Adam, the Fall, and Original Sin , livre ebook

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248 pages

English

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The Christian doctrines of original sin and the historical fall of Adam have been in retreat since the rise of modernity. Here leading scholars present a theological, biblical, and scientific case for the necessity of belief in original sin and the historicity of Adam and Eve in response to contemporary challenges. Representing various Christian traditions, the contributors shed light on recent debates as they present the traditional doctrine of original sin as orthodox, evangelical, and the most theologically mature and cogent synthesis of the biblical witness. This fresh look at a heated topic in evangelical circles will appeal to professors, students, and readers interested in the creation-evolution debate.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Christian theology

Old Testament

History of science

Christianity

Informations

Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	28 octobre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441246417
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0864€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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© 2014 by Hans Madueme and Michael Reeves
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www . bakeracademic . com
Ebook edition created 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4641-7
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled NLV are from the New Life Version.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled NIV 1984 are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www .zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.
Chapter 1 is adapted from the book Did Adam and Eve Really Exist? by C. John Collins, © 2011. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org .
“In the current debates over the authority of the Bible and the truth of the Christian faith, the historicity of Adam and the fall has taken a prominent role. These doctrines have been challenged by some scientific theories, and some theologians have (as often before) been caught up in an unseemly scramble to keep up with them. But if we abandon the Christian belief that we fell in Adam, by what right do we maintain that we are saved in Christ? These doctrines are ‘threads in a seamless garment,’ in the felicitous words of Madueme and Reeves, editors of Adam, the Fall, and Original Sin. They and the other authors of this book speak with real cogency about these matters, giving their readers a substantial basis for assurance that Adam really existed, that we fell in him, and that we can trust in Jesus to undo what Adam did.”
John Frame , Reformed Theological Seminary
“Both on the biblical surface and in the Christian tradition, the historical existence of Adam and the entry of sin into the world through him are taught or assumed. This volume demonstrates that these are not merely surface appearances and cannot simply be consigned to tradition. Aimed at a Protestant evangelical readership and those who would surrender these beliefs, the book persuasively argues that we should not demur from the traditional interpretation of Scripture. Whatever readers make of the detail of the arguments presented in this volume, they will come away sobered by the sense of what is at stake.”
Stephen Williams , Union Theological College, Belfast
“This is a welcome defense of classical doctrines of the historicity of Adam and the reality of original sin. It is occasioned by the increasing denials of both of these, even in evangelical circles. The authors of the book’s essays marshal new and convincing arguments as they address the new challenges to these doctrines. I highly recommend this book.”
David M. Howard Jr. , Bethel University
Contents
Cover i
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Endorsements v
Introduction: Adam under Siege: Setting the Stage vii
Hans Madueme and Michael Reeves
Part 1 Adam in the Bible and Science 1
1. Adam and Eve in the Old Testament 3
C. John Collins
2. Adam in the New Testament 33
Robert W. Yarbrough
3. Adam and Modern Science 53
William Stone (a pseudonym)
Part 2 Original Sin in History 83
4. Original Sin in Patristic Theology 85
Peter Sanlon
5. The Lutheran Doctrine of Original Sin 109
Robert Kolb
6. Original Sin in Reformed Theology 129
Donald Macleod
7. “But a Heathen Still”: The Doctrine of Original Sin in Wesleyan Theology 147
Thomas H. McCall
8. Original Sin and Modern Theology 167
Carl R. Trueman
Part 3 Original Sin in Theology 187
9. Original Sin in Biblical Theology 189
James M. Hamilton
10. Threads in a Seamless Garment: Original Sin in Systematic Theology 209
Michael Reeves and Hans Madueme
