Not Exactly a New Problem

UPDATE: For those who may not find it, the quote comes from Augustine’s St. Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram libri duodecim, “The Literal Meaning of Genesis,” Book 1 chapter 19. That is in itself worth highlighting, since it makes even clearer that Augustine could consider the “literal meaning” important and yet not take it to have the implications that modern-day young-earth creationists do. There is even more irony, since it was Augustine who formulated the understanding of the “Fall” in terms of “original sin” that has become such a lynch pin of some modern theological systems, that they make a literal historical Adam crucial – using Augustine’s own theology to justify ignoring his advice in the passage above!