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Adam and Eve, A Biography and Theology
Adam and Eve, A Biography and Theology
Adam and Eve, A Biography and Theology
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Adam and Eve, A Biography and Theology

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The best way to describe Adam and Eve, A Biography and Theology, is to give a very brief synopsis of each chapter. One: the authenticity and historicity of the biblical account; the method of interpretation. Two: nature and attributes of Adam and Eve’s parent, God; salvific necessity of a common human nature derived from Adam. Three: characteristics of the created human nature; image and likeness of God; reasons God had for creating mankind. Four: the four responsibilities God gave Adam to guide mankind’s interaction with his Creator, the earth, and its creatures. Five: life in the garden pre-sin; location of Eden; exercise of Adam’s responsibilities; formation of the Woman; why God tested Adam’s faith; consequences of Adam’s choice. Six: their crime, Genesis 3:1–8; actions and motives of each participant; immediate and long-term consequences. Seven: their confrontation with God, Genesis 3:9–24; their responses; an assessment of the hope innate to God’s chastisement. Eight: how mankind will live in a world changed by sin, as seen through Cain and Abel; the legacy left to Woman’s seed and the serpent’s seed. Nine: the spiritual problems faced by their descendants. The biography proper concludes with this chapter. Ten: their contribution to theology; topics include the doctrines of God, man, sin, and salvation. Six appendices discuss certain issues in more detail. A glossary provides definitions of certain terms.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 8, 2012
ISBN9781476277950
Adam and Eve, A Biography and Theology
Author

James D. Quiggle

James D. Quiggle was born in 1952 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He grew up in Kansas and the Texas Panhandle. In the early 1970s he joined the United States Air Force. At his first permanent assignment in Indian Springs, Nevada in a small Baptist church, the pastor introduced him to Jesus and soon after he was saved. Over the next ten years those he met in churches from the East Coast to the West Coast, mature Christian men, poured themselves into mentoring him. In the 1970s he was gifted with the Scofield Bible Course from Moody Bible Institute. As he completed his studies his spiritual gift of teaching became even more apparent. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bethany Bible College during the 1980s while still in the Air Force. Between 2006–2008, after his career in the Air Force and with his children grown up, he decided to continue his education. He enrolled in Bethany Divinity College and Seminary and earned a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Theological Studies.As an extension of his spiritual gift of teaching, he was prompted by the Holy Spirit to begin writing books. James Quiggle is now a Christian author with over fifty commentaries on Bible books and doctrines. He is an editor for the Evangelical Dispensational Quarterly Journal published by Scofield Biblical Institute and Theological Seminary.He continues to write and has a vibrant teaching ministry through social media.

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    Adam and Eve, A Biography and Theology - James D. Quiggle

    ADAM AND EVE

    A BIOGRAPHY

    AND

    THEOLOGY

    JAMES D. QUIGGLE

    Published by James D. Quiggle at Smashwords

    This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Copyright Page

    ADAM AND EVE, A Biography and Theology

    Copyright © 2011 James D. Quiggle. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the Author. Email: thingsofq@hotmail.com. Subject: Permissions.

    Published by James D. Quiggle, 2011.

    Scripture quotations in the exposition may be from:

    The New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982, 1983 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

    The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

    Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, by Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are been taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

    The Jerusalem Bible © 1966 by Darton Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday and Company Ltd.

    Dedication

    To Linda

    She listened to every word.

    Contents

    Publisher’s Note

    Abbreviations

    Introduction

    1. Their Historicity

    2. Their Creation

    3. Their Nature

    4 Their Purpose

    5 Their Life In The Garden

    6 Their Crime

    7 Their Restoration

    8 Their Life In The World

    9 Their Generations

    10. Their Contribution to Theology

    Appendix 1 Inspiration of Scripture

    Appendix 2 When Does Life Begin?

    Appendix 3 Principles of the Soul

    Appendix 4 Creation and Evolution

    Appendix 5 The One-flesh Relationship

    Appendix 6 Salvation in Every Age

    Glossary

    Bibliography And Sources

    About The Author

    Endnotes

    Publisher’s Note

    Certain Hebrew and Greek words cannot be accurately transliterated in eBook versions of this work. The software used to convert documents to eBook formats does not support the diacritical marks macron and hacek, nor the circumflex for certain letters. I have replaced both hacek and circumflex with a tilde (~) to give the reader some idea of how the words are spelled. No such substitute is available for the macron (which looks like the English long vowel symbol). Please consult Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (see Bibliography and Sources) for a proper transliteration.

    The conversion software also does not render small capital letters, as in the form of the word Lord (large capital L small capitals ord) used in most Bible translations for God’s personal name, YHWH. In this work the phrase Lord God is the Hebrew YHWH Elohim; Lord in an Old Testament context is YHWH; Lord in a New Testament context refers to Jesus. If in doubt concerning any verse quoted, cited, or alluded to in the work consult the Authorized (King James) version.

