Abstract
This article argues that affirming the historicity of Adam is essential for Christian theology. The discussion proceeds in four stages. Historically, it demonstrates that key figures such as Origen, Augustine, and Calvin regarded Adam as the first man whose disobedience affected all humanity. Biblically, it shows that Genesis presents Adam in genealogical continuity with later figures, that Jesus himself appeals to Adam and Eve as real, and that Paul’s Adam–Christ parallel in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 depends on Adam’s existence. Theologically, it contends that without a real Adam, doctrines of sin, death, and redemption collapse into metaphor. Philosophically, it maintains that the universality of sin requires a historical fall rather than statistical inevitability or divine defect. Taken together, these considerations demonstrate that rejecting a historical Adam undermines both the coherence of Scripture and the necessity of Christ’s redemptive work.
Recommended Citation:
Anderson, L. J. “Humanity, Sin, and the Historical Adam: Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Philosophical Considerations,” Lamad Theological Review, September 2025. https://lamadpress.com/2025/09/19/humanity-sin-and-the-historical-adam-historical-biblical-theological-and-philosophical-considerations/
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