The Adam Bomb

By Michael Runyan ~

Many scientifically-literate Christians hold on to their faith while admitting to the truth of biological evolution. This is actually an untenable position. The New Testament scriptures reveal that Christianity is dependent on the Adam and Eve story, not biological evolution, being the literal truth.

In Luke 3:38, Jesus’s genealogy is traced back to Adam. If evolution is true, then Adam would have had a father as well.

In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus is alleged to have made the following statement:

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

In this verse, Jesus is showing that he believed in the initial creation story, including the first man, Adam, as a literal historical figure.

In Romans 5: 12-14, we read:

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

This verse indicates that sin entered the world through the actions of Adam.

In 1 Corinthians 15:22, Paul makes this statement:

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

This is an unambiguous statement that ties the sacrifice of Jesus to the sin of Adam. If Adam did not exist, the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection is significantly diminished.

In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul makes this statement:

So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.

This verse cements Christian theology to a historical Adam, and directly ties Jesus (the last Adam) to this figure.

In 1 Timothy 2:13-14, we read:

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

Here, a doctrine of men possessing hierarchy over women is shown to be a consequence of a literal belief in the events discussed in Genesis concerning the Garden of Eden.

In Jude 1:14, we read:

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones.

This is yet another reference to Adam as if he actually lived and was the first human being.

What should be gleaned from this discussion is that one of the foundations that Christianity rests upon is the assumption of the literal truth of the Garden of Eve story and the creation of Adam as the first human. For those who accept the overwhelming evidence for biological evolution, this foundational pillar is removed and Christianity suffers a serious blow to its authenticity.