Some Christians say that asking people to literally believe in the Bible’s account of Adam and Eve and creation hurts the cause of Christ and cons***ute a threat to
Christianity. But without a real Adam and Eve, the Bible loses its basis for the fall, sin, the need for redemption, and the need for Jesus and atonement. Perhaps it is easy to regard the Creation account in Genesis as a fairytale, but if we say that, what other scripture do we have to discount in order to keep the fairytale premise consistent?
We have 3 reliable sources who agree with the account of Adam and Eve. Luke’s genealogy in chapter 3 of his gospel links Jesus to Joseph, David, Abraham, and, ultimately, Adam. It would make no sense for Luke to mention real person after real person only to come to the climax of his genealogy by mentioning a mythical figure. One who denies that Adam was a real person has reason to also question whether the rest of Luke’s figures are actual people as well. If one denies that Adam was a real person, it is difficult to make sense of Paul’s ****ogy of the relationship between Christ and Adam. Paul tells us that sin came into the world through one actual person (Rom. 5:12). Paul also makes a direct connection between Adam and Christ: 1 Cor. 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:45: “Thus it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
Even if one p***es over Luke and Paul, one must deal with Jesus and his teachings. In Mark 10:6 and Matthew 19:4, Jesus refers to Genesis, speaking of God’s order in creating Adam and Eve and relating that literal act to the ins***ution of marriage. It’s difficult to think that Jesus could be wrong about his own creative event.
So if we say these things are only stories and opt for evolution, how do we ask people to follow Christ? Why should they? They have no basis to believe they need redemption.