The biblical statement [in Genesis 2:7] leaves no room for God’s adopting some already living being, because the Hebrew does not allow for that interpretation.  Even though there is a degree of latitude in how we interpret the detail of the early chapters of Genesis in relation to the age of the earth and the nature of life on earth before the fall of man, there is no latitude at the point of how the human race came into existence.

This article is the second in a series of three articles on the necessity of belief in an historical Adam. Part One :Must We Believe in an Historical Adam?

3. Recognizing the Limitations of the Bible

Having made comment about the limits of science, it is only appropriate that we acknowledge that the Bible also has its limits. That may come as a surprise to some sensitive Christian ears, but it is actually self-evident: the Bible does not pretend to say everything that can be said about everything! Its specific focus, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism helpfully reminds us, is to tell us ‘what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man’. So there are many areas of history, geography, politics and much more besides on which it is either silent, or that it addresses from a very particular perspective.

At a more technical level, when the Bible does venture into the kind of areas alluded to above, it does so from the perspective of the cultures of its day. So, in terms of the subject matter we are considering in this paper, the ‘science’ of the opening chapters of Genesis should not be perceived as though it were ‘science’ in the way we use that term is used today. In that sense, although it speaks to the issues of science, it should not be treated as a scientific manual in its own right.

The Bible is God’s self-revelation spoken into specific points in history over a 1,500 year period that reflects the languages, thought-forms and worldviews of the cultures of those times. In other words, we need to appreciate God’s revelation within the context into which it was originally given.

Does that mean that the Bible is flawed or somehow inadequate because of this? Not at all, because the truths God was revealing about himself and about our world and its need are not altered by the language and limitations of the times in which he made them known. It does, however, mean that it would be wrong for us to try and make the text of Scripture speak ‘scientifically’ in the opening chapters of Genesis in a way that was never intended.

Some of the positions that have been appearing through the writings of men like Dennis Lamoureux and, more recently, Peter Enns  have come as a reaction against a naïve and un-nuanced handling of Scripture that does not do justice to its unique nature and character.

Just as it is wrong to try and press science beyond its appropriate limits, so too it is equally wrong to attempt to press the Bible beyond the limits of what God meant it to reveal and how he intended it to function. Far from diminishing the authority of Scripture, this actually affirms and yields to it in a manner that truly recognizes its character.

4. The Working Relationship between Science and Scripture

Given what has been said about God’s revelation of himself through his works as well as his words, how are science and Scripture meant to function in harmony? There can be no question but that they can and must do so, since ‘all truth is God’s truth’; the issue is what that should look like in practice.

At the most basic level it must mean recognizing that the Bible is the ultimate revelation that God has given of himself for all time. Even though he has indeed made himself known in the works of creation (Ps 19.1-6; Ac 14.16-17; Ro 1.18-23), the knowledge of God provided in through this sphere is not enough to bring people to a saving relationship with him; only to leave them ‘without excuse’ (Ro 1.20). We see enough in the created order to know there is a God and to appreciate something of his power, character and attributes; but not enough to appreciate the depth of our need as human beings or what is required for us to have fellowship with God.

Read More

Part One: “Must We Believe in an Historical Adam?“

Part Three: “Jesus and Adam“