WrittenFromUtopia
Puritan Board Graduate
Was God\'s dealings with Adam a Covenant?
I believe it was, for several reasons, but I want to open this up for discussion.
Some of my reasons for thinking so are:
- All of the conditions of a covenant are in place; there is the sovereign King, the subserviant recipient of the covenant, the obligations and stipulations, and the blessings and curses.
- Paul, in Romans, deals with the elect's status under Christ as their head in parallel with all of mankind's status under Adam as their head; Federal ("covenant" in latin) headship is a covenantal concept.
- Hosea 6:6-7 states: "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me."
- Those who object "Adam = man" have many problems, as (1) ISH is a more regular Hebrew word for man (as ISHAH is the word for woman, meaning "from man"; Cf. Gen 2), (2) Adam WAS a man, so this verse applies to him if it is a generic reference to "mankind", (3) There is implied here some covenant that all men have broken.
[Edited on 7-28-2005 by WrittenFromUtopia]
I believe it was, for several reasons, but I want to open this up for discussion.
Some of my reasons for thinking so are:
- All of the conditions of a covenant are in place; there is the sovereign King, the subserviant recipient of the covenant, the obligations and stipulations, and the blessings and curses.
- Paul, in Romans, deals with the elect's status under Christ as their head in parallel with all of mankind's status under Adam as their head; Federal ("covenant" in latin) headship is a covenantal concept.
- Hosea 6:6-7 states: "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. But like Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me."
- Those who object "Adam = man" have many problems, as (1) ISH is a more regular Hebrew word for man (as ISHAH is the word for woman, meaning "from man"; Cf. Gen 2), (2) Adam WAS a man, so this verse applies to him if it is a generic reference to "mankind", (3) There is implied here some covenant that all men have broken.
[Edited on 7-28-2005 by WrittenFromUtopia]