ESN Writer Mark Hansard interviews John Walton, author of The Lost World of Adam and Eve. See Mark’s review of the book here. [Read more…] about Interview with John Walton
Eve
Science Corner: BioLogos Conference Recap, Pt 1
Earlier this summer, I had the privilege to attend BioLogos‘ Evolution & Christian Faith conference. It was easily the best experience I’ve had at an academic conference. Every day began and ended with a time of worship, singing the kinds of hymns you can really dig into, with the kind of accompaniment that encourages everyone to join in. I usually have a hard time talking to people at conferences, but everyone was very gracious and friendly so I got to have a lot of great conversations with new people. It was particularly exciting to meet several of my fellow ESN bloggers in person. [Read more…] about Science Corner: BioLogos Conference Recap, Pt 1
What about Adam and Eve? Part 2
Introduction
This is the fifth in a series of blog posts concerned with Christian questions about evolution. One of the biggest questions is what to do about Adam and Eve. In my last post I said the Bible teaches that God reveals himself to man in two ways. One is through Scripture (the Bible) and the other is through what we observe in nature (using science). I then compared the stories of the creation of mankind in the two books. While there are apparent differences between the two stories, there must be a way of reconciling these differences since they both come from God.
Reconciling the two stories
The two stories raise several types of questions.
- The origin of humans. Was this due to special creation by God or was it due to God guided evolution. If evolution, then in what sense is mankind set apart from the rest of creation and in what sense are humans created in the image of God?
- Adam and Eve. Were they real people and was Adam the father of all humankind?
- The doctrine of the Fall. Are Adam and Eve essential to the Bible’s central storyline of creation, fall, redemption, and consummation? Is Paul’s teaching about the representative roles of Adam and Jesus essential to the understanding of the origin of sin and the redemption from sin? Does the story of the creation of Adam and Eve and their fall communicate real history or does it simply communicate timeless truths?
- The relationship between God’s two books of revelation. Does one have primacy over the other or is it possible to settle the apparent conflict in a way that respects both sources of revelation?
The way that I want to address these questions is through the review of a book entitled Four Views of the Historical Adam (Zondervan, 2013). There are a spectrum of views among Evangelical Christians about how to reconcile the story from Scripture with the story from nature. This book presents essays from four Biblical scholars who represent the four major Evangelical positions. [Read more…] about What about Adam and Eve? Part 2
What about Adam and Eve? Part 1
Introduction
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts concerned with Christian questions about evolution. One of the biggest dilemmas is what to do about Adam and Eve.
- Were they real people?
- How were they created?
- Was Adam the father of all mankind?
- What about the story in Genesis 3 of the fall of Adam and Eve and consequently all of mankind into sin?
- Do the creation stories in Genesis communicate real, historical events or are they myths that God is using to communicate timeless truths?
These are the concerns I want to address in this and my next post.
Two book model of revelation
In my first post in the Christianity and science series I talked about dealing with the tension between science and the Bible. The Bible teaches that God reveals himself to man in two ways. One is through scripture (the Bible) and the other is through what we observe in nature (using science). This is perhaps best seen in Psalm 19 and in Romans 1:20. [Read more…] about What about Adam and Eve? Part 1