Fortunately, there are Christians who do not reject science as a discipline but instead use it to God’s glory in demonstrating the truth about his world. They are looking at the same scientific data regarding the origins of life and coming to orthodox conclusions in ways that do justice to the appropriate parameters and integrity of the scientific disciplines. If anything positive emerges from the recent scientific challenges, it may be prompting believers to defend afresh God’s truth with Scripture in hand. Such challenges can be used by God to speak the truth of his word into the current scientific context.

In Sunday School rooms across a wide spectrum of churches, you will find Bible storybooks that, around page one, display pictures of Adam and Eve, with illustrators using their best judgment on whether to use well-placed leaves, strategic cropping, or selective poses appropriately to censor the reality of Adam and Eve’s nakedness. It’s the beginning of our story, and the beginning is sometimes as important as the end. But that reality, and more importantly our first parents’ existence, has been and continues to be challenged and denied by some voices even within the church.

The Problem

Mainstream natural science – human genetics, DNA coding, anthropological archeology, etc. – has been studying the origins of man for some time and it seems there is now a consensus: we can no longer believe that humanity has descended from an original pair of human beings. The evidence for original human parents, according to some, is wholly lacking and, in fact, points positively to a community of sub-human species hundreds of thousands of years ago. It is from this kind of community, the argument goes, that humans have evolved. As one Old Testament scholar puts it, “The scientific evidence we have for human origins and the literary evidence we have for the nature of ancient stories of origins are so overwhelmingly persuasive that belief in a first human [Adam], such as Paul understood him, is not a viable option.” (1)

By “historical Adam” we mean this: if there had been surveillance footage of the Garden of Eden, it would have captured dust from the earth in motion, taking the form and shape of the first male human being. It would have captured a single set of footprints all over the garden and, at some point, would have captured two sets of human footprints and audio of a conversation between a couple and a serpent (among other things).

The church is faced with a range of possible responses to the scientific challenge. In the current theological climate, “science” plays the part of the cool kid, with some on the outside displaying a desperation for wanting to be in that popular inner circle, while also illustrating the difference between melodramatic (denying the existence of a historical Adam) and dramatic (being alarmed at the latest scientific challenge to Scripture).

On the other hand, those tempted to dismiss natural science as a discipline should know that is not an option, mainly because it is next to impossible, or at least is pragmatically inconsistent. Many of the same scientific laws and methodology that produce findings on genetics are also responsible for treatments of cancer, data on distant galaxies, medicinal and surgical advances for premature babies, and a host of products and technologies we consume and enjoy every day.

Prioritizing select scientific findings is often self-labeled as “progressive,” though that term prematurely assumes one’s view is not only correct, but is advanced beyond the opposing view. When the latest scientific findings are positioned as advances in both science and in our theological understanding of Scripture, concern inevitably grows over whether believers will be left behind if we opt to ignore recent conclusive evidence. After all, what is the point in studying Scripture if we shut out theological progress, especially when shutting out that progress leaves Christians embarrassed in the face of the scientific community and, therefore, the broader culture at large?

The Question of Authority

Christians who are aware of the historical Adam discussion now find themselves in an unsettling game of Choose Your Authority: Scientific/literary evidence vs. Scripture. Fortunately, Scripture itself has something to say about this.

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:16-21)

Peter is recalling one of the most earth-shattering experiences from his walk with Jesus when he was with him on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matt. 17:1-13). In recounting the event, Peter is concerned to tell us that he was an eyewitness (v. 16) and heard God the Father’s voice from heaven (v. 18). Immediately after mentioning this historical event, with what initially seems like a jarring segue into describing the process of divine inspiration, Peter tells us that Scripture is not produced from man’s interpretation or will (v. 20-21) but by God himself through the Spirit. Why? The historicity of the events of Jesus’ life are inseparably tied to Scripture’s truthfulness.

Read More

1. Peter Enns, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say About Human Origins (Grand Rapids: Bazos Press, 2012), 122.