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The Last Adam, also given as the Final Adam or the Ultimate Adam, is a
title given to Jesus in the New Testament. Similar titles that also refer to Jesus include Second Adam and New Adam.
Twice in the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
an explicit comparison is made between
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
. In
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
5:12–21,
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
argues that "just as through the
disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the
obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:19,
NIV Niv may refer to:
* Niv, a personal name; for people with the name, see
* Niv Art Movies, a film production company of India
* Niv Art Centre, in New Delhi, India
NIV may refer to:
* The New International Version, a translation of the Bible into ...
). In
1 Corinthians 15
1 Corinthians 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus. The first eleven verses contain the earliest account o ...
:22, Paul argues that "as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive," while in verse 45 he calls Jesus the "last/ultimate/final Adam".
John Henry Newman
John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
used the phrase "Second Adam" in his hymn "Praise to the Holiest in the height", first appearing in ''
The Dream of Gerontius
''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment b ...
'':
O loving wisdom of our God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
!
When all was sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
The title "New Adam" is emphasised in the
Recapitulation theory of atonement
The recapitulation theory of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ.
While it is sometimes absent from summaries of atonement theories, more comprehensive overviews of the ...
.
The Pauline representation
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
contrasted Adam and Christ as two corporate personalities or representatives (; 1 Cor. 15:20–3, 45–9) and saw human beings as bearing the image of both Adam and Christ (1 Cor. 15:49). Where Adam's disobedience meant sin and death for all, Christ's obedience more than made good the harm due to Adam by bringing righteousness and abundance of
grace
Grace may refer to:
Places United States
* Grace, Idaho, a city
* Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois
* Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office
* Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...
(). As a "life-giving spirit", the last Adam is risen from the dead and will transform us through resurrection into a heavenly, spiritual existence (1 Cor. 15:22, 45, 48–9). Thus Paul's Adam
Christology
In Christianity, Christology (from the Ancient Greek, Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, wiktionary:-λογία, -λογία, wiktionary:-logia, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Chr ...
involved both the earthly Jesus' obedience (Rom. 5) and the risen Christ's role as giver of the Spirit (1 Cor. 15).
The same symbol, used to express Christ as the corporate, representative personality (and Adam as his foreshadow or
"type", per Rom. 5:14), was taken up to express Christ's being: he is "the last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45), or the "second man from heaven", and one not made "from earth, of dust" (1 Cor. 15:47; see Gen. 2:7). Some scholars detect an Adamic reference in several other New Testament passages: for example, in the language about "the glory of Christ, who is the image (
Gr.:''eikōn'') of God" (2 Cor. 4:4). Perhaps this is an echo of the language of about Adam being created in the divine image. If so, Paul would be thinking here of Christ as the ideal Adam, with his humanity perfectly expressing the divine image. But this
exegesis
Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, ...
is not fully convincing. One may likewise be less than fully convinced by those who find a reference to Adam in two hymnic or at least poetic passages: and .
Colossians 1:15
In , Christ is called "the image (''eikōn'') of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation". In isolation, this verse could be taken merely in an Adamic sense as referring to Christ as the first created being, the archetypal human being who visibly reflects God, the invisible Creator. However, the context suggests finding the background in personified wisdom, the perfect image of God () and the agent of creation (). The verses which follow speak of "all things" being "created through him and for him", of his being "before all things", of "all things holding together" in him, and of the plenitude of deity dwelling in him (). Any parallelism with Adam, who was simply made in the divine image and likeness, gets left behind here. On the contrary, every created thing, including the angelic "thrones, dominions, principalities, and authorities" (), is said to have originated through Christ (as creative agent) and for Christ (as final goal), who likewise is the principle of cohesion in holding the universe together. Further, it strains plausibility to argue that a mere Adamic model does justice to the language of "the fullness of God" dwelling in Christ (; cf. ).