    Comments in footnotes in the printed version have become part of the text in eBook versions. In some instances this has required rearrangement of sentences and paragraphs.

    I have also moved all cited and quoted sources in footnotes in the print version into the text of the eBook versions. To minimize disruption to the flow of the text, I have shortened the in-text references to sources. For example, [Hamilton, Genesis, (page)] is shortened to [Hamilton, (page)]; [Harris et al., TWOT, s. v. word.] is shortened to [Harris, s. v. word.]. In some instances, e.g., where the author’s name begins a sentence, the reference in brackets has been shortened to the page cited in the work, e.g., Hamilton [73]. Where a work is by two authors only the first is given in the in-text reference, e.g., [Boyd and Eddy, (page)] is shortened to [Boyd, (page)]. Where I have referenced an author with two or more works. e.g., Hodge, Theology, and Hodge, Romans, I have retained the name of the work at the in-text reference. See Bibliography and Sources section for complete documentation of referenced sources.

    Abbreviations

    AD = Anno Domini (In the year of the Lord [since Christ was born])

    ASV = American Standard Version

    BC = Bello Christo (Before Christ [was born])

    BDB = Brown, Driver, Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament.

    ca. = about (an approximate date) (Latin: circa)

    cf. = compare (Latin: confer)

    e.g. = for example (Latin: exempli gratia)

    ESV = English Standard Version

    etc. = and so forth, and so on (Latin: et cetera)

    HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible

    Ibid = in the same place (referring to the source cited in the previous entry) (Latin: ibidem)

    i.e. = that is (Latin: id est)

    n. = note (referring to a footnote or endnote in the work cited)

    KJV = King James Version

    NIV = New International Version

    NKJV = New King James Version

    LXX = Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament completed ca. BC 130)

    RSV = Revised Standard Version

    Song = Song of Solomon

    s.v. = under the word (Latin: sub verbo)

    v. = verse

    vv. = verses

    YLT = Young’s Literal Translation

    Introduction

    If it seems impossible to find a biography of Adam and Eve that treats them as historical persons, accepts the biblical account of their creation as literal, and thus takes their life and acts seriously, it is because one does not exist; until now. This book fills the need for a biography and a theological perspective of two persons whose lives had a devastating impact on their posterity. Adam and Eve discusses mankind’s parents as real people and treats the Genesis narrative of their creation, life, and sin as an historical account of real events.

    A biography of Adam and Eve is important for four reasons. One, much of modern Christianity denies their historicity, a view that impugns the intelligence, integrity, and faith of Jesus and the apostles. An account that treats Adam and Eve as historical persons is required as a defense of the divine inspiration of the Bible, and the biblical portrait of Jesus and the apostles as intelligent men of faith and reason. Second, because modern Christianity views the Genesis account as an allegory or cultic myth, and Adam and Eve as fictional characters, there is a need for a rational view of Adam and Eve as historical persons. Only when they are seen as historical persons will contemporary Christians begin to understand their creation, interpret their acts, and be able to evaluate the personal impact their sin has for mankind. Third, their creation and their sin are the bases for the biblical view of man, sin, and salvation. If Adam was evolved, not created, then man is not the noble-but-fallen creature the Bible portrays him to be, there is no sin from which mankind must be rescued, Jesus died in vain, and evangelism, repentance, and saving faith are useless and hopeless.

    The fourth reason this biography is needed is to answer difficult questions. Are there two creation accounts, as critics suggest, or one? Just what was the image of God in which mankind’s humanity was created? How was God’s image reflected in Adam and Eve’s personality and moral character before and after their sin? Was there some defect in their creation that allowed them to sin, or perhaps required them to sin? How did their sin affect the human nature of their posterity? Why does God hold mankind accountable for what Adam did? Why did God join humanity to his deity (the incarnation) to effect man’s redemption from the consequences of Adam’s sin? These and other questions will be answered in this book.

    Adam and Eve is my interpretation, neither more nor less, of the biblical account of man’s creation and sin, and the theology which is dependent on the historicity of the persons and their acts. It is an interpretation supported by generations of conservative theologians. I alone am responsible for the use made of quoted or cited material. This biography is based on fact, not fiction, in accordance with evidence presented by Genesis, Jesus, and the apostles. The Genesis account of man’s creation and sin is accepted as authentically given by God to the human author (revelation), accurately recorded by the human author (inspiration), and thus is credible in all aspects.

