaks of Adam and Eve as real beings, and it quotes Genesis passages as legitimate, definitive history. Note first that Luke’s genealogy connects Jesus with Adam (Lk 3:22-38). This is nonsensical if Adam was not a real person, the ultimate progenitor of man.
Secondly, Paul refers to Adam’s sin: “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin …” (Rom 5:12). He contrasts Adam, “a type of Him who was to come” (5:14), whose sin resulted in a corrupted world, with “eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (5:15-21).
Finally Paul further affirms both the creation and temptation accounts in Genesis: “For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression” (1 Tim 2:13-14). Further, as noted in the article above, Jesus based the concept of marital permanence on the creation account in Genesis. Sure seems like Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the apostles thought Adam and Eve were real.