The context of
Colossians 1:15, therefore, prompts one to interpret "the image of the invisible God" as pointing to Christ being on the divine side and being the perfect revealer of God — a thought paralleled by and
2 Corinthians
The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author named Timothy, and is addressed to the church in Corinth and Christians in the ...
4:4. Like the hymn or poem in
Colossians
The Epistle to the Colossians is the twelfth book of the New Testament. It was written, according to the text, by Paul the Apostle and Timothy, and addressed to the church in Colossae, a small Phrygian city near Laodicea and approximately fr ...
,
Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew: / , Modern: ' / ', Tiberian: ' / '; ISO 259-3: ' / ') and ''Hebrew people'' are mostly considered synonymous with the Semitic-speaking Israelites, especially in the pre-monarchic period when they were still no ...
also portrays Christ as the exact (divine) counterpart through whom the Father speaks and is revealed, and who is the one that sustains the entire universe: "He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power" ().
The whole context of suggests a more than Adamic and human interpretation of "the first-born of all creation". Christ is the "first-born" in the sense of being ''prior to'' and supreme ''over'' all creation, just as by virtue of his resurrection from the dead he is supreme vis-à-vis the Church (). The emphatic and repeated "kai autos" (
Gr. for "and he") of underline the absolute "pre-eminence" of Christ in the orders of creation and salvation history; he is pre-eminent both cosmologically and
soteriologically. He through whom the universe was created is the same Christ who formed the Church by rising from the dead. He has been active in both creation and redemption.
Philippians 2
Philippians 2 is the second chapter of the Epistle to the Philippians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle about mid-50s to early 60s AD and addressed to the Christians in Philippi. Jesuit theologian ...
In the hymn in , any Adamic interpretation of Christ's prior state of being "in the form of God" and enjoying "equality with God" () seems to be made doubtful by what follows. This divine status and mode of existence stand in counterpoint (the emphatic "but" of "but he emptied himself") to the subsequent state of "assuming the form of a slave", "being born in human likeness", and "being found in human form" (). It is what is said in v. 7 that ''first'' puts Christ with the community of human beings and their collective image, Adam. Christ belonged to the eternal sphere of divine existence () and joined the human (and Adamic) sphere only when he assumed another mode of existence () which concealed his proper (divine) being. Nevertheless, in talking of Christ as refusing to use for his own advantage or exploit for himself the godhead which was his, v. 6 might ''also'' be contrasting his humility (in becoming human and dying the death of a slave) with the presumptuous aspiration of Adam (and Eve) to enjoy illegitimate equality with God and become "like God" ().
Post-New Testament symbolism
Whether one accepts the wider circle of references to Adam or limits oneself to the clear references in and
1 Corinthians 15
1 Corinthians 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus. The first eleven verses contain the earliest account o ...
, the New Testament used Adamic language to express the being of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and, even more, his task and goal. In post-New Testament times, the symbol of Adam proved a valuable foil for
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and ...
,
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
(d. ''c.''254), St
Athanasius of Alexandria
Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...
(''c.''296–373), St
Hilary of Poitiers
Hilary of Poitiers ( la, Hilarius Pictaviensis; ) was Bishop of Poitiers and a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the "Athanasius of the West". His name comes from the Latin word for happy or ...
(''c.''315–367), St
Gregory of Nazianzus
Gregory of Nazianzus ( el, Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, ''Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos''; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory N ...
(329–389), St
Gregory of Nyssa
Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( grc-gre, Γρηγόριος Νύσσης; c. 335 – c. 395), was Bishop of Nyssa in Cappadocia from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 395. He is venerated as a saint in Catholici ...
(''c.''330–395), and other
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
, when they presented and interpreted the person and work of Christ.
St Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
(''c.''130–200), in particular, did much to elaborate further Paul's
antithetical parallelism between Adam and Christ, the latter reversing the failure of the first. In a typical passage of his ''
Adversus haereses
''Adversus Haereses'' is the commonly used Latin title for a book by the Church Father Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon in Gaul (now France). It is also often cited as ''Against Heresies'' or ''On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis''. I ...
