RickD wrote: Christ does seem to refer to [Adam] as a literal, historical person...
For one, in Luke 23, Luke, one of the most important historians of the first century, gives a genealogy of key persons that link Jesus to Adam. Fictitious people are not included in genealogies. Jesus is also referred to in Scripture as the SECOND Adam. The Apostle Paul clearly believed Adam to be a real person. In Jude, another person (Enoch) is connected to Adam, by saying he is "the seventh from Adam." All of these assert that there was a real Adam. Not to mention, there is a LOT more in the New Testament relating to Adam than those - with every reference revealing an assertion of a real person:Hugh: Does he? Where?
http://classic.net.bible.org/dictionary ... 0Testament
Hugh, many, many people have made the mistake of interpreting Scripture through current (and constantly changing, btw) understandings of science. Again, to do away with a real Adam & Eve, you must understand that you are dismissing a key and foundational teaching of Scripture, of sin entering the world, of our INHERITED sin nature (prolifically stated). You don't inherit something from a figurative literary technique! The entire explanation for our need for a savior is rooted in the understanding of the impact of sin, and where our sin natures came from. So, when Jesus confirms the entirety of the Old Testament as being true - well, that's a huge problem. Because if you believe what the New Testament says about Christ, then this must be believed as well - or, at least, it should logically be. Let's not forget that God made science possible - not the other way around.
God became a man, in Jesus. He physically died, and was miraculously brought back to life again. Jesus is the Creator of the universe - of which, in one moment, did not exist, and in the very next, it did, with incredible power, design, intricate functionality, and the immediate appearance of precisely the correct elements and functionality that made our universe possible and able to one day support life on earth. These are all unbelievably miraculous. Throughout the Bible, God's attributes are revealed. The Bible is full of miraculous things, as well as normal progressions of things. But make no mistake, an all-powerful God is also in control of what was written in Scripture. HE is the Author/Originator of what was recorded - man merely put down God's thoughts. And God redundantly explains in Scripture why He gave it and the importance of His word. He wants us to understand and apply it. So a God Whom would allow His word to become riddled with fairy tales and fabrications, easily misunderstood or perversely interpreted allegories - ESPECIALLY concerning KEY, foundational passages - what does that say about God's ability or His power? His love? Etc. So, rejecting so many plain-language meanings of Scripture renders it useless - even dangerous. This is the Thomas Jefferson approach of rationalism and asserting to know more than God. And why believe God created the universe, became man, resurrected from the dead, all these fantastical things, and we have so many passages that Jesus emphasizes truths form the Old Testament - many of them replete with warnings of punishment and dire consequences and damnation of the wicked - so, why reject the OT, but only have a highly selective understanding about Jesus? Why even believe the NT is true, if you want to cherry-pick such understandings?