Abstract
This is a study of
Origins: but it is not an either/or debate about the method
of man's origin — whether by creation or evolution.
The basic issue is not simply the method
but rather the nature that is being originated, the kind
of creature man is — whether by creation or evolution.
But what has been overlooked in this
controversey (and what complicates it immensely) is the fact
that we have not merely one man to account for, but two
— both of whom are called Adam. And these two men, the
Adam of Eden and the Adam of Bethlehem, stand in direct apposition
to each other: each being a prototype and a representative
of the other, of trure Man. Whatever we can say with certainty
about the Last Adam must be assumed for the First Adam as originally
formed whether by creation or by evolution.
In this controversy
regarding the origin and nature of man's BODY, only the biological
data are are considered: it is the theological data which
are being ignored.
This data insists that the Plan of Redemption
hinges upon the relationship of these two men called Adam, both
as to body and nature. Not just any kind of body will
suffice.
Believers need to know why
it is so damaging to the Christian Faith to allow an evolutionary
origin of man's BODY. To allow such an origin is to divorce the
Incarnation from its redemptive purpose, reducing the life and
death of Jesus Christ to one of tragedy rather than triumph.
His virgin conception and bodily resurrection become meaningless
since there is not rational necessity for either of them.
Thus the derivation of the human body
is crucial, for the Plan of Redemption depends upon the kind
of body possessed by these two men, the First and the Last
Adam.