    The book follows the outline indicated on the Contents page. Chapter one responds to doubts concerning the historicity of Adam and Eve by investigating the authenticity of the biblical account. The trustworthiness of the Genesis record is affirmed, rational evidence for accepting Genesis 1:1–2:3 as a literal account of creation presented, and the necessity of authenticity explained. The chapter concludes with a brief presentation of the methods I have used to interpret Scripture.

    Chapter two explores the creation of Adam and Eve, beginning with an examination of their Creator and parent, God. How Adam was created, and how Eve was formed from Adam, is discussed. The vital necessity of a common human nature derived from Adam’s creation is explained. Chapter three continues exploring their creation by assessing the characteristics of the created human nature. Questions pertaining to the image and likeness of God, and the reasons God had for creating mankind, are answered. Man’s dual nature—body and soul—is explained. The chapter concludes with an evaluation of the holiness of Adam’s humanity.

    Chapter four describes the four purposes God gave Adam to guide mankind’s interaction with his Creator and with the earth and its creatures. Chapter five addresses their life in the garden pre-sin, beginning with the location of Eden. The exercise of Adam’s immediate responsibilities toward creation is discussed, leading into the formation of Eve as a comparable helper. The testing of Adam’s faith through the medium of the two trees, and the consequences of his choice, are explored. The reasonableness of God’s commandment in regard to the test provided by the two trees is discussed.

    Chapter six focuses on the crime, Genesis 3:1–8. The acts and motives of each participant are discussed. The result of their sin is investigated as to the immediate consequences for Adam and Eve, and the long-term consequences for mankind. Chapter seven examines the confrontation with God, Genesis 3:9–24. The responses of Adam and Eve are discussed in detail. Punishment, promise, and chastisement are also thoroughly discussed, in relation to both the immediate persons (the serpent/Satan, Eve, Adam), and their physical and spiritual descendants. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the hope God’s chastisement gave to Adam, Eve, and their posterity.

    Chapter eight focuses on Cain and Abel as demonstrating how mankind will live in a world changed by the sin of their parents. The legacy left to the Woman’s seed and the serpent’s seed is discussed. Chapter nine takes a look at the spiritual problems faced by Adam’s and Eve’s believing and unbelieving descendants. The biography proper concludes with this chapter

    A biography of Adam and Eve invites an extended discussion of many areas of theology. Chapter ten examines their contribution to theology. The topics selected for discussion include theology proper (the doctrine of God), anthropology (the doctrine of mankind), hamartiology (the doctrine of sin), and soteriology (the doctrine of salvation). The chapter ends with a gospel appeal and some concluding thoughts.

    Six appendices discuss in more detail certain issues raised in the main body of the text. A glossary provides definitions of certain terms used in the biographical and theological sections. The concluding bibliography and sources section indicates materials used by the author in preparing this book. These may prove useful to the reader for further study.

    Some readers will be able to accept a literal view of the Genesis record of creation and the introduction of sin into the human race; some will not. To all I say, Please read on. There are valuable lessons to be learned about man, sin, the Savior, and salvation. Come and join me in a great adventure of self-discovery.

    1 Their Historicity

    A biography is a written account and interpretation of the life and acts of an historical person or persons. Most biographers begin at the beginning: so-and-so was born at this time, in this place, to these parents. So, too, a biography of Adam and Eve should begin: they came into existence at such a time, in such place, by the act of this Person. However, Adam and Eve are unlike other biographical subjects. Many doubt they were real persons—a doubt that extends to the only source for knowledge of their existence, the opening chapters of the Old Testament book of Genesis. If Adam and Eve were not historical persons then their story is a religious allegory (at best) or cultic myth (at worst). They did, however, really exist, and therefore are fit subjects for a biography. Ideally, a biography is written by one who was an eyewitness of the person and the events of his or her life. If this is impossible, the next best source of information is to interview living eyewitnesses. If this also is impossible, then the biographer must depend on eyewitness accounts—written or oral—passed through history as documentation of the person and his or her life. The latter is the position of any biographer of Adam and Eve. Since doubts about the existence of Adam and Eve begin with doubts about sources, a brief defense of the trustworthiness of the source, and of a literal view of their creation, and a discussion of the authenticity of the account, is warranted.

    This book is not intended as an apologetic for a literal view of the Genesis creation story; others more qualified have made that effort and I will glean from their work. Throughout the book, I will use the term humanity to refer to the human essence (nature, soul,) God created ex nihilo in the first human being, Adam, and use the terms man and mankind to refer to the race of human beings propagated from Adam and Eve.

    IS THE SOURCE OF OUR KNOWLEDGE TRUSTWORTHY?

