Science vs Biblical Theology
Christianity Today Magazine Editorial: “No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel.” Evangelical Theologians & Apologists Concerned that the Very Foundation of Christianity is Threatened.
“Houston, We have a Problem.” Most Christians do not fully appreciate the profound implication of this problem, but their scholars certainly do. This article will review the book by Robert M. Price Evolving out of Eden and the June 2011 issue of Christianity Today, specifically the article titled “The Search for the Historical Adam” and its editorial with the headline “No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel.”
Christianity Today is the most popular Christian publication today. It is widely recognized for its comprehensive coverage of evangelical thought, providing insights into theology, culture, and church-related news. This publication reaches a broad audience and is considered a leading resource for evangelicals, offering both online and print versions.
It is a conservative evangelical publication with ties to Wheaton College and Moody Bible Institute. That is where Billy Graham, John Piper, Carl F.H. Henry, Philip Yancey, Robert H. Schuller, Ravi Zacharias, Luis Palau, Kenneth Taylor (as in the creator of the famous Living Bible), and David Otis Fuller among many others received their training and became very influential in the evangelical movement. It cherishes the belief that the Bible was totally inspired by God and that it is without error.
Evolving out of Eden is one of many of Robert M. Price’s books. I have read five or six of them, but his book Evolving out of Eden is one I read three times as it is so interesting and clever, full of many details and thoughtful nuance that sets it far apart from others dealing with theological approaches to science in general and evolution in particular.
Dr. Price is a former Baptist minister and Seminary Professor with PhDs in both New Testament and Systematic Theology and is now an atheist. He is a much acclaimed scholar and was a member of the Jesus Project. He co-authored this book with Edwin A. Suominen, an engineer who together bring out keen insights and rebuttals that only their combined fields of expertise could.
Spoiler alert: The book and the article agree on many things, especially that there is a serious problem with reconciling the very foundation of Christianity involving the doctrine of original sin and the fall of man with the scientific evidence of evolution. After all, it is that doctrine that the New Testament, especially Paul in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 uses to declare the need for a savior. While many Christians completely ignore the reality of this, over a dozen different ideas and proposals have been made by Christian Theologians and Apologists in an attempt to find a unified and plausible interpretation of the Genesis creation account to reconcile this dilemma with fact based evolution. The above passages from Paul, along with verses in Matthew, Mark, Luke, 1 Timothy, Acts, and even a quote by Jesus Himself makes this task very difficult. Dr. Price says, maybe impossible.
The book in over 300 pages, analyzes dozens of scriptures, quotes numerous sources, and employs an entertaining use of wit and polite sarcasm for a little humor along the way, but with serious and scholarly discussion being its main theme.
At the same time, the editors at Christianity Today have acknowledged the reality that science has in a multitude of ways made the theory of evolution undeniable and that the vital doctrine of the Christian faith rests upon original sin and the fall of man needing a savior. The New Testament, especially the apostle Paul, makes that clear many times in no uncertain terms.
That belief is hinged and has always been based on the understanding that Adam and Eve were historical individuals and were not only the first humans on earth, but prior to them being created supernaturally, the world had never experienced death or suffering. It even taught that animals and insects never died or ate each other before sin entered the world.
The book begins by setting the stage with a discussion of the core tenets of evolutionary biology and the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. They explain natural selection, genetic mutations, DNA, and the fossil record, emphasizing the overwhelming evidence supporting evolution. The June 2011 issue of Christianity Today concurs with all of that.
The authors delve into various interpretations of the Genesis account of creation, from literal to metaphorical. They analyze how early Christian theologians like Augustine and Origen approached the creation narrative, often with more flexibility than modern fundamentalists. They discuss and rebut Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism, the Gap Theory, Intelligent Design, the Kalam Cosmological Argument, and the most favorite of them all, the Fine-Tuning Argument, among other ideas that have been expressed to explain the universe and life on earth.
The book and the article in Christianity Today are both dedicated to the theological implications of evolution, particularly concerning the concept of original sin. They both argue that the traditional understanding of the fall of man and original sin is incompatible with evolutionary history, where death and suffering predate humans. Once again, this doctrine teaches that death and sin never existed until the first couple, Adam and Eve disobeyed.
Both the book and article proposes ways in which Christian theology might adapt to accommodate evolutionary science, although they approach it differently.
The article calls upon Christian theologians and apologists to go to work in trying to reconcile the doctrine of original sin with the theory of evolution. They are fair and honest in quoting many evangelicals who oppose any type of literal interpretation of scripture and do not hide the fact that if Adam was not the first human; the foundational Christian doctrine of original sin and the fall of man and their need for a savior is quite muddied.
However, they maintain their faith and confidence that there is an explanation, and by no means do they ever plan to throw in the towel. Their article explores many ideas and alternative options that their theologians and apologists have proposed, some new and some old, as possible solutions to this problem.
With that goal in mind, here are some of the proposals various Christian leaders have made in attempting to harmonize the Genesis account with Science: (comments by the author of this post are in parentheses and not part of the Christianity Today’s article.)
*Pope John Paul II suggested that if humans evolved from other living creatures, it was God that still created their soul. (This sounds nice but it ignores the many references in the New Testament affirming the historicity of the Genesis creation story, including from Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and even Jesus.)
*That the Genesis account was only intended to be a poetic allegory about God endowing humans with a spiritual and moral nature without intending that it was historically true.
*That the story of Adam and Eve was not about the origin of humanity, rather it was an allegory about the origin of Israel. (The apostle Paul would not agree. Neither would Jesus who believed they were the first humans.)
