Arizona-based Trinity Church Pastor Mark Driscoll addresses the issue of polygamy during a video blog, Scottsdale, Arizona, August 22, 2016. | (Photo: Mark Driscoll Ministries/Mark Driscoll/Screenshot)
Rejecting the literal existance of Adam and Eve diminishes the Bible and the need for redemption and Jesus Christ, says Pastor Mark Driscoll.
Driscoll, senior pastor of Trinity Church in Scottsdale, Arizona, defends the biblical account of Adam and Eve in a recent blog posted to his website, explaining that the narrative is in fact based upon these two individuals.
"This question of the historicity of Adam and Eve is important because it's the foundation of the biblical story," says Driscoll. "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."
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Driscoll points to scriptures that affirm Adam and Eve really existed as found in the Genesis account, Luke's genealogy, and Paul's theology.
Genesis account
Driscoll explains that Genesis confirms that Adam and Eve were real people as indicated in the creation account of chapters one through three.
He writes: "Genesis affirms the reality of Adam as a person by giving us the number of years that he physically lived. 'Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died' (Gen. 5:5), and by giving an account of Adam fathering other figures in the Bible who are treated as real and physical people and not mythical constructs" (Gen. 4:1, 25; 5:3–4).
Luke's genealogy
In the Gospel of Luke, Luke's genealogy in chapter three gives a historical account of the life of Christ, which links Jesus to Joseph, David, Abraham and Adam.
Paul's theology
The Trinity Church pastor added that if an individual is in doubt that Adam was a real person, they would also have difficulty understanding Paul's analogy of the relationship between Christ and Adam.
Driscoll says, "In both 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45 and Romans 5:12–21, Paul makes a direct connection between Adam and Christ."
Even without the Gospels of Luke and Paul as evidence of the existence of Adam and Eve, Jesus and His teachings provide solid proof, says Driscoll.
The pastor writes, "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 institution of marriage. It's difficult to think that God Himself (Jesus) could be wrong about His own creative event, since He was there as the Creator when it happened (John 1:1–2; Col. 1:15–17)."
Driscoll surmises that there is no textual evidence to deny the existence of Adam and Eve.
"To deny this historical teaching of the Church undermines the clear teaching of the Bible and fails to make sense of its storyline, as without a historical Adam and Eve, there is no fall and no need for redemption and no need for Jesus. The very basis of Christianity is effectively undermined."
