In August I raised the question of whether Catholic theology understands Adam and Eve as real, historical persons, especially in light of new scientific evidence reagrding the origin of human beings, evidence which was now being considered by evangelical scholars. Albert Mohler warned against this move, arguing it would pull down the Christian edifice, built on the Fall and Original Sin. DotCommonweal’s David Gibson has taken up the issue in What Do Catholics Believe About Adam and Eve?, citing John Farrell’s piece from Forbes Can Theology Evolve? Like me, he was surprised that the Catholic position might not be what he thought it was. I would encourage readers to go back and look at my piece from August, which deals more extensively, I think, with the actual theological statements from the Church, but do follow the links at all of these sites. This is a fascinating and significant issue, not simply at a scientific level, but at a theological level.

John W. Martens

Follow me on Twitter @johnwmartens 

John W. Martens is an associate professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn,where he teaches early Christianity and Judaism. He also directs the Master of Arts in Theology program at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. He was born in Vancouver, B.C. into a Mennonite family that had decided to confront modernity in an urban setting. His post-secondary education began at Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kansas, came to an abrupt stop, then started again at Vancouver Community College, where his interest in Judaism and Christianity in the earliest centuries emerged. He then studied at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and McMaster University, with stops at University of Haifa and University of Tubingen. His writing often explores the intersection of Jewish, Christian and Greco-Roman culture and belief, such as in "let the little children come to me: Children and Childhood in Early Christianity" (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2009), but he is not beyond jumping into the intersection of modernity and ancient religion, as in "The End of the World: The Apocalyptic Imagination in Film and Television" (Winnipeg: J. Gordon Shillingford Press, 2003). He blogs at  www.biblejunkies.com and at www.americamagazine.org for "The Good Word." You can follow him on Twitter @biblejunkies, where he would be excited to welcome you to his random and obscure interests, which range from the Vancouver Canucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, to his dog, and 70s punk, pop and rock. When he can, he brings students to Greece, Turkey and Rome to explore the artifacts and landscape of the ancient world. He lives in St. Paul with his wife and has two sons. He is certain that the world will not end until the Vancouver Canucks have won the Stanley Cup, as evidence has emerged from the Revelation of John, 1 Enoch, 2 Baruch, and 4 Ezra which all point in this direction.