The Quest for the Historical Adam: Genesis, Hermeneutics, and Human Origins

“I have found that often when I am wrestling with someone who holds on to a major doctrinal aberration, there is almost invariably a failure of sound hermeneutics in dealing with the first three chapters of Genesis. Equally true is the fact that a good understanding of these foundational chapters in Genesis is like the proverbial stitch in time that saves nine. Dr. VanDoodewaards herculean effort to get us back to a sure footing in this matter through this doctrinal and historical survey may prove to be that life-saving stitch. It is a scholarly work of the highest standard. Be assured you will be abundantly rewarded in reading it.”

“A very necessary book. In Brazil, where the influence of liberal theology and Darwinian evolution has eroded the confidence of many evangelicals in the historicity and reliability of the Genesis account of the creation and fall of Adam and Eve, such a work must be translated, published, and widely discussed, especially in theological schools of historical denominations. Dr. VanDoodewaard has given us a major contribution to the understanding and defense of the biblical narrative about the first Adam, and therefore has also strengthened our faith in the second Adam.”

“VanDoodewaard shows us real history is as good as epicseemingly inexorable trends, alarming tolerance, and an ominous slide; compelling, illuminating, and more than a bit unnerving. Only with historical treatises like VanDoodewaards can we see clearly from where we came, how far we have slid, and yet how simple the answer is.”

“While scholarship may be turning away increasingly from the literal approach to the creation narrative of Genesis 1-3 and related texts, Dr. VanDoodewaard sets out in a fair and balanced manner the implications that such alternative hermeneutical approaches have for - not just our understanding of creation and the origins of Adam, but even basics such as our understanding of the inspiration and authority of Scripture, and of Christ and his salvific work. This is a very informative and helpful overview of a fundamental aspect of the Christian faith.”

“Dr. Bill VanDoodewaard has gifted the church with a work that began as a labor of love but has grown into a significant major study in which he marries the disciplines of a church historian and the concerns of a Christian theologian. The issues on which he touches reach down to the very foundations of the Christian worldview, to creation itself. Those who share the authors understanding of the early chapters of Genesis will deeply appreciate his detailed analysis and synthesis of how they have been interpreted throughout the Christian centuries. And those who differ, whether in fine details or in major ways, ought, in integrity, to familiarize themselves with the copious material that Dr. VanDoodewaard here presents. This is a valuable and significant contribution to a much-debated subject and from a perspective that has too often been overlooked.”

“The biblical truth claims of the historicity of Adam and the reality of the fall are neither incidental nor insignificant to the Christian faith. They are matters of gospel importance. But in our time the validity of the churchs doctrine of the special creation of Adam and Eve, body and soul, as our first parents, based on Genesis 12, and the corresponding affirmation of the historical reality of the fall, based on Genesis 3, have come under serious cross-examination. There are voices (some of whom self-identify as evangelical) calling on the church to abandon and to revise its historic teaching. Many reveal an unfamiliarity with the history of the churchs exegesis on these issues and its assessment of their hermeneutical and theological significance. William VanDoodewaards book, The Quest for the Historical Adam, then, arrives not a moment too soon. He provides us with a careful, clear, important, orthodox assessment of the question as well as a tremendously helpful survey of the history of interpretation (including current views). This will prove to be an enormously valuable resource to pastors and teachers wanting to get up to speed on the historical theology behind this discussion and to gain a quick grasp of the present theological lay of the land. Those arguing for a revisionist interpretation must now deal with the material VanDoodewaard has amassed and articulated.”