📖 Biblical Definition
Adam is the first man, directly created by God from the dust of the earth and given life by the breath of God (Genesis 2:7). He is the federal head of all humanity — the covenant representative whose obedience or disobedience would determine the standing of every person born after him. God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, gave him dominion over creation, established the covenant of works ("of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat"), and gave him Eve as his wife and helper. Adam's transgression in eating the forbidden fruit constituted the Fall of mankind — through his sin, death entered the world and all his descendants inherited a sinful nature. Paul identifies Adam as the "type" of Christ: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). Christ is the "last Adam" — the second federal head who succeeded where the first Adam failed, securing righteousness and life for all who are in Him.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
The name of the first man; appropriately, earth, or red earth.
expand to see more
AD'AM, n. [Heb. אדם, man, primarily the name of the human species.] In Scripture, the name of the first man, the progenitor of the human race. The word signifies earth, or red earth; for the first man was formed of dust from the ground. Adam is also used to denote the unregenerate nature — the "old man" of sin — in contrast with the new man in Christ.
📖 Key Scripture
• Genesis 2:7 — "Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature."
• Genesis 3:17-19 — "Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life."
• Romans 5:12 — "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned."
• Romans 5:14 — "Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come."
• 1 Corinthians 15:45 — "The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Adam is treated as myth, metaphor, or an evolved primate rather than the historical first man.
expand to see more
Liberal theology and theistic evolution have stripped Adam of his historicity, reducing him to a literary symbol or an archetype for "emerging human consciousness." This is not a minor reinterpretation — it is a demolition of the entire framework of redemptive history. If Adam was not a real man who really sinned, there is no Fall. If there is no Fall, there is no need for a Savior. Paul's entire argument in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 depends on the historical parallel between Adam and Christ — one real man brought death, another real Man brought life. To deny the historical Adam is to undermine the historical Christ. The doctrine of original sin, federal headship, and the imputation of righteousness all collapse without a literal Adam. Those who allegorize Adam inevitably allegorize the atonement as well.
Usage
• "The doctrine of original sin rests on the federal headship of Adam — in Adam all die, in Christ all are made alive."
• "Adam was not a myth or metaphor; he was the historical first man whose disobedience plunged the entire human race into sin and death."
• "Christ is the last Adam, succeeding where the first Adam failed — obeying perfectly where Adam transgressed, and giving life where Adam brought death."