    The need to make a choice as to the historicity of the Genesis account, and whether or not to treat Adam and Eve as real persons versus literary or religious constructs, reveals a deep and destructive contradiction lying at the core of modern Christianity. Many who name the Name of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord deny that he has an accurate understanding of the origin of man. Many who depend on the inspiration of Scripture to guide them in their daily lives will deny that same inspiration to tell them how the universe, the earth, every creature, and man were created. Their faith will allow the salvation of their soul, but does not extend to faith in the historical act of the real person, Adam, that made their salvation necessary. When it comes to origins, many believers have more faith in the declarations of human science than the testimony of their Creator. Christians in the pews are not wholly to blame for this lack of faith: their pastors and teachers and theologians believe human science is a more trustworthy witness of man’s origins than the inspired record given by God who created man.

    The Bible presents Adam and Eve as historical persons. An historical person is someone who really existed, who lived a life of words, deeds, and events, and whose life is recorded in genuinely historical documents of fact, not fiction. For example, the story of the Greek demigod Hercules is recorded in fictional stories, identified as such because filled with mythical creatures and impossible feats of strength. Historians recognize Hercules as a mythical character. The story of his life is a work of fiction, a myth: a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, especially one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature [Dictionary.com. Myth].

    The story of Samson, however, is recorded in the historical document Judges in the Bible, Old Testament. Samson’s life is described in terms of words, deeds, and events that are part of normal life (he was born to normal parents, there are no fantastic accounts of his childhood, he married, he was thirsty, he became weak, he sinned, he died), and there are no mythical creatures in the account. Samson performed feats of strength impossible to other people, but the origin of Samson’s strength is always ascribed to the one true God, YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah). Hercules’s strength was an innate part of his physical being, part of the myth of his birth from a supernatural parent; Samson’s strength was due to the faithfulness of the God of Israel (Judges 16:20, 28). Some scholars believe the Hercules myth was based on a real person born about 1250 BC. Samson was born ca. 1070 BC. The mythical Hercules first appears in the writings of the Greek poet Homer, who is believed to have lived ca. 850 BC. The more well-known stories, such as the twelve labors, are from the 6th and 5th centuries BC.

    Critics of the Bible view Samson as a myth similar to Hercules. They characterize the story of Samson as part of the mythos of Old Testament Israel, passed along to the New Testament church through the Old Testament Scripture. A mythos is the pattern of basic values and attitudes of a people, characteristically transmitted through myths and the arts, or, the underlying system of beliefs, especially those dealing with supernatural forces, characteristic of a particular cultural group [Dictionary.com. Mythos]. The story of Samson is, in the critical view, a fictional narrative tale, possibly based on some person and events in Israel’s history, but whose life was mythologized to communicate ethics and morality. Critics of the Bible would characterize the narrative concerning Adam and Eve in the same manner. For example, the evolutionist understands the creation narrative as myth. For the evolutionist there is no personal God creating the universe but an impersonal natural world of infinite time and endless processes. Most who identify the creation narrative as myth view it as a pre-scientific or non-scientific worldview that understands the operation of the impersonal laws and forces of nature as the work of a supernatural being.

    Why should the persons and events recorded in the Bible, especially certain Old Testament persons, such as Adam and Eve, be considered historical rather than myth? Is the Bible an historically accurate record of past events? Some would define a genuine historical record as an impartial and objective report of past events. In that sense there is no genuine historiography: the narrative presentation of history based on a critical examination, evaluation, and selection of material from primary and secondary sources and subject to scholarly criteria [Dictionary.com. Historiography]. All historians, ancient and modern, are discriminating: they select some material for their historiography out of the mass of available material. All historians are biased: their selection of materials is based on their particular view of which facts are important to communicate their understanding of the event(s) of which they will write. As I am using these terms bias is not the same as prejudice. Bias means to favor one idea over another, implying an evaluation of the facts. Prejudice is a judgment or opinion formed prior to evaluating the facts; usually a negative opinion.

    All historians interpret the facts: they present their understanding of what occurred, why it happened, and why they believe it is important. All historiography, meaning all that historians write, is an inextricable combination of fact and interpretation, the empirically observable and the intuited or constructed meaning [Bauckham, Jesus, 3]. Whether the ancient historian was Moses or Herodotus, Luke or Tacitus, each used primary sources to tell their version of history, and therefore actual words, deeds, and events are available in their writings.

