Literal Interpretations and the Genealogical Adam

From what I understand, it seems that most scholars are agreeing that the Genealogical Adam is consistent with a textual analysis of Genesis. There appears to be two classes of objections, one from the right and one from the left.

From the left, they agree it is consistent with Genesis, but do not think several of the details (e.g. historical Adam, original sin, universal descent from Adam, etc.) are required by Scripture. Most people in this camp already affirm evolution and are opposed to traditional theology from the get go, so I’m not engaged with that debate. I do not really care what they think of Adam if they have found a way to come to peace with science.

From the right, the debate seems to be primarily on the theological coherence of traditional theology. I’ve put some ideas out there that have been helpful for some. There are books being written on this now, both myself and by others. Several people seem to think it will ultimately pan out, but I expect it will take more than my effort to close the loop. At this point, I mainly just starting the conversation.

This might be a good primer I recently wrote for a theology student, if you care to catch up on the conversation: Story Three: Recent Sole-Genealogical Progenitor Adam - #34 by swamidass.

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