The Synod of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, meeting on June 7, overwhelmingly approved an overture affirming the special creation of Adam and Eve and rejecting all evolutionary views of their origin.

The hotly debated memorial from Mississippi Valley Presbytery on the special creation of Adam and Eve as amended by the Memorials Committee was presented to the court. As amended, the issue would be referred to the Theological and Social Concerns Committee to consider for study and to bring recommendations to the 2013 Synod.

Rev. Tim Phillips, the minister of the church which sent the memorial to the Mississippi Valley Presbytery, amended the original memorial to focus specifically on the historicity of the “creation of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 and 2,” and not on the historicity of the creation account of Genesis 1 and 2. Mr. Phillips claimed that the memorial was never meant to divide the Synod or exclude various viewpoints on Genesis 1-3 regarding the days of creation (i.e., Framework Hypothesis, Day Age, or Analogical Days). Thus, if amended, the memorial would only address the special creation of Adam and Eve.

After debate, the Synod adopted the memorial as amended. The Synod’s declaration states:

1. We affirm that Adam and Eve were special, unique, direct creations of God, created in His image, with Adam being formed from the dust of the ground and Eve being made from his side; as such, they were real human beings and the first man and woman,
2. We affirm that the account of creation of Adam and Eve as found in Genesis 1 and 2 is history;
3. We deny any teaching that claims that the account of creation of Adam and Eve as found in Genesis 1 and 2 is mythology;
4. We deny any theory that teaches that Adam and Eve descended from other biological life forms and that such a theory can be reasonably reconciled with either the Standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church or Holy Scripture.

The original overture was reported here.