I’m grateful for all the time and effort that our commentators have obviously put into their essays. Faced with such a plethora of detailed comments, I don’t want us—especially those who have not yet read the book—to lose the forest for the trees. So I want to take a step back and look at the…

The five chapters in Part 3 of William Lane Craig’s beautifully written book In Quest of the Historical Adam turn to the scientific investigation of human evolution to answer three questions: What are the behaviors that make us humans? When do we first see these behaviors in geological time? What are the scientific objections to…

Bill Craig has presented us with an important book that does something that no other volume has done before, and that is to provide the reader with a comprehensive review of biblical, theological, and scientific data and arguments concerning the historical Adam. As a result, the book makes an important contribution to this (pun intended)…

It is a pleasure to participate in this symposium on Bill Craig’s new book, In Quest of the Historical Adam. But more than that, it is a responsibility: the issues are hardly of secondary importance. Indeed, for all that I think that one’s views on subjects such as whom to baptize, and what happens when…

There is much to like in this new book. For one thing, Bill Craig’s writing is clean as a whistle. His arguments are easy to follow and almost always illuminating. Writing this kind of monograph takes courage—most scholars prefer to hunker down in their silos, but Craig is a man on a mission, straddling multiple…

With In Quest of the Historical Adam, William Lane Craig enters into the current discussion about the historicity of the biblical original couple. At the outset, Craig cautions: People on both the left and the right can be expected to be upset with this book and, unfortunately, its author. All I can do is plead…

Dr. Joshua Swamidass has undertaken quite a task: to persuade a wide range of readers, both Christian and non-Christian, that Adam and Eve did in fact exist. Specifically, they were created de novo by God only a few thousand years ago, placed in the Garden of Eden, fell into temptation and sin, were exiled, and…

The disruption of a pandemic clearly shows us the tension that mounts in the face of uncertainties. We also see real danger adopting and acting from dogmatic positions when the data leaves an ambiguity in how best to read and understand it. The danger posed by a reluctance to patiently wait in persistent and mounting…

This is a fascinating and helpful book, important in our day. I am thankful for it. It is not a perfect book, of course. There is only one of those! I cannot agree with everything Joshua Swamidass writes. In fact, that would not be possible because he allows for so many mutually contradictory options for…

Joshua Swamidass’s The Genealogical Adam and Eve is one of the most important books in science and religion published in recent decades. It has won deserving praises from scientists and scholars from different worldviews, and has convinced sceptics (e.g., biologist Nathan Lents) and Christians (e.g., biologist Darrel Falk) to change their views concerning the compatibility of…

Given your acceptance of the scientific consensus on the age of the cosmos, why do you reject the consensus regarding human evolution? So went the original prompt, intended to stimulate discussion on a recurring question faced by old earth creationists. Put another way, is there a consistent way to be an old earth creationist while…

I am an old earth creationist (OEC). The question posed to me is straightforward: since I accept what science says about the age of the earth, why don’t I also accept what science seems to be saying about human evolution? In short, my answer is twofold: 1) the science concerning human origins (particularly the Darwinian…