Attention: Pastor Rickert has emailed his response and I will now copy and paste it here through this account:
May the risen Lord be with you
It is true that the Bible is not opposed to allegory (Galatians 4:24) and we have examples of individuals using it in the Old Testament (Judges 9:7-15) so it is not just a New Testament thing. However, in the case of Genesis 1-3, the text presents the information as historical facts. If you wish to interpret it as if Moses was writing an allegory, then one should ask how Moses intended the allegory to be understood (at least if one wants to be textual). Certainly Moses would have no problem with God creating Adam and Eve, so there is no reason to assume he wanted it to be understood as an allegory. So, just the plain reading of the text, and how we understand the beliefs of people during the days of Moses, leads us to think in terms of historical facts.
One of the big problems (but certainly not the only one) with reinterpreting Adam and Eve in some allegorical fashion is the negative impact it has on the message of salvation. The Fall ushers in our need for a Savior. How do you explain sin and our need without the Fall. This often leads to some sort of works-righteousness solution to sin. Also, what do you do with the first promise of the Messiah (Genesis 3:15). Also, how do you handle the numerous other Biblical references to Adam and Eve that take the account as historical? How to we understand Jesus as the “Second Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49) if there was no first Adam? To be honest, those I’ve met who struggle with the history of Adam and Eve, also struggle with being sinners, being in need of a Savior, the resurrection of the body, as well as the Divine inspiration of the Bible in general.
Other than not liking to think of ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior, other reasons I’ve heard for rejecting the historical nature of Genesis 1-3 is that it does not well harmonize with modern science, and science is taken as the final authority. Some reject it because they, a priori, reject the idea that God interacts with creation. One view takes contemporary science as the ultimate authority and the other takes personal opinion as the ultimate authority (God must conform to my opinion). According to the Bible, the Triune God is the ultimate authority, not fallen humanity.
Blessings in the Name of the Second Adam
Pastor Rickert
