The attempts to dodge a literal reading of the Genesis account of creation began in earnest with the rise of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and have continued unceasingly ever since. In recent years these attempts have been used by some to support the idea that marriage doesn’t necessarily have to be between a man and a woman. As the thinking goes, if you mythologize the story of Adam and Eve, you leave the door open for the allowance of same-sex marriages.

The problem, however, with trying to water down the literalness of Genesis chapters 1 and 2 is this: Jesus and the writers of the New Testament took the Genesis creation story quite literally. In keeping with that literalness, they spoke of the story of Adam and Eve as being an actual event that involved an actual man and an actual woman. Therefore, if you are looking for a way to turn Adam and Eve into myths or fictional characters, don’t try quoting Jesus and the writers of the New Testament.

For starters, let me cite a couple of references from Jesus:

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-5, N.K.J.V.)

“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (John 5:46-47, N.K.J.V.)

Concerning that John 5:46-47 passage, Christ’s words imply two important truths. Truth #1: In saying that Moses had “writings,” Jesus confirmed the Jews’ long-held historical belief that Moses wrote not only the book of Genesis but also the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy. Truth #2: In specifically mentioning Genesis 3:15 (where Jesus is described as being “the Seed of the woman”), Jesus confirmed the literalness of the entire story of Adam and Eve, which begins in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 and carries over into chapter 3.

Okay, now that we have established that Jesus believed that Adam and Eve were literal people, let’s move on and look at what the apostle Paul taught in regards to the topic. We find his teaching in multiple passages. What I’ll do here is cite each passage and briefly explain how it applies to the question of whether or not Adam and Eve literally existed.

First, in Romans 5:12 Paul distinctly depicts Adam as a real man who not only was the father of the human race but took the race down into sin:

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…(N.K.J.V.)

Second, in Romans 8:20-21 he speaks of the effect that Adam’s sin had upon all creation:

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (N.K.J.V.)

Third, in 1 Corinthians 15:45 he calls Adam “the first Adam” and Jesus “the last Adam,” and since Jesus obviously existed as an historical figure, Adam must have as well:

And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. (N.K.J.V.)

Fourth, in 1 Timothy 2:13-14 he can’t be any clearer that Adam and Eve actually existed and that the Genesis account of them rings true:

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (N.K.J.V.)

And now, before I close this post let me also mention just a quick word about Luke. Not only did Luke consider Adam to be an actual man who once existed, he traced the genealogical family tree of Jesus all the way back to Adam. The verse is Luke 3:38, the concluding verse in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus. That verse says:

the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (N.K.J.V.)

Clearly, in all of these references it is obvious that Jesus, Paul, and Luke took the Genesis creation story, including what it says about Adam and Eve, quite literally. Consequently, if you are going to take on that story and try to explain it away as myth or fiction, you are going to have to take on them as well. You see, it’s not just two chapters in the Old Testament you are denying. No, it’s doctrinal teaching given in multiple passages by multiple characters in the New Testament.

Of course, if someone wants to deny all of the Bible, including the entire New Testament, well, that’s a whole other conversation for a whole other time. But let’s have none of this “buffet line” approach to scripture by which we try to keep the passages that suit us and dismiss those that don’t. Frankly, I have more respect for someone who looks me squarely in the eye and says, “I think the entire Bible is about as factual as Jack & the Beanstalk” than I do someone who wants to keep the words of Jesus but mythologize the creation week and the story of Adam and Eve. I mean, how can we trust a literal interpretation of John 3:16 if we can’t apply that same kind of interpretation to Genesis 1:16 and 2:16? Think about it.