Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Jesus Creed

Home
Evangelical
Out of Egypt? … Say What? (RJS)

Out of Egypt? … Say What? (RJS)

Last updated on: April 30, 2012 at 5:35 am by RJS

Out of Egypt? … Say What? (RJS) 2012-04-30T05:35:58-05:00 RJS

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Kevin DeYoung, Senior Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan and a self proclaimed evangelical (because there is no other kind), posted 10 Reasons to Believe in a Historical Adam on the Gospel Coalition website last week.

His post has, I am sure, many supporters and has drawn some response from those who are less sympathetic. Pete Enns posted his thoughts on DeYoung’s reasons, as did James McGrath. I don’t want to repeat their comments here or add many of my own. None of DeYoung’s reasons are particularly novel, they are arguments that we’ve discussed in the context of a something like four dozen posts over the last several years (look under Adam in the Science and Faith Archive for many of these posts). A number of DeYoung’s reasons came up in our discussion of C. John Collins’s book Did Adam and Eve Really Exist?: Who They Were and Why You Should Care. In fact, Collins is sympathetic with several of the reasons DeYoung gives (and less sympathetic with others, although DeYoung still recommends the book).

In this post I would like to focus in on two of DeYoung’s reasons:

5. The genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1 and Luke 3 treat Adam as historical.

6. Paul believed in a historical Adam.

… and pose them as questions, not to debunk or ridicule them, but to continue the conversation.

Does it matter that Luke 3 treats Adam as historical? If so, why?

Does it matter that Paul believed in a historical Adam? If so, why?

There are generally several lines of thought behind these reasons. I think it likely, as does Peter Enns, that Paul and Luke both thought Adam was a historical individual and that he was progenitor of the human race, or at least of Israel. Paul was a first century Jew familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures. As far as I can tell he would have no reason to have questioned the historicity of Adam. I doubt that God cleansed him of his misconceptions about cosmology or biology or history before inspiring him to preach, teach, and write about Jesus Christ. The historicity of Adam may or may not fall into this category.

Luke was a first century Christian and, whether Jew or Gentile, he too would have no reason to question the historicity of Adam. He certainly knew scripture and used the genealogies recorded in Chronicles and Genesis to construct his genealogy of Jesus.

But the veracity of scripture is at stake. I have heard the argument put this way at times: Genesis 1-11 shows literary evidence of story and appropriation of and restructuring on Ancient Near Eastern myths. Even Origen as early as the first half of the third century commented on the figurative and literary elements of Genesis as he responded to the criticisms of Celsus (an ancient Dawkins it appears). But Luke and Paul settled the matter for Christians. In the inspired text of the New Testament we have clear confirmation that Adam is a unique historical individual, first in the lineage of Jesus. Failure to interpret Adam as a historical individual invalidates the message of Luke concerning Jesus and undermines the authority of scripture.

To what extent though, does an Old Testament allusion in the New Testament constrain the interpretation of the Old Testament?

As an amateur reader of scripture one passage has long shaped my approach to these questions.

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” (Mt. 2:14-15)

Many times when growing up I heard teachers and preachers extoll the way God fulfilled His prophecy, giving us confidence in His power, His faithfulness and His Son. In this passage Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1, of course he neglects the first part of the phrase and the entire context of the passage.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. But the more they were called, the more they went away from me. They sacrificed to the Baals and they burned incense to images. It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by the arms; but they did not realize it was I who healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent? (Hosea 11:1-5)

This certainly doesn’t seem like a Messianic prophecy, or for that matter, anything other than a description of Israel and a reference to the Exodus.

Does the use of Hosea by Matthew demand that we read this as a Messianic prophecy? Is the veracity of scripture at stake if we do not? Does failure to find this a Messianic prophecy invalidate the place of Jesus as Messiah?

This is a passage I had wrangled with long before reading Inspiration and Incarnation, as bored with a message I perused the notes and cross references in my Bible (no wonder the church is turning to scripture projected in tight little bits on a screen). But it also comes as no surprise that the passage is dealt with in the chapter on The Old Testament and Its Interpretation in the New Testament.

Hosea’s point here is that Israel is God’s child, his son, and he loved him. So he delivered him from Egypt. But, in return, the Israelites turned to idolatry. This passage is not predictive of Christ’s coming but retrospective of Israel’s disobedience.

It would take a tremendous amount of mental energy to argue that Matthew is respecting the historical context of Hosea’s words, that is, there is actually something predictive in Hosea 11. (p. 133)

So why did Matthew use Hosea this way? We will never know for sure, But some things are clear. Enns puts it like this:

Matthew was motivated by his conviction that Christ is the focus of Scripture … It is because Matthew knew that Jesus was the Christ that he also knew that all Scripture speaks of him. (p. 134)

Likewise Paul and Luke knew Jesus, and they knew that all Scripture speaks of him. They knew, as we should know also today, that Jesus as God’s Messiah is the culmination of God’s work in the redemption of Israel and of all mankind. Luke uses the genealogy to make this point. Jesus, descended from David, and thus from all Israel back to the beginning, is God’s Messiah. Whether Luke thought Genesis and Adam were literal historical accounts or not plays no substantive role in his use of the text. He would have used the text in the same manner either way. And, as Matthew illustrates, the veracity of the New Testament message is not constrained by the use made of specific Old Testament texts. There is a broader Christological message that underpins the New Testament, and this is where we place our faith.

The question of Paul, at least in some of the passages, is more problematic. Not because Paul believed or didn’t believe Adam was historical. I don’t think that makes any real difference at all. But rather it is more problematic because there may (or may not) be a more significant connection between Paul’s knowledge of Jesus and the way he ties this to Adam. And this will leads us to a discussion of the next section of The Evolution of Adam. But even here the message and use of Scripture is completely Christ centered. After all Paul told Timothy:

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

I expect there are many who disagree with much, or even all that I’ve said. And perhaps even some who are left spinning with the leap from Matthew to Luke and Paul, trying to find the point. So what do you think?

What should we learn from the way Matthew, Luke, Paul, or other New Testament writers use or allude to the Old Testament?

What is your underlying assumption about scripture?

Do you agree with DeYoung? Why or why not?

If you wish to contact me directly, you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

If interested you can subscribe to a full text feed of my posts at Musings on Science and Theology.

Previous Post

February 16, 2012

Christian Judgment

Next Post

February 16, 2012 If Football Ended...

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

After my test ended, I received double what I lost, except for one category where the number remained the same. What was restored equally?

Select your answer to see how you score.

His wealth His flocks His children His servants