    The Bible contains many genres of literature from narrative prose to lyric poetry, from parables to prophecy, from discourse to didactic. Does the Bible include history: an accurate representation of actual events of the past? If history includes (1) telling what happened, (2) giving the writer’s perspective on what happened, and (3) arranging it all into some meaningful pattern so that it conveys a message—then the Bible does include history [Kaiser and Silva, 83]. Every historian, from the first recognized secular historian, Herodotus (ca. 484–ca. 425 BC), to the modern historian, has an interested point of view. He (or she) does not desire to present a purely objective recitation of facts, but sets forth a presentation of those facts from a perspective based on a particular point of view. Every biography and history is the author’s presentation of selected historical facts and his interpretation of real people and historical events. The Bible is not different: it presents historical facts and gives an interpretation of real people and historical events from God’s perspective; it is partial to God and his kingdom, and presents itself and history accordingly [Kaiser and Silva, 83]. A view of narrative in the Bible as consistent with historical fact understands the biblical narratives as having been written by a human author under the superintending guidance of God: in a word, inspiration.

    If the Bible is God’s account of historical persons and events written by chosen individuals who were superintended in their writing by God the Holy Spirit (inspiration), then the story of Adam and Eve is an historical account. God is the main eyewitness to the events of creation. He chose Moses to communicate the creation story to subsequent generations. The Pentateuch provides a witness that Moses was its author, Exodus 19:7; 20:22; 24:4; Numbers 33:1–2; Deuteronomy 31:9, 22 (see also Joshua 1:7–8; 2 Kings 21:8; Romans 3:2). Inspiration ensures what Moses wrote was accurate. How did God communicate this information to Moses? Revelation is God communicating knowledge and understanding to man. Natural revelation is God self-revealed in his work, Romans 1:20, and occurs through the things God has created as discerned by means of man’s natural, physical senses [Harrison, s. v. revelation, natural.]. Special or supernatural revelation is God intervening in history (that is, at a particular moment in time) to communicate knowledge and understanding of himself and his will that was previously unknown and could not be found out by ordinary or natural means [Harrison, s. v. revelation, special.]. God’s self-revelation was given in human terms, that is, it was communicated in such a way as to conform to human thought processes and verbal formulations [Zuck, 10]. Regarding the historical narrative of Adam and Eve, God may have communicated to Moses immediately, that is, speaking directly to Moses audibly or mentally. Or, God may have communicated mediately, that is, through existing stories and traditions (written and oral). If mediately, then God guided Moses to infallibly select only what was true in those stories and traditions. God may have used a combination of these methods. Regardless of means and sources, God revealed the history of Adam and Eve to Moses (revelation) and superintended Moses (inspiration) to write an historically accurate narrative using the eyewitness testimony God provided. A detailed comparison of Moses’ account with pagan stories reveals significant differences that compel the rational mind to accept Moses’ account as not based on pagan sources [Mortenson, chapter 5]. This is not to suggest there may not have been a polemic purpose to counteract pagan teachings that the Israelites had learned in Egypt, but simply that Moses did not borrow from pagan writings to tell the history of the heavens, the earth, and mankind.

    If, as proposed, the Bible is God’s account of history, then it is an accurate history, authentic and credible in every detail, and the story of Adam and Eve is a factual account of the events as seen from God’s perspective. Revelation from God gave Moses facts he didn’t previously know. Reporting those facts accurately in writing was achieved by divine inspiration. Inspiration is God’s work of superintendence by which he presided over the human authors in their entire work of writing, with the design and effect of rendering that writing an errorless record of the matters he designed them to communicate [Hodge and Warfield, 17]. Inspiration is the English translation of the Greek word theópneustos, meaning God breathed-out. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, God breathed-out certain writings; breathed-out symbolizes the spiritual act of the Holy Spirit whereby he communicated God’s words to the human writer’s soul (other spiritual acts of God are symbolized by breath, e.g., Genesis 2:7; John 20:22). God breathed-out means the writers voluntarily chose what they wanted to write—the very words—and how they wanted to write those words—matters of grammar, syntax, and style—because God had theópneustos, breathed into them, the very words he wanted used and the very way he wanted his revelation to be written. God’s sovereignty works through man’s choices to infallibly accomplish God’s purposes. In the matter of divine inspiration God’s sovereignty guided (superintended) the writer’s choices without violating his (or her) freedom of will, such that the writer’s choices (what and how to write) inerrantly communicated that which God chose to reveal, in the very words, and in the very manner, God breathed-out.

    These writings are Scripture: God’s words accurately delivered to mankind through individuals chosen by God to communicate his revelation. According to 2 Peter 1:20–21, God the Holy Spirit moved, phéro, chosen individuals to write the words of Scripture. The Greek word phéro means to lift up and bear along, such as a floating log born along by a river, or a ship driven by the wind in its sails. Acts 27:15, "So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive [phéro]." The Holy Spirit (in a figure) was the divine breath that breathed God’s word into the human writers. When Peter says Scripture is not of private interpretation, he means the words did not come from men, but that the words came from the Holy Spirit. Inspiration is not giving men a religious experience which they then put into their own words. Nor is inspiration God communicating religious concepts that men then put into their own words. Inspiration is God communicating the very words the writers wrote. God intended to communicate; words are the means of communication; concepts cannot be communicated without words. The human authors assimilated the concepts in the words given to them by God. They spoke or wrote those very same words to communicate those same concepts to others.

