Summary of William Lane Craig's In Quest of the Historical Adam

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 The question of the historical Adam is a peripheral concern in Christian theology. The doctrine of original sin is not a necessary condition of the doctrine of the atonement, and the gospel proclamation that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures does not require Adam’s sin to be true.

#2 The importance of the historical Adam is only relevant if the doctrine of original sin is important. However, it is unclear that the doctrine of original sin is essential to the Christian faith. The doctrine enjoys slim scriptural support, and it is not clear that it is taught in Romans 5:12–21.

#3 Denying the historicity of Adam and Eve threatens to undo the deity of Christ and thus destroy orthodox Christian faith.

#4 The existence of the historical Adam is essential to Christianity, as it is the basis for the doctrine of original sin. But what if the scientific evidence is incompatible with the existence of the historical Adam.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669363682

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Insights on William Lane Craig's In Quest of the Historical Adam

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The question of the historical Adam is a peripheral concern in Christian theology. The doctrine of original sin is not a necessary condition of the doctrine of the atonement, and the gospel proclamation that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures does not require Adam’s sin to be true.

#2

The importance of the historical Adam is only relevant if the doctrine of original sin is important. However, it is unclear that the doctrine of original sin is essential to the Christian faith. The doctrine enjoys slim scriptural support, and it is not clear that it is taught in Romans 5:12–21.

#3

Denying the historicity of Adam and Eve threatens to undo the deity of Christ and thus destroy orthodox Christian faith.

#4

The existence of the historical Adam is essential to Christianity, as it is the basis for the doctrine of original sin. But what if the scientific evidence is incompatible with the existence of the historical Adam.

#5

The second option is to maintain that while the authors of Scripture may have believed in a six-day creation, a historical Adam, a worldwide flood, and so on, they did not teach these things. Since inspiration’s guarantee of truthfulness attaches only to what the Scriptures teach, we are not committed to the truthfulness of the authors’ personal beliefs.

#6

The distinction between accepting a proposition and believing a proposition is important in the philosophy of mathematics when it comes to the ontological commitments of mathematical language. Some thinkers believe that belief in the truth of even simple arithmetic statements like 2 + 2 = 4 commits us to the reality of mind-independent Platonistic entities like the number 4.

#7

The distinction between a mathematician’s or scientist’s sincere acceptance of set-theoretical axioms and their belief in the existence of mathematical objects is important. While a mathematician or scientist may accept the axioms, they may not believe them.

#8

The young earth creationist’s hermeneutical claim is that the Bible is meant to be interpreted literally, and that it teaches the existence of a historical Adam. However, their scientific claim is wildly implausible. By their own admission, young earth creationism places Genesis into massive conflict with mainstream science.

#9

The text of Genesis is often interpreted to be compatible with the history of the earth as we know it. But this is only because of the flexibility of myths, which can adapt to changing situations. The reality of this world is rarely open to sufficient change, so myths are usually flexible and adapt to changing situations.

#10

The hermeneutical approach of concordism is fundamentally flawed. It attempts to interpret the Bible in light of modern science, and it represents one of the worst forms of concordism. We should instead try to understand the text as the original author and his audience would have understood it.

#11

The ancient Greeks and Romans understood that phenomena may not correspond to reality, and they knew that the observed shrinkage of objects as they receded into the distance was not real but mere appearance. They did not believe that the sun rose and set in literal terms, but they understood that it was a description of the world.

#12

The interest in examining the biblical materials concerning the historical Adam is not in source- or tradition-historical analysis of the text, but in what the canonical text teaches about the historical Adam.

#13

The stories of Adam and Eve are largely confined to two chapters of Scripture, Genesis 2–3. But these chapters should be read in the context of the pre-patriarchal narratives of Genesis 1–11, which are a part of the larger primaeval history.

#14

The Pentateuch is a collection of texts that tell the story of the Israelites and their journey to the land of Israel. The overall theme of the Pentateuch is the partial fulfillment of the promise to the patriarchs of a posterity, a relationship with God, and land.

#15

The patriarchal history is most likely the positive reading of Gen 1–11. The primaeval history flows smoothly into the patriarchal history, and between the two a developed transitional passage exists.

#16

The primaeval narratives of Gen 1–11 should be read within the context of Genesis and the Pentateuch, as well as the literature of the ANE. The similarities between the