There are many who identify themselves as Christians who either do not believe that Adam and Eve were historical people or believe it is not a big deal either way. I suggest to you that they were historical people, and if they did not exist, then Jesus of the New Testament is not the Son of God nor were the writers of the New Testament inspired by the Holy Spirit as they claimed.
Consider the following. In Matthew 19:4-5, Jesus is referring to Adam and Eve when He says, ". . . , Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?" Note how He quotes from Genesis 1:27 in Matthew 19:4 and Genesis 2:24 in Matthew 19:5. If the accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 are not historical, then why would Jesus use them as if the account and people were historical? It would mean that He was ignorant or dishonest. Neither of these would be attributes of the Son of God.
In the genealogy of Christ in Luke 3, we find Adam identified as the beginning of the genealogy in verse 38 for it says, "Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God." If Adam did not exist, then the genealogy is false which would mean it is not inspired.
Paul believed that Adam and Eve were real. In 1 Timothy 2:13-14 he wrote, "For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." Paul also stated in 2 Corinthians 11:3, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Finally, in 1 Corinthians 15:45 we find Paul writing, "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." Paul in these verses affirms the historicity of Adam and Eve. If they are not real people, then God did not inspire Paul.
Last but not least, if Adam was not real, then we have no assurances that we shall be made alive in Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 says, "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." The historical parallel is made between Adam's rebellion and Christ's resurrection. Our assurance is based on the fraudulent claims of some men in the first century if Adam and Eve were not historical personages.
From the above we can see that the writers of the New Testament believed and affirmed the historicity of Adam and Eve. If Adam and Eve did not exist and are not accurately portrayed in Genesis, then the New Testament is not the Word of God, and we are without hope.
Charles Royal, Decatur AL