'', he wrote:
The Son of God... was incarnate and made man; and then he summed up in himself the long line of the human race, procuring for us a comprehensive salvation
Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...
, that we might recover in Christ Jesus what in Adam we had lost, namely the state of being in the image and likeness of God" (3. 18. 1)
Islam
The
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
directly compares Jesus to Adam in terms of how he came into existence. Sura
Al-Imran
Al Imran ( ar, آلِ عِمرَان, ; The Family of Imran his wife Hanth his daughter Hazrat Maryam and his grand son Hazrat Isa) is the List of chapters in the Quran, third chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with two hundred verses (''āyāt''). ...
says, "Verily, the likeness of Jesus before
Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
is the likeness of Adam. He created him from dust, then He said to him: 'Be!' – and he was."
See also
*
Adam Kadmon
In Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon (, ''ʾāḏām qaḏmōn'', "Primordial Man") also called Adam Elyon (, ''ʾāḏām ʿelyōn'', "Most High Man"), or Adam Ila'ah (, ''ʾāḏām ʿīllāʾā'' "Supreme Man"), sometimes abbreviated as A"K (, ''ʾA.Q.' ...
*
Logos (Christianity)
In Christianity, the Logos ( el, Λόγος, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a name or title of Jesus Christ, seen as the pre-existent second person of the Trinity. In the Douay–Rheims, King James, New International, and other versions ...
*
Paul the Apostle
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
*
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
and
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
*
Federal headship Federal headship refers to the representation of a group united under a federation or covenant. For example, a country's president may be seen as the federal head of their nation, representing and speaking on its behalf before the rest of the world. ...
*
Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
Two names and a variety of titles are used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament. In Christianity, the two names Jesus and Emmanuel that refer to Jesus in the New Testament have salvific attributes.''Bible explorer's guide'' by John Phillips 200 ...
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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Further reading
* Borgen, Peder. ''Early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism''. Edinburgh: T & T Clark Publishing. 1996.
* ''Essays in Greco-Roman and Related Talmudic Literature.'' ed. by Henry A. Fischel. New York: KTAV Publishing House. 1977.
*
Ferguson, Everett. ''Backgrounds in Early Christianity''. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing. 1993.
* Freund, Richard A. ''Secrets of the Cave of Letters''. Amherst, New York: Humanity Books. 2004.
* Greene, Colin J. D. ''Christology in Cultural Perspective: Marking Out the Horizons''. Grand Rapids: InterVarsity Press. Eerdmans Publishing. 2003.
* Holt, Bradley P. ''Thirsty for God: A Brief History of Christian Spirituality''. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 2005.
* Letham, Robert. ''The Work of Christ''. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1993.
* MacLeod, Donald. ''The Person of Christ''. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1998.
*
McGrath, Alister. ''Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought''. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 1998.
* Moore, Edwin. ''"Neoplatonism."'' in The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ed. by James Fieser and Bradley Dowden. 2006. Available a
iep.edu*
Neusner, Jacob. ''From Politics to Piety: The Emergence of Pharisaic Judaism''. Providence, R. I.: Brown University. 1973.
* Norris, Richard A. Jr. ''The Christological Controversy''. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. 1980.
*
Pelikan, Jaroslav. ''Development of Christian Doctrine: Some Historical Prolegomena''. London: Yale University Press. 1969.
* _______ ''The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100–600)''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1971.
* Robertson, J. A. T.'' Redating the New Testament''. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1985.
*
Schweitzer, Albert. ''Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of the Progress from Reimarus to Wrede''. trans. by W. Montgomery. London: A & C Black. 1931.
* Tyson, John R.'' Invitation to Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Anthology''. New York: Oxford University Press. 1999.
* Wilson, R. Mcl. ''Gnosis and the New Testament''. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. 1968.
* Witherington, Ben III. ''The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth''. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1995.
* _______ ''"The Gospel of John."'' in The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. ed. by Joel Greene, Scot McKnight and I. Howard
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Christology
New Testament words and phrases
Religious concepts related with Adam and Eve