    Inspiration is not mechanical dictation. A mechanical dictation theory does not 1account for the apparent stylistic differences of the several human authors. The doctrine of the New Testament church has always been that 1inspiration is a supernatural influence exerted on the sacred writers by the Spirit of God, by virtue of which their writings are given Divine trustworthiness. The Church has held from the beginning that the Bible is the Word of God in such sense that its words, though written by men and bearing indelibly impressed upon them the marks of their human origin, were written, nevertheless, under such an influence of the Holy Ghost as to be also the words of God, the adequate expression of His mind and will. The church has always recognized that this conception of co-authorship implies that the Spirit’s superintendence extends to the choice of the words by the human authors, and preserves its product from everything inconsistent with a divine authorship—thus securing, among other things, that entire truthfulness which is everywhere presupposed in and asserted for Scripture by the Biblical writers (inerrancy) [Warfield, 77–78, 173].

    The words God communicated to the human authors were words they knew and used in their own experiences. When the writers wrote, they did so out of their own vocabulary, culture, experiences, and historical circumstances. They made choices as to vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and style out of what they knew about these things. The Holy Spirit so superintended their written proclamation, that the words they chose to write, and the way they chose to write them, were the very words, written in the very way, that the Spirit breathed into them. In light of the work of the Holy Spirit in inspiring Scripture, how sad it is that the majority of modern biblical scholars never mention the Holy Spirit or divine inspiration in their discussions of the development of the Genesis text or the accuracy of the creation narrative. See almost any modern commentary or Old Testament introduction/survey.

    The Spirit’s superintendence also prevented the writers from incorporating the unscientific and superstitious beliefs of their age. For example, Luke’s gospel carefully distinguishes between organic illness and demonic activity. In Genesis 30:14–16 Leah sells her mandrakes to Rachel for the opportunity of sexual intimacy with Jacob, but the biblical account never gives credence to the superstition that mandrakes were an aphrodisiac or had magical powers.

    The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy affirms in part, that the whole of Scripture and all its parts, down to the very words of the original, were given by divine inspiration; that inspiration was the work in which God by His Spirit, through human writers, gave us His word; that God in His work of inspiration utilized the distinctive personalities and literary styles of the writers He had chosen and prepared; that inspiration . . . guarantee[s] true and trustworthy utterance on all matters of which the Biblical authors were moved to speak and write; that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses. This statement on inerrancy was signed by some 300 scholars, pastors, and laymen in October 1978 . . . [representing] Anglican, Baptist, Free Church, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and other denominations. [Geisler, 495, 496].

    In relation to the story of Adam and Eve, the human writer was guided by the Holy Spirit to report accurately the words and thoughts of certain persons in the narrative. Thirty persons are mentioned between Genesis 1:1–6:8, inclusive. The words and thoughts of the persons God, Adam, Eve, the serpent (Satan), Cain, Lamech (of Cain), Lamech (of Methuselah), and the Narrator (Moses) are reported. The Holy Spirit guided the writer so that his narrative comments (e.g., 3:1a) were without error. Whatever source material, if any, was used to create the historical narratives concerning Adam and Eve, the Holy Spirit so superintended the writer (Moses) so that only those sources which were authentic, accurate, and credible were used to create the Genesis narratives. If one believes in inspiration, then one must believe that the narratives concerning Adam and Eve are historically factual.

    Inspiration is claimed for the original manuscripts, which are lost to antiquity. The several hundred manuscript copies of the Old Testament do not show significant differences, and do show significant agreement. Experts in the field of textual criticism agree that the text in current use is an accurate representation of the original. The vast majority of variant readings are inconsequential, and no doctrine is altered or compromised by any variant reading [Archer, 28]. It is therefore appropriate to speak of the narratives in the transmitted texts as historically accurate. (See appendix one: Inspiration of Scripture.)

    Throughout the book sentient is used in the sense of to be self-aware. Sentience is a quality of self-perception that only God, mankind, and angels possess.

