Journal: Journal of Ministry and Theology
Volume: JMAT 15:1 (Spring 2011)
Article: Adam: Man Or Myth?
Author: Gary R. Gromacki

---

JMAT 15:1 (Spring 2011) p. 24

Adam: Man Or Myth?

Dr. Gary Gromacki

Associate Professor of Bible and Homiletics

Baptist Bible Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania

Introduction

Is Adam a man or a myth?1 Bible scholars, theologians, philosophers, and scientists are debating this question today. Was Adam a real person in history? Or is Adam a fictional character who never existed? How did Adam come into existence? Did God breathe his image into a pre-human that evolved from a common ancestor with an ape? Or did God create Adam from the dust of the ground and breathe into him the breath of life as Genesis 2:7 says?

This paper is divided into three sections. The first section will define and critique the views of theistic evolutionists on Adam and the origin of man. Theistic evolutionists (sometimes called evolutionary creationists) have different views on the historicity of Adam (the first man of Genesis). Waltke is a theistic evolutionist who believes that a literal Adam existed. Lamoureux is an evolutionary creationist who rejects the existence of Adam.

The second section will examine some ancient myths about the origin of man and compare them with Genesis (the first book of the Bible). A comparison of the worldview of the ancient near eastern myths with the worldview of the Bible will show that the Bible is not myth.

The third section will give an exposition of some verses from the first chapters of Genesis regarding Adam to show what the Bible teaches about the first man.

JMAT 15:1 (Spring 2011) p. 25

Critiques Of Theistic Evolutionists’ Views On Adam And The Origin Of Man And Sin

Bruce Waltke On Theistic Evolution

In April of 2010 Dr. Bruce Waltke2 resigned from Reformed Theological Seminary because of a controversy over a video in which he defended theistic evolution. This video (now removed from the internet) was posted on the BioLogos3 web site.

Waltke argues for theistic evolution in his book An Old Testament Theology:

The best harmonious synthesis of the special revelation of the Bible, of the general revelation of human nature that distinguishes between right and wrong and consciously or unconsciously craves God, and of science is the theory of theistic evolution. By theory I mean here a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for the origin of species, especially ’adam, not a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural. By theistic evo...

visitor : : uid: ()