7.5 Danger No 5: Relativation of Jesus’ Work of Redemption

The first man’s fall into sin was a real event and is the direct cause of sin in this world; everybody else became tainted: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned. . . . Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam” (Rom. 5:12–14, emphasis added). In the New Testament, Adam is explicitly named as the first man (1 Cor. 15:45; 1 Tim. 2:13). Theistic evolution does not acknowledge Adam as the first man; neither that he was created directly by God. The creation account is regarded as merely a mythical tale and nothing more than that. Jesus’ work of redemption is relativized in the same way, because the sinner Adam and the Savior Jesus are linked together in the Bible:

The judgment followed one sin [Adam’s] and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men (Rom. 5:16–18).

If one does not regard Adam as a real historical person but as a mythical figure, then one can consequently not accept Jesus’ work of redemption as real. This is exactly what is meant by E. Jantsch when he says [J1, p. 412]: “Humanity will not be saved by a god, but we will save ourselves.” In this way, theistic evolution conceals the glorious light of the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4) through which man’s deliverance is accomplished.