What Happened in the Garden: The Reality and Ramifications of the Creation and Fall of Man

by Abner Chou

Publisher:

Kregel

, 2016

Overview

Evangelicals are no strangers to the creation versus evolution debate. Now the argument has spread beyond the contents of the creation account and into Genesis 2-3, with speculation about the historicity of Adam, and the fall. But does it matter which position one holds? Is anything really at stake? The faculty of The Master's College come together to contend that the second and third chapters of Genesis are indeed historical, that there are excellent reasons for believing so, and that it is an essential issue within Christian thought and life. The contents of these chapters establish the history of how everything in the world came to be what it is today. This Scripture passage—Genesis 3 especially—explains what we observe in the legal system, literature, gender roles, education, psychology, and science. Far from irrelevant, the theology and historicity of Genesis are in fact critical to our everyday lives. What Happened in the Garden? includes new scientific, literary, business, educational, and legal perspectives on creation. Through this multidisciplinary look at the debate, the contributors prove that to change our understanding of the fall is to change the way we understand reality, to revise the Christian worldview, and to reshape the faith itself.

Contents

Top Highlights

“The biblical writers do not see history as merely a means of communicating theology; rather, they see history as the means of actualizing theology. History is the vehicle by which theological truth comes into our world and impacts our lives. Far from separating history from theology, the Bible seems to tie them inextricably together.” (Page 27)

“Put differently, the logic of Paul about the resurrection is the logic of Scripture about all of its history.” (Page 31)

“As such, history as the actualization of theology is not an isolated idea but the logic of the Bible; it is the way the Bible works.” (Page 27)

“Undoubtedly, Paul’s view of the resurrection is the clearest example of how Scripture associates history and theology. He argues that if the resurrection never occurred, then our faith is in vain, our preaching is false, we have no hope, and thus are to be most pitied (1 Cor 15:19). Notice that the apostle’s logic is not that the theology of the resurrection can still be true even if the historicity of the resurrection is false. Rather, in Paul’s mind, if the history fails, so does our faith. I would suggest that such a concept is at the core of how the Bible relates history and theology.” (Page 25)

“The removal of Adam’s historicity erodes the reality of sin, undermines the authority of Scripture, and will shift our entire paradigm of the nature of the world. Genesis 3 provides the answer not only to why the world is the way it is, but also provides the solution to this problem: the Second Adam, who is as real as the first.” (Page 16)

Product Details

• Title: What Happened in the Garden: The Reality and Ramifications of the Creation and Fall of Man
• Author: Abner Chou
• Publisher: Kregel
• Print Publication Date: 2016
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subject: Textbooks
• ISBNs: 9780825442094, 0825442095
• Resource ID: LLS:WS_63B8ED6FDACC4781BC9C5F6D520C9A3D
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T04:11:46Z

About Abner Chou

About Abner Chou

Abner Chou is assistant professor of biblical studies at The Master’s College and Seminary. He has been involved in research for commentaries, books, and journal articles, and has contributed papers to the Evangelical Theological Society.