    The divine inspiration of the historical narratives of Adam and Eve encompasses two difficult elements: an eyewitness account, and the fable-like speaking of the serpent. First, let us discuss the eyewitness element. The narrative is obviously very selective. One does not hear every conversation or see every event that must have occurred in the course of normal life. For example, we read nothing of their daily routine in the garden. Genesis 3:8 states, they [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden. They recognized the sound of God walking in his garden; therefore God had walked among them in the past. Yet this information does not appear in the narrative. Obviously, much of what happened between their creation and their sin is not recorded. The writer, like all historians, selected some material from the mass of available material in order to communicate his, and God’s, point of view. This lack of detail in the daily life of Adam and Eve, caused by the judicious selection of certain materials, does not prevent the narrative from being an eyewitness account of the events. For example, in Genesis 3 there are speeches from God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent. Adam and Eve would have communicated to their descendants what was said on that fateful day in the garden, creating oral and (through their descendants) written traditions of the events. The God who inspired Moses to write the narrative either caused the preservation of accurate oral or written traditions and superintended Moses in his selection of materials, or he communicated an account of the events directly to Moses. Some critics will say Moses made-up words for his characters that were appropriate to the event. However, later scriptures reference these events just as described. Either later writers of Scripture were not inspired, or were misled by the Holy Spirit, or the words as reported are authentically the words of God, Adam, Eve, the serpent, and others.

    Another support for an eyewitness account is the report of Eve’s thoughts. The account states that Eve saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise. She did not speak these things, she thought these things. How could Eve’s thoughts have been reported by Moses, unless she related her thoughts to her descendants (an oral/written tradition), or God told Moses? Eve’s thoughts are reflected at 1 John 2:16, and form the basis (with Genesis 3:13) of Paul’s doctrine at 1 Timothy 2:14. Would the Holy Spirit let John and Paul base their doctrine on a false report? If one believes and understands the doctrine of inspiration, then one must accept that the narrative is based on an eyewitness account that the Holy Spirit preserved and, mediately or immediately, communicated to Moses.

    What about the serpent speaking? Does this make the account a fable? The definition of a fable that would apply to Genesis 3:1–5 is, a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters [Dictionary.com. Fable]. A clue as to how to approach this element of the story is found in Genesis 3:1. This particular serpent is said to be more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. The incongruency here is that all serpents, including this serpent, were beasts of the field created by God. This particular serpent is said to be more cunning than any beast of the field, including other serpents. The word translated cunning by the NKJV (KJV: subtle; NIV: crafty) is the Hebrew ‘arum, used in a positive sense in Proverbs (the prudent person) and negatively in Genesis 3:1; Job 5:12; 15:5. Yet, no serpent—no beast of the field—is recorded as having been created with a reasoning faculty equal to man, something required for the level of cunning demonstrated in the exchange between Eve and the serpent. No other serpent has ever been recorded as having the power of human speech. Moreover, God did not curse the serpent’s powers of speech, Genesis 3:14–15, which argues that serpents were not created with an innate capacity to vocalize human language. Nor do they have the necessary anatomical structures required to vocalize human language. Something or someone other than the simple serpent is in view, some intelligent, rational being (rational: having the ability to reason) who controlled and spoke through the serpent. Who might this person be?

    The term serpent is used four ways in the Bible. One use refers to literal serpents, e.g., Numbers 21:6, So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died. A second use is symbolic of sin. For example, Numbers 21:8–9 (cf. John 3:14), Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived. The third use is as symbolic of poison, Proverbs 23:31–32, Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper.

    The fourth use of the term serpent in Scripture is to describe the fallen angel known as that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, Revelation 20:2. The Bible teaches there is a race of sentient beings created for life in a domain other than the domain of material beings. (Throughout the book sentient is used in the sense of to be self-aware. Sentience is a quality of self-perception that only God, mankind, and angels possess.) Since this domain is where spirit beings live, it is known as the spirit or spiritual domain. The Bible presents these spirit beings, the angels, as divided into two camps: an innumerable host of unfallen, holy angels; a host of fallen, sinful, unholy angels described in the New Testament as demons. The word demon appears twice in the Old Testament, the translation of the Hebrew shed, at Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37. The direct referent is idols, but the fuller New Testament revelation indicates that an idol represents a fallen angel, a demon, receiving indirect worship (i.e., worship through the idol), see 1 Corinthians 10:19–20.

    When originally created all angels were holy. About one-third of this innumerable host sinned (Revelation 12:4). They were led in their sin by the angel Lucifer, who became known as Satan after his sin (Isaiah 14:12–14, Ezekiel 28:11–18; Revelation 12:9). The Bible always presents Satan as a real being, e.g., Job 1:6–12; Matthew 4:1–11. The Bible calls Satan a liar and a murderer from the beginning. The first recorded lie is Genesis 3:4. The first recorded murder is 3:6, 7.

    Since Satan is identified as that serpent of old, and since the serpent in the garden is more than a beast of the field, and since Satan, like this serpent, tempts man to sin, then it is reasonable to conclude that Satan controlled this particular serpent and spoke through it to Eve. The spiritual inhabitation of animals by evil angels is a reality in Luke 8:33. For Satan to spiritually inhabit and/or control a non-sentient material being, a snake, and use that beast for his own purposes is not difficult to understand. One sees the Lord do something similar with Balaam’s donkey, Numbers 22:28, that is, not spiritual habitation, but spiritual control causing human speech to come out of the donkey’s mouth. Satan caused human speech to come out of the snake’s mouth.

