Subject: Are we all descendants of Adam and Eve? |
Bible Note: Point One: Of the methods that have been used to estimate the age of the universe, 90 percent point to an age far less than billions of years. For details, search the AnswersInGenesis.org website. Point Two: Luke 3:23-38 traces Jesus' geneology back to Adam. Luke takes Adam to be a real human and Genesis as history, not a fictional 'good moral' story. The only reason to doubt that all of Genesis is real, literal history is because some people state that the fossil record indicates vast ages of evolution instead of evidence for the Flood in Noah's time. But think about it, the fossil record shows death, violence, disease, carnivorous behavior, and thorns. As a compromise, some people say that this all came before the end of day 6 of creation, but that means God called death and suffering 'very good!' Also, the Bible teaches that sin caused death for man and animal alike. Death before sin brings the salvation message into doubt. Genesis 2:17 states that physical death was the punishment for sin. 1 Corinthians 15:26 says, "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death..." Adam sinned and the punishment was death, so Jesus took that punishment (death) for sin to free us. However, if death came before sin and was not the punishment for sin, Jesus' death on the cross was meaningless and saved no one. Genesis is the very foundation of the Gospel message and contains the first promises for a Savior. Caring that it is a historical and scientifically accurate book is not 'missing the point' or a side issue to the Gospel. Also, Genesis is not 'better as metaphorical than as historical.' Would Americans be better off if the Revolutionary War was metaphorical and not historical? After all, it's a rousing tale which we can get a lot of meaning out of! Point Thee: A simple reading of the Bible shows that the writers believed in a young universe, that the Bible came from God, and that God cannot lie. The only reason we doubt this is because some humans state that it is wrong. The question now becomes, "who's word do you believe?" Do you believe God, who was there at creation, who knows everything, who cannot lie, and who's Word is absolutely reliable? Or do you believe man, who didn't see the origin of the universe, who doesn't know everything, who's theories frequently change, who rarely agrees on anything, who is sinful, who will lie if it serves his purpose (or even unintentionally), who's methods are fallible, and who may have wrong assumptions? The answer should be obvious... |