The Power of Myth and Metaphor

Romans 5:12-19

Death does not hinge on human sin.
Literally.
Paul knows this.

Death and extinction long preceded
the arrival of humans and their sins.
Paul’s audience in the Roman church knows this.

Evolutionary biology is beside the point.
Paul creates a poetic paradigm
to make a point about faith.

His model has an elegant design—
a thesis, antithesis, and synthesis.
The “first man” Adam has life,

but disobedience leads to death
for himself, for Eve,
for all humankind.

God counters this
with an equal but opposite solution.
The powerful obedience of Jesus

(his faithful death on the cross)
enables the faithful to cancel out
the deadly destiny of sin

and have a new identity and destiny
of righteousness and life
through Jesus Christ.

First Sunday in Lent
February 26, 2023