Review of William Craig's In Quest of the Historical Adam

“Most books of similar length to Craig’s In Quest of the Historical Adam receive much shorter reviews than this one. However, every now and then, a book comes along that deserves a much longer treatment, such as this one.” - London Lyceum

Discussion

Attempts at accepting human evolution and yet maintaining the literal creation of Adam can be thick, confusing, and extreme. I am a young earth creationist with some flexibility; I can tolerate those who insist that Genesis 1-11 is a unique genre. But Craig’s work (assuming he is reviewed fairly) is way beyond where I could stretch. I appreciate Craig’s attempt to submit to the Scriptures and thus his desire to defend a literal Adam. That is important. But to harmonize Adam with accepted theories of human evolution, that is too much, IMO.

"The Midrash Detective"

Reading the book is on my to do list. I want to see if I can understand him. Based on the reviews I’ve seen so far, his angle is a bit complex and easy to misread. It seems clear enough though that he wants to maximize compatibility between Scripture and science.

I’m conflicted about that. On the one hand, all “truth” that really is truth is God’s truth. On the other, it’s so easy to put currently dominant science in the driver’s seat in the effort to make the two get along as much as possible. And once Scripture and faith are not in the driver’s seat… your journey goes astray.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.