11. “The Most Vulnerable Part of the Whole Christian Account”: Original Sin and Modern Science 225
Hans Madueme
12. Original Sin in Pastoral Theology 251
Daniel Doriani
Part 4 Adam and the Fall in Dispute 269
13. Original Sin and Original Death: Romans 5:12–19 271
Thomas R. Schreiner
14. The Fall and Genesis 3 289
Noel Weeks
15. Adam, History, and Theodicy 307
William Edgar
Postscript 323
Michael Reeves and Hans Madueme
Contributor Biographies 325
Scripture Index 329
Subject Index 335
Notes 341
Back Cover 345
Introduction
Adam under Siege
Setting the Stage
Hans Madueme and Michael Reeves
Adam seems today a figment of ancient imagination. His ghost still haunts the edifice of original sin, but the Augustinian structure is falling apart, crumbling, gone with the wind. Emil Brunner linked its underlying patristic picture of time and space with the centaur of mythology, something like a Brothers Grimm fairy tale; such notions, he wrote, have “irrevocably been swept away, even for the most orthodox people.” 1 Affirming Adam’s historicity in the twenty-first century is thus a quaint, but hopeless, attempt “to place the Augustinian ‘Adam in Paradise’ in a post-Copernican world.” Of course, we can choose to defend the traditional Adamic narrative with the careful rhetoric of anxiety-ridden theological guardians, but all that noise is pathetically “quixotic and reactionary” much ado about nothing. 2 So goes the diagnosis of Brunner, a faithful spokesperson for modern theology. After Darwin the doctrines of the fall and original sin have become simply incredible for many people today.
What is perhaps surprising is that even evangelicals are increasingly losing faith in these classical doctrines. They are looking for new ways to make sense of Adam in Scripture. In 2007 Francis Collins, now director of the National Institutes of Health, was awarded a large grant from the Templeton Foundation to launch his new organization BioLogos. 3 Its mission is to address “the escalating culture war between science and faith” and to model a better way: “the harmony of science and faith” (see www.biologos.org). BioLogos stands on firm ground since this approach embodies a long tradition that stretches back to the natural philosophy of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This ground has become slippery, however, and controversy soon followed when BioLogos raised questions about the historical reality of Adam and Eve. 4
Bruce Waltke, the noted evangelical Old Testament scholar, resigned from Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS, Orlando) after recording an interview explaining how he reconciled his belief in theistic evolution with his interpretation of Genesis 1–3. In an excerpt of the interview, published on the BioLogos website on March 24, 2010, Waltke warned that evangelicals who reject the overwhelming consensus for evolution are in danger of becoming a “cult.” 5 In Reformed circles and within broader conservative Protestant theology, those were fighting words. Although Waltke eventually clarified his unflinching commitment to Adam’s historicity, the fallout led to his resignation from his position at RTS (however, he was soon hired as distinguished professor of the Old Testament at Knox Theological Seminary).
Not long after, another interview surfaced, this one by evangelical Old Testament professor Tremper Longman. In the video, he cautioned against a “very highly literalistic” reading of Genesis 1–2. He was uncertain whether “Adam” referred to an actual individual or to humankind as a whole; he also suggested that the early chapters of Genesis “do not prohibit the idea that there is an evolutionary process.” The original interview by the Wilberforce Fellowship was recorded in September 2009 and was posted online the following year. 6 Soon after, RTS released Longman from his adjunct teaching responsibilities. The dominoes were falling.
Already in 2005 Peter Enns had invoked the incarnation to revitalize the doctrine of inerrancy. 7 He accused the traditional evangelical doctrine of Scripture of docetism and offered instead the humanity of the Bible as key to understanding the nature of the Old Testament text. The book proved too hot to handle and, in 2008, he resigned under a dark cloud from Westminster Theological Seminary. He extended his thesis in a sequel volume, claiming that Christian theology can dispense with a historical Adam and Eve with no harm done. 8 The chips were down, the stakes were raised, and the wider controversy threatened to splinter the already frail bonds within the evangelical coalition. 9
All this is just the tip of the iceberg. Shipwrecks litter the ocean. Other professors have lost tenured positions under similar circumstances. Some see impending doom, a new fundamentalist inquisition looming on the horizon