Book Review: Evolution of Adam: What the Bible does and doesn't say about human origins - Part I

"If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied"
                                                                      1 Corinthians 15:14-19

Hi there, I am about to review a book, its content will cause many Christians to raise their eyebrows and cast suspicious looks at me. To be honest, I speculate, when I make it known publicly that I, agree with the author on many things in this book, there is a high possibility that many will call me a "cop out", "deviating from the Bible", or "getting my fundamental understanding all mixed up" and all sorts of names some people use, to name those whom they disagree with.

At this point, you might be wondering why did I quote from 1 Cor 15:14-19? Read on..

Well, what is this book about?  When you read the title, it seems to be suggesting something about evolution. Actually, this book is not really a Christianity & science kind of book. In fact, this book talks about the historicity of Adam, by looking at history and Biblical history! The author of this book, is Peter Enns. He is a Bible scholar and theologian, who published the controversial book of: Incarnation and Inspiration, Enns was sacked from his job as a theological lecturer as a result of this book.

History taught me one thing, whenever someone gets persecuted for a radical idea, then it is definitely worthwhile to check out what this idea is about. After all, Jesus' teaching was very radical for his time (and still is radical today), and they nailed him to the cross for it.

It is true that when we check out radical ideas from radical people, some ideas could be wrong, but some ideas contain useful insights that will liberate you and strengthen your faith. But back to the topic, let me continue this review by first telling you why I tread onto this path::

Science and Christianity: The greatest wrestling match in my spiritual journey

Why did I read this book? Frankly, since I became a Christian 7 years ago, I have always been wrestling with the matter of science and Christianity. It will suffice to say, that within the 7 years interval, I went from young earth creationism, to old earth creationism/intelligent design, to theistic evolution. People will probably think that I am just becoming more and more of a "cop out". But the truth is, every time I update my view on science & Christianity, my faith is strengthened.

The journey didn't end when I reached theistic evolution. In fact, I found it even more unsettling with this view that tries to reconcile science and the scripture:

- Can we really treat Genesis 1 as a poem and Genesis 2 as a more accurate narrative of human origin? This type of treatment doesn't do justice to these chapters.

- DNA evidence and evolution definitely point away from the possibility that we descended from one single pair of homo sapiens. If you are thinking about the mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam argument, the reality is that Y-Chromosome Adam lived 140,000 years before the mitochondrial Eve [1]. Since the Bible said Adam lived 930 years, it is impossible for these 2 to be living at the same time period.

- The portrayal of Adam and Eve in theistic evolution doesn't do justice to how the Bible portrays the story of Adam and Eve.

- The view that God chose 2 hominids and made covenant with them, whose transgression became the original sin, can't explain why all hominids should be born into sin.

- DNA evidence and agriculture history does not match the time frame described in Genesis, in fact, it seems almost impossible that Adam and Eve can be the first ancestors for ALL human beings. Unless one makes an extra-ordinary, and unjustifiable proposition against the main stream academic knowledge in these fields.

And the list of problems go on.... while you might be able to counter argue some of these statements, but the trend is, new discoveries and evidence increasingly point further and further away from the historicity of Adam and Eve.

Most evangelical churches in Sydney teach the historicity of Adam and Eve, is central to the Christian faith. Many will even say that without Adam and Eve being historical characters, Christianity will fall apart. For this reason, I have put the topic of historicity of Adam and Eve behind the curtain. Admittedly, it is something that I didn't want to think about. It was like a skeleton in the closet. Eventually, paper cannot cover fire, the skeleton finally came out, and I was forced to confront it.

I searched the Bible, and found 1 Cor15:14-19 shed light into this matter. Here is the key: Notice here, it doesn't say "if Adam and Eve didn't exist our faith will be in vain". No no! It says if Christ didn't rise from the dead, then our faith will be in vain and we will still be in our sins (emphasis here)! I was reminded, my faith is called "Christianity" not "Adamianity". I was reminded, to fix my eyes on Jesus! If you are reading this and wrestling with the same problem, I hope you will fix your eyes ONLY on Jesus too.

On the other hand, if you are reading this and think Christianity is false because science proves Christianity is wrong, then please remember, Christianity is NOT built on science, but it is built on Jesus Christ who died for yours and my sins, so if we accept Christ as your savior and Lord, we will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16), Jesus deals with our hearts.

What great encouragement from the scripture! At this point, I was immediately reminded of the importance to rely on Jesus and not on any other thing. With this renewal and reminder, I stepped into the dark, labyrinthine dungeon! I was going to confront the skeleton in the closet, in Jesus I place my faith! God will help me to find the answer to defeat this skeleton!

At the beginning of my pilgrimage, many puzzles were in the way, let me list SOME of them:

- If Adam and Eve weren't historical figures, that means there was no "original sin". Without original sin, we aren't born into sin, so why do Jesus need to die for our sins?

- If Adam and Eve weren't historical characters, does that mean Genesis is "made up"? If Genesis is made up, then how can I trust the rest of the Bible is not "made up?"

- 3 years ago, I read the Epic of Gilgamesh, I was immediately struck by the similarities between the flood story in Gilgamesh and Genesis. Why do these ancient stories mirror each other in structure?

- Apostle Paul seems to be referring to Adam specifically in Roman 3, 5 and 1 Corinthian. If Adam and Eve didn't exist, does this mean I cannot trust Apostle Paul's teaching and the Bible?

- How can I trust the Bible is the infallible word of God, while the scientific view expressed in the Bible clearly reflects a less accurate, pre-scientific understanding?

- Who wrote the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Old Testament)? Did Moses really wrote them? For example, isn't it strange and ironic, for Moses to write in a holy book, that he is the most humble person in the world (Number 12:3)? Many evidence in the Pentateuch suggests Moses is probably not the sole author of these 5 books.

- Should I really read Genesis 1 as a poem and Genesis 2 as a historical narrative?

- How did the author of Genesis know what happened at the beginning, and wrote it down, if only God was present at the beginning? Who was the human observer to testify the creation account?

- The grand question, how should I read the Bible (which hermeneutics to use)?

And this is when I came across Peter Enns' book!

Does this mean I am going to become an atheist, raving about the problem of evil and suffering and calling my self a follower of the church of flying spaghetti monster? I guess you can already tell that this didn't happen. As my blog is still titled: "From a Christian's perspective" and not "from an atheist perspective".

Stay tuned for part 2.