Evangelicals Question The Existence Of Adam And Eve

[cleanhippie]

Let's go back to the beginning — all the way to Adam and Eve, and to the question: Did they exist, and did all of humanity descend from that single pair?

According to the Bible (Genesis 2:7), this is how humanity began: "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." God then called the man Adam, and later created Eve from Adam's rib.

Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find that four out of 10 Americans believe this account. It's a central tenet for much of conservative Christianity, from evangelicals to confessional churches such as the Christian Reformed Church.

But now some conservative scholars are saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account. Asked how likely it is that we all descended from Adam and Eve, Dennis Venema, a biologist at Trinity Western University, replies: "That would be against all the genomic evidence that we've assembled over the last 20 years, so not likely at all."

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/138957812/evangelicals-question-the-existence-of-adam-and-eve?ft=1&f=1001

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Are Reason and Logic finally starting to overcome Cognitive Dissonance?

[rrneck]

1. Well,

"Are Reason and Logic finally starting to overcome Cognitive Dissonance?"

Only if they can figure out how to make it pay.

[cleanhippie]

2. Hahahahahahahaha! [phone]!

BTW, you owe me a screen cleaning!

[sakabatou]

3. LOL!

[trotsky]

4. "four out of 10 Americans believe this account"

For those liberal Christians in the audience who are still laboring under the delusion that their version of the faith is "mainstream" or "majority", let's look at that number: 40% of *Americans*. Now, according to other recent surveys, about 75% of the country identifies as Christian. We can reasonably assume that the "none" category (the largest group after Christians) doesn't accept the myth, and neither do Hindus or Jews. So those 4 in 10 Americans are all in that Christians group. 40%/75% = More than half of AMERICAN CHRISTIANS believe in a literal creation event as outlined in Genesis. So who is mainstream, huh?

[darkstar3]

7. How long before someone tries to fuzz your math?

I'd say this will go unanswered because the numbers don't lie, but that would go against prior experience on this board.

[trotsky]

8. The math is even worse for liberal Protestants.

Since the Catholic Church is OK with evolution and does not teach a literal Genesis, you can subtract about a third of the Christians right off the bat. (Catholics roughly 23% of Americans, so 75% Christian - ~25% Catholic = 50% of Americans are Protestant Christians. Those 40% of Americans who believe in a literal creation event almost universally come from that group - so now you have a whopping 80% - yes EIGHTY fucking percent of U.S. Protestants are believers in a literal Adam & Eve, a literal talking snake, and all that jazz.

Those liberal Protestants who think their church is "mainstream" are woefully mistaken. They are but 10% of the overall population - a smaller proportion than non-believers (~15%)!

[exboyfil]

5. I once taught my father in law's Bethel class

I enjoyed it, but what did he give me, Genesis I and II. He knows that I firmly believe that everything before the call of Abraham is to be viewed as allegory (after Abraham history is mixed with allegory and sometimes self serving justification). Given our church, especially for a Lutheran church, is sort of fundamentalist - I had to qualify everything I said as if you accept literally the account, then ______.

One of the proponents of intelligent design (William Dembski) was browbeat by his church and employer to back off his view on the non-worldwide nature of Noah's flood. His statement is illustrative:

"n a brief section on Genesis 4-11, I weigh in on the Flood, raising questions about its universality, without adequate study or reflection on my part. Before I write on this topic again, I have much exegetical, historical, and theological work to do. In any case, not only Genesis 6-9 but also Jesus in Matthew 24 and Peter in Second Peter seem clearly to teach that the Flood was universal. As a biblical inerrantist, I believe that what the Bible teaches is true and bow to the text, including its teaching about the Flood and its universality."

[laconicsax]

6. Let's remember that 4/10 Americans is over 50% of Christians. n/t