Reaffirmation Statement Concerning Creation and the Fall of Man

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This document was produced by the IEAC on 4th November 2015. Ecclesias that belong to the IEAC are listed below under "signatories".

Notes and Hyperlinks to other discussion and Bible passages, not necessarily supporting the Statement, are not part of the original document.
See also Responding to the IEAC Reaffirmation Statement by brother Mike Pearson.

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REAFFIRMATION STATEMENT CONCERNING CREATION AND THE FALL OF MAN

Background

The opening chapters of the Bible describe the creation of the heavens and the earth. These chapters are infused with the majesty, holiness and truthfulness of God. Here we discover the origins of life seen all about us today, followed by Adam’s transgression and the consequences of sin. We accept the creation record as literal in its details.

The teaching of Theistic Evolution, or Evolutionary Creationism as it is sometimes called, undermines this understanding. Theistic Evolution embraces the idea that life began under the direction of God perhaps billions of years ago and was brought to its current state by God through a process of evolutionary biological transitions. As such it has serious implications that challenge our understanding of Scripture as defined in the Statement of Faith.[1]

In response to this challenge, the undersigned ecclesias have formulated the following statement to reaffirm what we believe the Scriptures teach.

Reaffirmation

We reaffirm our belief in the first principles of the One Faith revealed in the Scriptures as defined in the Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF), with positive and negative clauses and the Commandments of Christ, and as understood in conjunction with the Cooper-Carter Addendum and the Fellowship Clauses contained in pages 13-15 of the Australian Unity Booklet.

In making this reaffirmation we observe that a number of statements in the BASF and the Cooper-Carter Addendum directly relate to the creation of man, the origin of sin and death, and the nature of man before and after transgression.

The BASF Foundation Clause states that the Scriptures are ‘the only source of knowledge concerning God and His purposes at present extant or available in the earth’. While some branches of science yield information that allows us to appreciate the eternal power and wisdom of God, the teaching of the Scriptures takes precedence over human explanations relating to the origin of life in the current creation[2] ‘The law and the testimony’ remain our ultimate source of truth (Isaiah 8:20).

BASF Clause 1 states that God ‘created heaven and earth and all that in them is’. There is no hint or suggestion in the Scriptures of a gradual evolutionary process[3] by which God brought life to the planet.[4] In contrast the Scriptures consistently speak of a miraculous creation of complex and complete life forms – ‘God said ... and it was so’ (Genesis 1:3, 11, 12, 15, 21-23, 24, 26, 27, 30; 2:1-3; Psalm 33:6-9).

BASF Clauses 3 and 4 both state that Adam was ‘the first man’, with Clause 4 adding ‘whom God created’.[5] The reference to Adam being the ‘first man’ precludes the view that there were other humans or similar beings existing at the time of his creation (see also Genesis 2:5; 2:18; 3:20; Acts 17:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:45, 47). This understanding is consistent with the teaching of Christ and the apostles, all of whom upheld the literal interpretation of the creation record (Mark 10:6-7; 1 Corinthians 11:7-9; 2 Corinthians 4:6; 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:13-14; 2 Peter 3:5).

BASF Clause 4 states that Adam was created ‘“very good” in kind and condition’. This phrase is used[6] to mean that Adam was not created with a nature flawed by the imperfections that we experience (Romans 7:23; 8:2)[7].

BASF Clause 5 in conjunction with [8] the Cooper-Carter Addendum teaches[9] that the sentence passed upon Adam due to his disobedience ‘became a physical law of his being’ so that ‘he fell from his very good state’. Adam’s transgression brought about both a sentence of death (resulting in a change in the condition of his nature to become a dying creature) and a proneness to sin.

The Addendum states[10] ‘As his descendants, we partake of that mortality that came by sin and inherit a nature prone to sin’. This statement signifies that the whole human race is physically descended from Adam. This mortality and the proneness to sin came to the human race because of Adam’s sin (Genesis 2:17; 3:19; 5:3).

Paul also teaches[11]:

  • ‘For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive’ (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
  • ‘For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’ (Romans 6:23)
  • ‘Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned’ (Romans 5:12).

Signatory Ecclesias

Aberfoyle Park, Barossa, Brighton, Cumberland, East Torrens, Enfield, Glenlock, Golden Grove, Happy Valley, Hyde Park, Kersbrook, Mount Barker, Murray Bridge, Tea Tree Gully, Woodville

Date

4 November 2015

Notes

These notes are not part of the original document. — BP

  1. ↑ Re the terminology of "as defined in the Statement of Faith", see Resistance to "THE Statement of Faith".
  2. ↑ See here re "the current creation".
  3. ↑ Correction: there is no hint or suggestion in the Scriptures known to the brethren of the IEAC of a gradual evolutionary process by which God brought life to the planet! Ibn Ezra (1089-1164) and Abrabanel (1437-1508), for example, would have disagreed:

    Two classic commentators, Ibn Ezra and Abrabanel, interpret it [i.e. the last word of Genesis 2:3, לעשות] to mean, '[he had created it] in such a way that it would continue to create itself.' Without stretching the text too far, we might say that ‘la'asot’ means, quite simply, 'to evolve'.

    — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The Great Partnership
  4. ↑ If "brought life to the planet" is meant to refer to the origin of life, it is mistaken: see Abiogenesis.
  5. ↑ See Beliefs about descent from a single couple and links from 1 Corinthians 15:47
  6. ↑ By whom? –BP
  7. ↑ These verses mention human imperfections but do not mention the creation of Adam.
  8. ↑ When considering this "conjunction" and what the BASF does according to this statement, remember that it preceded the CCA by half a century. —BP
  9. ↑ Note the biased language here: in previous paragraphs the BASF states but where the "Reaffirmation" is less straighforward the BASF is said to teach. –BP
  10. ↑ Why not teaches? –BP
  11. ↑ teaches again: Paul is drawn in. –BP
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