Week 5: What Happened in the Garden

This week we will complete "What Happened in the Garden". If you have not already ordered teh next book, may I encourage you to quickly do so. We begin "A Hunger For God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer" next week. If you ever have any questions or suggestions for books, movies or topic discussions, please send me an e-mail at overflowblog@outlook.com.

Recommended Reading:
Chapters 12- Conclusion (Pages 273-302)
Total page count excluding chapter bibliographies: ~25 pages

Key Quotes:
Chapter 12:
"Christian students desire more than just training for a career and a life of self-promotion… They want to be equipped for a life of enduring commitment to Christ and instructed to think like Christ, value like Christ, and serve as Christ has called them to serve in the home, church, academy, community, and marketplace." (280)

"People often think that education is the solution to the world's problems. But we know better, and that is why Genesis 3 is important because the idea of 'education as solution' is based upon the lie in the garden." (282)

Chapter 13:
"Deny [the doctrine of original sin] and you undermine the very foundation of gospel truth. Eliminate the fall or the headship of Adam and you compromise everything the Bible ever says about sin, redemption, human nature-- even the work of Christ." (289)

"Apart from a real, singular, specific individual from whom all of us descended,…the origin and universality of human sin are insurmountable mysteries…Doubt the historicity of Adam, and you have no good reason to believe any of the rest of the Bible." (290)

Conclusion:
"Our interpretation of Genesis 3 is not merely an academic decision about a passage or even a decision about how science and faith work together. This is a decision about the way we think about Christianity as a whole." (300)

"Part of believing God is having the confidence that the truth of His Word will never fail." (301)

Engagement Questions:
Chapter 12:

1. What three shifts in Higher Education does the author identify as contributing factors in having us view education as a secular, and not biblical, realm?
2. What are the differences between the secular and biblical higher education philosophies?
3. What is the foundational trilogy of American higher education and how do they intersect with Christian higher education?

Chapter 13:

1. Why is it crucially important to view Adam as Historical in relation to Christ?
2. Is it fair for all to be condemned because of the sin of Adam? Is Federal Headship justified?

Conclusion:

1. How does viewing Genesis 1-3 as dealing with "what" happened and not "how" things came to be affect our theology and understanding of truth?

Summary:
Chapter 12:
Chapter twelve opens with a punch! Don't believe me, here is a quote from the very first paragraph: universities "can give Christian students the skills and information for vocation [but]…knowledge apart from God actually produces a fallen understanding of the world and perpetuates the disaster of Genesis 3" (273). The point that he is making is that when we approach the education system from the stance that knowledge apart from God is all we need, then have not learned from what happened in the garden. If we are not careful, we too can fall into the same trap that Eve fell into when she desired the fruit to obtain knowledge apart from the will of God.

Far too many people approach education as though it were a completely secular arena, however knowledge without a submission to God will only leave us chasing after idols and deeper into sin. When we abandon divine revelation, we end up "elevating man's intellect and reason" and turn the whole activity as a means for bettering society and making our own lives comfortable (278). Contrast that philosophy with the Christian understanding that education is a means for learning more about the Creator, His creation, and then educating ourselves to better fulfill the calling He has placed in our lives. When we approach education correctly, we begin to understand that it is another method for worshipping God as we affirm Scripture's authority for the glory of God.

Chapter 13:
Chapter 13 rounds off the entire study from a theological perspective by focusing on the doctrine of Adamic headship. Dr. John MacArthur uses as his text Romans 5:12-19 to help us understand the importance of a real historical Adam. In his words, "to deny the historicity of Adam is to undermine what Scripture says about Christ's role and function as our Redeemer" (288). If that statement is not true, then the whole debate about a historical Adam is nonsense. However, Dr. MacArthur explains that this truth is incredibly important because a denial of it leads us to have no affirmative source for the origin of man, sin, and salvation. The very foundations of the faith would crumble as false narratives would fill in the gaps. Without a real historical Adam and fall, then evolution and the propagation of evil due to chemical imbalances in the brain is just as valid as any other theory.

Dr. MacArthur also discusses a topic which has been found to be controversial among believers, federal headship. Using the same pericope (passage of Scripture) he reminds us that Adam's sin was not the first sin. Satan had rebelled against God and Eve ate of the fruit before Adam sinned and yet Adam, as head of the race, bears the responsibility for throwing humanity into disarray. This makes the comparison from Paul more vivid as we can understand how as sin entered the world through one man, so too salvation is made available because of the obedience of another head, Christ. Just from our own experiences and a quick read of the news proves the doctrine of original sin to be true and the only remedy is Christ (298).

Conclusion:
In the conclusion, Dr. Abner Chou synthesizes each chapter to show us the importance of Genesis 1-3 and also the truth that we must affirm. That faith in God also means holding to His word, without trying to make it fit into any man-made theories. It also means that we must take God at His word, knowing that the truth of it will never fail. Although written somewhat in an academic manner, this book reminds us that this is not merely an intellectual study but ought to show us how "science and faith work together" (300). It reminds us that we all have fallen short of the glory of God must continue to lean on the Spirit for guidance as we seek to know God through His Word and creation as we await for the day when all has been restored and we enter into Paradise and walk once again with God.

Grace and Peace,
Alex Galvez

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