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
Adam, Original Sinner not Origin of Sin (RJS)

Adam, Original Sinner not Origin of Sin (RJS)

Last updated on: September 18, 2012 at 6:02 am by RJS

Adam, Original Sinner not Origin of Sin (RJS) 2012-09-18T06:02:47-05:00 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.

Peter Bouteneff, in the second chapter of his book Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives, discusses the uses of the creation narrative in the New Testament. The most important New Testament references are in the Pauline literature – which Bouteneff takes to include Ephesians, Colossians, and 2 Thessalonians, as well as the more commonly accepted Pauline canon, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon (more commonly accepted within within biblical scholarship that is). Bouteneff considers the Pastoral epistles separately.

Paul was an educated Jew of his day and he uses the scriptures in a method entirely consistent with Second Temple Judaism – although his conclusions are distinctively Christian. Paul has been transformed and now reads the scriptures through the lens of his Damascus Road experience and the corporate experience of the early Christians. Bouteneff notes:

To Paul – the first Christian interpreter of the OT – the Scriptures speak of, anticipate, typologize, reveal, Christ, and him crucified. In effect, Paul takes the spectrum of Jewish hermeneutical methods – literal, allegorical, midrashic – and uses these instruments in a completely new way. In so doing, he says things that are revolutionary to the Jews, but in a language and framework very much their own. (p. 36)

First century Jews took scripture very seriously as revelation from God and the story of the mission of God in the world in and through Israel. However, they did not use scripture in the fashion common in 20th and 21st century evangelicalism. Examples of creative rereadings and appropriations of scripture abound in the pages of the New Testament. Out of Egypt I called my son is, for example, a creative appropriation of Hosea by Matthew as he sought to portray the depth of theological significance in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God’s Messiah. Matthew was not bound by the authorial intent of Hosea. We’ve discussed the way Paul uses scripture in a number of posts, most recently Paul’s (First Century) Use of Scripture. Paul too was not bound by authorial intent – as his play with the word seed (Gal. 3) and creative use of Isaiah (Rom. 11) demonstrate.

One of the revolutionary developments in Paul deals with sin and redemption. It is suggested by some that a more traditional Jewish reading sees “sin as an act that can be repented of but Paul sees it as a condition from which we are freed and redeemed in Christ.” Paul uses the creation narratives to tell this Christ-centered story of redemption.

In Him All Things Hold Together. Bouteneff emphasizes that Paul’s use of the creation narratives in general and of Adam in particular is first and foremost Christ-centered. Paul did not start with a problem (sin) and look for a solution (Christ). He started with Christ and looked for ways to express the glory of the gospel of Christ in his day, age, and context. Col. 1:15-17, 1 Cor. 8:6 are key here – Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, all things have been created through Him, by Him, and for Him, in Him all things hold together, and we exist through Him. This theme is not limited to Paul, and is also seen in Hebrews 1:2 and John 1:3. This Christ-centered focus in Paul must be recalled when reading both Romans 5 and 1 Cor. 15.

For his starting point and focus are not finally sin (which is old news) but rather that which was new: Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. Paul does nothing less than define the direction and the sequence, as it were, of Christian reflection on Christ. This direction is not the one commonly associated with Christianity, namely, a kind of chronological sequence from a perfect pre-fallen state, to a one-event calamitous fall, and then to salvation that comes in 33 CE. It is a sequence that begins with Christ himself: rather than Adam being a model or image for humanity or even the first human being, it is Christ who is both. Christ is the first true human being, and Christ is the image of God and the model for Adam. (p. 45)

When Paul focuses on Adam it is as an individual, but this is because he is developing a biblically based understanding of Christ. Adam is the primordial individual from whom all descend. He is the only suitable figure for describing the universal nature of redemption through Christ of Jew and Gentile alike. As man of dust he is the contrast to Christ, the life-giving spirit. But, for Paul, Adam was made for Christ – not Christ for Adam.

The universalizing impact of Paul’s use of Adam should not be minimized. The key passages in Romans and 1 Corinthians were most likely directed primarily toward Gentile Christians in Rome and Corinth. In discussing Romans 5 Bouteneff emphasizing this universal aspect of both sin and the redemption through Christ.

Making the first sinner and the first-made human being one and the same person has the effect of opening out the genealogy, the effects of sin, and therefore the scope of salvation, which now incorporates the Gentiles. The dividing line is no longer between Jew and Gentile, but between the old dispensation (or old Adam) and the new dispensation in Christ. (p. 40)

It seems clear that Paul’s view of the OT is centered in Christ. Adam is not the significant figure – Christ is the significant figure and the central figure in a Christian reading of history and a Christian reading of the Jewish scripture.

The Western church however has read Romans 5 with Adam responsible for original sin, corrupting the nature of all who follow. There are aspects of this reading that tend to make Adam the central figure. Christ is a response to Adam, not the central figure of history in whom all things have their being.

Bouteneff, coming from an Eastern Orthodox perspective, suggests that the traditional Western view of original sin is a distortion – “The idea of “original sin” as a causal factor lies not with Paul but with Jerome and, on the basis of Jerome’s translation, with Augustine.” (p. 41)

What matters to Paul is that Adam … sins and comes to stand for the one through whom sin – and therefore death – came into the world. … To see Adam as the original sinner was to establish him as the foil for Christ, the deliverer from sin and death. Christ could be seen as the new Adam. We know this story well but must recognize Paul’s genius in conceiving it. We must also know where to stop attributing theology to Paul: he did not say, for example, that all mortals sin “in Adam” or are born guilty of Adam’s sin. Nor, in fact, did he say anything about “pre-fallen” Adam or his immortality or perfection, for Adam was but “the man of dust.” Christ alone, for Paul, is the icon of God (Col. 1:15). (p. 54)

Paul’s use of Adam is significant because Adam universalizes the need for redemption back to the very beginning – not because Adam caused a problem in God’s perfect creation. Adam is the original sinner, not the origin of sin.

More from Colossians 1. As Bouteneff emphasizes, Paul sees Christ as having accomplished something of profound significance through his death and resurrection – he is the deliverer from sin and death. I started this discussion with the great Christological hymn Paul quotes in Col. 1:15-18. But in the focus on Col. 1:15-17 we can’t forget what comes in 19-23. We were alienated but have been reconciled. We have been freed and redeemed by God through Christ.

Regardless of where one comes down on the historicity of Adam, we ought to align ourselves with the Christ-centered focus of Paul. The linear sequence Creation-Fall-(Israel)-Redemption-(Church)-Consummation brings Christ into the middle of the story as a response to the first three acts. Adam’s act, according to this view, took things off course and requires Christ’s sacrifice as a corrective – a “plan B” to get us back on track. We need, perhaps, a more robust Christology and a view of the mission of God with Christ clearly at beginning in creation, at the center in reconciliation, and at the end in consummation.

How does our vision of creation mesh with a Christo-centric reading of scripture?

Is Christ a response to Adam?

If not, what impact does this have on our view of the mission of God?

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.

Adam

Bible

Paul

Previous Post

September 18, 2012

Orthodoxy's Postage Stamp

Next Post

September 18, 2012 The Problem of Disconnection

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

How many minor prophets are there in the Old Testament?

Select your answer to see how you score.

15 12 10 7