Adam in the New Testament: Mere Teaching Model or First Historical Man? (Second Edition)

“What an important book this is for today! Sane, clear and thorough, it offers a stout answer for those questioning the historicity of Adam, and lucidly shows why it remains non–negotiable. All thinking Christians need to read this.”

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“Denying the historicity of Adam or his significance for our own original sin is not just an issue of science versus the Old Testament. For the New Testament, as in Romans 5, deals with Adam as well, in an important theological context. For the apostle Paul, our sin begins in Adam, as our redemption begins in Christ. Theologians cannot escape this teaching merely by saying that Adam is a myth or legend; they must also account for his role in Paul’s doctrine of salvation. So a number of theologians, such as H. M. Kuitert, have postulated that Adam is a ’teaching model’ in the New Testament. Versteeg’s remarkably cogent and concise book tells us why this view is impossible. It was a great help to us when it was first published in 1979. But it is even more helpful now. Recently, some have claimed that analysis of the human genome forbids us to believe that the human race began with a single couple. In the face of such arguments, it is important to remind ourselves why the church has maintained that Adam is the first man and the source of human sin. I do hope this book gets a wide readership.”

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“Many thanks for reissuing this helpful work. Among its many virtues let me mention two. First, Versteeg stresses clearly that Paul’s arguments in Romans and 1 Corinthians depend on historical sequence: Adam did something, and as a result something happened, and then Jesus came to deal with the consequences of it all. In this process both Adam and Jesus acted as representatives. Second, our view of Adam is bound up with our view of sin: is it an intruder into God’s good world (the traditional position), or is it a necessary part of the creation (which denial of historical Adam entails)? Anyone reading this will appreciate that contemporary discussions of Adam are still treading the same ground.”

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