America is not only noted for its being a melting pot of culture, it is also one of the great melting pots of theology and has been for almost the past 200 years.
Some of the greatest theological seminaries and colleges are located in the US, and so too are many of the great Christian publishing houses. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that it provides fertile soil for theological debate. One of the most recent issues to rise to the surface has been the question of whether or not the Adam of Genesis was a real historical figure.
Although this has surfaced relatively recently in Reformed and evangelical circles, it is anything but a new concern. The historicity of Adam has long been dismissed by liberal theologians, but has now come to the fore in theologically conservative institutions and publications, causing no small measure of debate.