Some excerpts of how the Church calls the first man Adam:
A few from the Catechism:
402 All men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as St. Paul affirms: “By one man’s disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners”: “sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” The Apostle contrasts the universality of sin and death with the universality of salvation in Christ. “Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men.”
404 How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human race is in Adam “as one body of one man”.By this “unity of the human race” all men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in Christ’s justice. Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But we do know by Revelation that Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state…
416 By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself but for all human beings.
“The biblical account of creation speaks of the solitude of Adam, the first man, and God’s decision to give him a helper.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI DEUS CARITAS EST
“Because of Adam’s sin we too are born “blind” but in the baptismal font we are illumined by the grace of Christ.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI 3 April 2011 Angelus
“…very first pages of the Book of Genesis that recount the dark and tragic event of the sin of Adam and Eve. Our first parents were defeated by the Evil One…”
~Pope Benedict XVI 15 August 2011 Angelus
Compendium of the Catechism - issued by Pope Benedict XVI
- What are the first stages of God’s Revelation?
54-58
70-71
From the very beginning, God manifested himself to our first parents, Adam and Eve, and invited them to intimate communion with himself. After their fall, he did not cease his revelation to them but promised salvation for all their descendants. After the flood, he made a covenant with Noah, a covenant between himself and all living beings.
- What was the first human sin?
396-403
415-417
When tempted by the devil, the first man and woman allowed trust in their Creator to die in their hearts. In their disobedience they wished to become “like God” but without God and not in accordance with God (Genesis 3:5). Thus, Adam and Eve immediately lost for themselves and for all their descendants the original grace of holiness and justice.
vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html
(the other quotes are from the
www.vatican.va)
One could go on and on and on…but that is enough examples.
The Church refers to Adam as the first man. And Scriptures and the Church refer to our parents as Adam and Eve. Real persons not characters.
Now do the authors intend to assert that is the names they actually used for each other? Well that is something one could seek into and plumb the arguments -but as to what the Scriptures and the Church call the first man - that would be Adam. Our first parents referred to as Adam and Eve.