*Regarding Paul’s Roman 5 teaching about original sin that death entered the world only after the sin of the first human couple, that it is possible, and even natural to make an analogy between a literary figure and a historical one. (If so, why confuse fact with fiction? If God inspired it, why not make the message clear and without ambiguity?)
*That the Genesis account should probably be regarded as “imaginative portrayals of an actual epoch.” This scholar goes on and concedes that while Paul, Luke, Matthew, and Jesus thought that Adam and Eve were literal people, we now have reasons not to believe that, thus Adam and Eve can be interpreted as non-historical and just mere literary figures. (Seems to be suggesting that an all-knowing God did not inspire those passages, as it would mean that He inspired something that he knew was not true.)
*That Genesis is purposely using anachronisms, describing prehistoric times in terms that readers in a much later epoch would be familiar with.
*In 1940, C.S. Lewis wrote in his best-selling book The Problem of Pain, that God perfected the animal form which was to become the vehicle of humanity and the image of Himself. (We have to respect this one, especially given it was long before so much other crucial evidence became mainstream.)
*That there was a pre-Adamite race and Adamites existing at the same time, but without a bridge from animal to man. God decided to confer His image on the leader of the Adamite race. (Does anyone remember the Dake Bible?)
*That Adam and Eve were the king and queen of a larger population that God chose, thereby preserving Genesis historicity.
*That Adam and Eve represented leaders of an earlier population. This is an attempt to get around the evidence of genetics, requiring that the first human would have had to evolve from an existing population of 10,000 or so. (While very similar to other ideas, it does have a subtle nuance, although several of these proposals can be included in what is more commonly referred to as “Federal Heads.”)
While there are a few other specific proposals, all of them require that the Genesis account be interpreted as being symbolic, mythical, an analogy or metaphor, trope, simile, or a figure of speech, but never as being literal.
It is time to move on to the counter arguments:
Now enter Dr. Price and Mr. Suominen who in over 300 pages, including 13 pages of references, dissect and explain the counter arguments to the many proposals that Christian leaders have expressed in their attempt to be honest with scientific reality, while also having the desire to vigorously defend the Bible which they truly believe is the perfect Word of God.
The authors present detailed rebuttals, supported by scientific evidence, logical reasoning, and dozens of Biblical passages that reveal the slippery slope the theologians and apologists are on.
A good idea may work nicely here and there, but then dog gone it, there seems to always be people like Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and even Jesus Himself, that says something to contradict and throw water on it.
A few key points that Evolving out of Eden makes, with many pages of detail for most, are:
*If any part of the Bible that seems to read as an actual historical account is determined that it now cannot be taken literally, it truly opens up Pandora’s box. The Exodus, Noah’s Flood, the Tower of Babel, are just several of the stories in the Bible with major historical and scientific problems, some being outright debunked. That makes it an impossibility to know what is and what is not true.
*Shows how the New Testament writers clearly believed that the Genesis account was a literal and historical fact, thus raising the obvious question of how a perfect and all-knowing God could have possibly inspired it. If one has to pick and choose what they accept and do not accept regarding what is true, in essence, they are making their own Bible.
*It discusses why in the author views, that most of the rules of hermeneutics are little more than attempts to make problems with the text vanish into thin air. As in any strongly held preconceived idea, there ALWAYS has to be an explanation for any difficulty that may surface.
*It discusses the reality of cognitive dissonance and childhood indoctrination. Simply speaking, they help explain how easy it is for smart and sincere people to hold two conflicting beliefs, values, or attitudes at the same time.
*Christianity can and will survive, but if it is to be based on truth and have credibility for the educated mass, some traditional and cherished doctrines will need to be revised, especially given the resources available today to fact check things, unlike just several decades ago.
Interspersed with the academic content are personal anecdotes from both authors, sharing their transitions from faith to a more secular worldview. These stories add a human element to the intellectual debate as does the 13-page detailed article in Christianity Today and its editorial entitled “No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel.”
The entire June 2011 issue of Christianity Today can be downloaded by purchasing a digital subscription for $9.00 for the first month (or $49.00 for a full year.) Included in that issue is the main cover article titled “The Search for the Historical Adam” and also an editorial entitled, “No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel.” Needless to say, they deserve a lot of credit for publishing this issue, obviously aware that it would not be appreciated by many of their supporters and others in various evangelical circles.
In fact, they even acknowledge that by accepting the proven reality of the science regarding evolution regarding the Adam and Eve account, part of the required Wheaton College doctrinal statement of beliefs, is being violated.
Evolving Out of Eden is easily found and can be purchased in paperback or on Kindle.
Kudos to Dr. Price, Edwin A. Suominen, and the editors of the June 2011 issue of Christianity Today. It is refreshing whenever two sides of a debate with so serious of a potential outcome, discuss the issues on a cordial, honest, objective, and sincere basis.
Let us end this discussion on a light note from the distinguished American author, Samuel Clemens. In his book The Bible According to Mark Twain, he gives us almost 400 pages of delightful entertainment along with fanciful images as he describes entries from the personal diaries of Adam, Eve, and Noah, among others. He also was able to locate a letter that Satan had sent to Michael and Gabriel. In it, Satan described how frustrating it was as he tried to explain to Eve what words like obey, sin, die, and death meant, questions she had asked him about. After many attempts to explain them, he wrote that she was like a child who had no ability to comprehend those concepts and simply was completely devoid of any ability to even comprehend the difference between good and evil. It was like I was talking to a baby, full of innocence. But, if she really wanted to know those things, I told her that she would just have to eat the fruit, although it should never have been held against her, logically speaking.
A few links for additional reading:
Ten Reasons why the Bible’s Story of the Exodus is not True
Why do so many People still believe that Adam and Eve were Real?
The Bible According to Mark Twain
