The Generations of Heaven and Earth: Adam, the Ancient World, and Biblical Theology

by Jon Garvey

Publisher:

Cascade Books

, 2020

Overview

New science has surprised many by showing, contrary to received wisdom, that a real Adam and Eve could have lived amongst other humans in historical times and yet be the ancestors of every living person, as traditional Christianity has always taught. This theory was first published in book form in 2019, but Jon Garvey, familiar with it from its early days, believes it helps confirm the Christian account of reality by giving it a solid foundation in science and history. In this book he argues that the long existence of other people before and alongside Adam was in all likelihood known to the Bible's original authors. This conclusion helps build a compelling biblical "big story" of a new kind of created order initially frustrated by Adam's failure, but finally accomplished in Christ. This "new creation" theme complements that of the "old creation" covered in his first book, God's Good Earth. The two together contribute to a unified, and fully orthodox, understanding of the overall message of the Bible.

Key Features

• Explores its themes with creativity and classic Christian commitments
• Develops a provocative, must-read contribution to a new conversation about Adam and Eve
• Makes use of evidence from the sciences of geology, archeology, paleontology and genealogy, as well as a deep exploration of Scripture

Contents

Generations of Heaven

• Genre and Metaphor
• Biblical Signs of People Beyond Eden
• The Lord Is Not Slow

Generations of Earth

• Clues From the Ancient Near East
• Culture and Geography
• The Table of Nations

Generations of Adam (Humanity)

• What Is Man: What's in a Name?
• What Is Man: What's in an Image
• The Special Creation of Adam?
• Religion before Adam
• The Importance of Genealogy

Generations of Glory (New Creation)

• Original Sin
• The Transmission of Sin
• Adam and the New Creation
• A Tale of Three Testaments
• A Tale of Two Temples
• The Devil and All His Works
• Alternative Views

Top Highlights

“Olson then took the initiative of enlisting Chang and a software engineer, Douglas Rohde, to run detailed computer simulations. This resulted in two papers,^{6, 7} one of which appeared in Nature in 2004, demonstrating that Olson’s intuition was correct. Using virtually any reasonable input for population movements and growth, the simulations showed consistently that our probable most recent genealogical ancestor lived two or three thousand years ago, and even more strikingly, that anyone living more than five or six millennia ago, who has left any descendants at all, is a common ancestor for the whole human race. If, like me, you have at least five grandchildren, it is ‘virtually guaranteed’⁸ that you will be an ancestor to everyone living two to three thousand years from now.” (Page 3)

“If, in some way, what differentiates fallen Adam from anyone who may have existed before were some new substantial nature conferred in the garden (and we are so ignorant of the laws of form that it is hard to make sense even of that under current patterns of thought), and if original sin were a fundamental corruption of that form, then the transmission of sin in the human race might still be by natural generation. Like royalty or family estates, form is entirely heritable, and genealogical, but not necessarily or entirely genetic.” (Pages 158–159)

“Our ‘Moses’ must have received some tradition of the momentous events of the ‘primeval history’ of Genesis 1–11. And it is pretty certain that he did, because there are undoubted literary connections with the Mesopotamian accounts like Atrahasis and the Eridu Genesis.” (Page 42)

Praise for The Generations of Heaven and Earth

Summarizing a decade of contemplation, Garvey makes a provocative, must-read contribution to a new conversation about Adam and Eve. After 150 years of mistaken conflict, we now know that traditional readings of Genesis can be entirely compatible with evolutionary science, as long as there are people outside the garden. Garvey presses one step further, arguing that allowing for people outside the garden is helpful to theology, recovering the original understanding of Genesis. Evolutionary science, in this way, encourages a coherent and grounded synthesis of traditional theology and mainstream science.

—S. Joshua Swamidass, Founder, Peaceful Science, Associate Professor of Laboratory and Genomic Medicine, Washington University in Saint Louis

The genealogical Adam model is an exciting development in the discussion about human origins. Garvey uses the model as the starting point for further explorations, and he proceeds with both creativity and classic Christian commitments. The result is not so much a radical revision of traditional Christian doctrine as it is a revisiting of certain biblical themes that have been underexplored. The Generations of Heaven and Earth makes a significant contribution and it is a must-read for those interested in the science-faith conversation.

—Ken Keathley, Senior Professor of Theology, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Derek Kidner’s 1967 suggestion of a pre-Adamic human race, from among whom our historical Adamic lineage began, always seemed credible to me, and no threat to core biblical doctrines. Garvey’s fascinating collation of evidence from the sciences of geology, archaeology, paleontology, and genealogy, alongside his deep and respectful exploration of the inspired text of Scripture, not only renders this view ‘no threat,’ but also offers illuminating perspectives on a fully integrated biblical theology.

—Christopher J. H. Wright, International Ministries Director, Langham Partnership, author of The Mission of God

Product Details

• Title: The Generations of Heaven and Earth: Adam, the Ancient World, and Biblical Theology
• Author: Jon Garvey
• Publisher: Cascade Books
• Print Publication Date: 2020
• Logos Release Date: 2022
• Pages: 288
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Adam (Biblical figure); Theological anthropology › Christianity; Human beings › Origin
• ISBNs: 9781532681653, 9781532681660, 9781532681677, 1532681658, 1532681666, 1532681674
• Resource ID: LLS:GENHEAVENEARTH
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-11-27T19:31:08Z