    In Matthew 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5 Satan is called the tempter. In the Genesis narrative the serpent perfectly illustrates tempter as a functional description of how Satan works among mankind. France [130] says the designation tempter in Matthew 4:3, is not so much an independent title as a functional description of his role in the context.

    Compare 2 Corinthians 11:3 where Paul references the serpent speaking to and deceiving Eve as he warns the Corinthians against false teachers preaching a false gospel. Paul believed the being speaking to Eve was not the snake but a rational, intelligent, and evil being using the snake to preach false doctrine. The conviction that this serpent was a mere beast being used by an evil sentient being becomes compelling in Genesis 3:15. The woman’s seed represents the faithful among mankind and the serpent’s seed represents all manner of evil. However, there is a specific meaning available in which the woman’s seed represents one particular person who triumphs over evil, and thus the serpent is the evil personal being over whom he triumphs. The beginning of mankind’s struggle to choose between good and evil is reflected in the Genesis 3:15 symbology, but the inevitable triumph of the woman’s seed over the evil tempter is clearly present. Moses and his readers probably understood the passage not merely of the struggle against evil in general, but also of the struggle against, and triumph over, evil men in particular.

    Another factor that argues against the temptation account being a fable is that the serpent says very little, Genesis 3:1, 4–5. In a fable the serpent would expand on his temptation, gloat over his victory, and the story-teller would draw a moral lesson about not listening to temptation. The serpent speaking does not make the account a fable, or even fable-like, but it is an accurate and genuine account of the event. We cannot but puzzle over the speaking of a serpent, but the later revelation of God has unfolded what still lay hidden in the first statements of revealed truth. So we are driven to the conclusion that Satan used the serpent as his tool or instrument and was in the final analysis the one who spoke through this creature [Leupold, 141–142]. Why did the writer, presumably Moses, who may have known that this was Satan speaking through the serpent, not simply say that Satan tempted Adam and Eve? He was led by the Holy Spirit to record the event just as it occurred, the sure mark of an eyewitness account accurately recorded, and therefore authentic and credible. There was godly wisdom in this: man was not led into sin by conversing face to face with a more powerful, terrifyingly evil spirit being, but man was led into sin by rebellion conceived within his own heart. (The heart is a term in Scripture that refers to the personality: the seat of moral reflection, choice of the will, and pattern of behavior. The term includes all the mental processes, feelings, affections, and emotions, along with the internal motivations, leading to one’s decisions and responses to life situations.)

    The conclusion to this line of inquiry is that the source material, the Scripture, is a trustworthy account of the acts and words of God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent (Satan), establishing their historicity.

    IS GENESIS 1:1–2:3 A LITERAL ACCOUNT OF CREATION?

    One may ask, what about science and the widely accepted theory of evolution? Even if one accepts Scripture as inspired, couldn’t the inspired account be interpreted to encompass the millions of years required by the theory of human evolution? Yes, it could (the gap theory). God creating through the processes of evolution is known as theistic evolution. In this view God formed matter ex nihilo and then decreed physical laws to guide the evolutionary process. However, the cost of such an interpretation is high. If some form of man existed before Adam, then death came upon all men as part of the evolutionary process, there was no sin by one man that caused death, and there is no need for a Savior to redeem sinners.

    The desire to make Scripture conform to science is why some theologians developed the gap theory in the late 1800s. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was first published 1859. The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, first published 1871, applied the evolutionary theory proposed in Origin to human evolution. A gap of time between Genesis 1:1–2 was imagined in which to place the millions of years required by the newly developed theory of evolution. According to the gap theory, millions of years after Genesis 1:1 God destroyed the earth and its creatures and human inhabitants, and in 1:2 he restored and reformed the earth in order to put on it, vv. 3–27, new creatures and new human beings. Fossils and geographic rock strata understood by human science as indicating the millions of years required by evolution are said to be from the old, Genesis 1:1, earth. Nothing in the Scripture or the Hebrew language requires or supports the gap theory. This view [the gap theory] is without support in the Scriptures, and is also without support in the cosmogonies of the nations, a fact which alone renders it suspicious [Delitzsch, 13]. (The paragraph that follows is based on Hamilton, 103–117.)

    Linguistically and syntactically the first word of v. 1, bereshit, functions independent of any other word and must be translated in the beginning. The Hebrew text of v. 1 is an independent clause and a complete sentence teaching an absolute beginning of creation as a direct act of God, thus, In the beginning God created the universe.

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