TUESDAY, JUNE 17, 2025
The First Father Was Never Born- On the Occasion of Father’s Day
As we observe Father’s Day, we must resist the temptation to secularise the role of fathers- the first father was never born
Published on Jun 14, 2025
By EMN
Share
- Introduction: Fatherhood Beyond Flesh
- The radical assertion that "the first father was never born" defies the prevailing scientific orthodoxy and philosophical naturalism of our times. It rejects the evolutionary schema in which man emerges from primitive origins and instead upholds the biblical testimony that Adam, the protological man, was formed ex nihilo by the sovereign hand of God. His existence was not an evolutionary consequence but an ontological act. The implications are profound, not only for anthropology but for theology, philosophy, and fatherhood itself. In a culture where masculinity is being dismantled, and fatherhood is often reduced to a social construct or biological function, the biblical Adam becomes a theological protest against reductionist materialism.
- In Nagaland and other tribal Christian cultures, where lineage and honour often dominate the concept of fatherhood, this biblical truth must be freshly proclaimed. Fatherhood, as rooted in Adam, is neither accidental nor adaptive. It is covenantal, creational, and Christological. It is this reality that this essay seeks to explore, expose, and elevate against the backdrop of a post-Edenic and post-Christian world.
-
- Adamic Fatherhood: Ontology Before Biology
- The Genesis creation narrative (Genesis 2:7) declares that Adam was formed from the dust of the ground and animated by the breath of God. This singular moment stands in stark contrast to the evolutionary theory that sees the human father as a biological continuation of lower mammalian ancestors. Adam’s formation was not preceded by birth but by divine fiat. He is not the result of genealogical progression but of ontological imposition.
- Herein lies the central theological distinction: fatherhood precedes biology. Adam becomes a father not by sexual function, but by divine commissioning. The mandate to be fruitful, multiply, subdue the earth, and exercise dominion (Genesis 1:28) is not a genetic imperative but a spiritual vocation. It is this foundational truth that evolutionary anthropology cannot account for. Natural selection offers no moral weight to fatherhood; it merely explains reproductive behaviour. But Scripture gives fatherhood ethical content and covenantal depth.
- Philosophically, this upholds the idea that personhood, and by extension, fatherhood, is not reducible to physical process. As Thomas Aquinas argued, the soul is the form of the body, not the product of it. Thus, Adam’s role as father begins not in the flesh but in the form: in his identity as image-bearer (imago Dei), in his moral responsibility, and in his priestly role as guardian of Eden.
-
- Refuting Evolutionary Naturalism: A Theological Anthropology
- Darwinian evolution posits that fatherhood arises as a reproductive strategy shaped by environmental pressures and genetic survival. The father, in this model, is a protector of territory, a distributor of genes, and often a violent competitor. Such a view is descriptive at best, but wholly inadequate to prescribe what a father should be. It lacks the metaphysical grounding for moral obligations.
- Scripture, on the other hand, defines the father as a steward of life, a covenantal head, and a moral agent. Genesis 1–3 reveals that Adam is placed in the garden to "work it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15), verbs that imply intentional cultivation and protective presence. These are moral duties, not evolutionary instincts. They are relational imperatives grounded in divine law, not genetic advantage.
- As theologian Karl Barth rightly observed, "Man is not merely a biological phenomenon; he is the creature to whom God speaks." Evolution cannot speak; it has no voice, no command, no covenant. But Adam hears God, names the animals, discerns companionship, and bears moral consequence. These capacities are irreducibly spiritual.
- Moreover, the fall of Adam (Genesis 3) introduces guilt, not maladaptation. Evolution cannot comprehend guilt, only dysfunction. But theology explains that Adam failed not because he was genetically weak, but because he was morally silent. He abdicated his role not by lack of instinct, but by lack of obedience. This is a fall from covenant, not from biology.
-
- Covenantal Sequence: Husband Before Father
- Genesis 2 provides a theological architecture for relationships: before Adam becomes a father, he becomes a husband. This counters the tribal and evolutionary impulse to prioritise procreation over partnership. Eve is not Adam’s progeny but his equal, drawn from his side to signify mutuality and covenant.
- Marriage, therefore, precedes and conditions fatherhood. It is not a cultural construction but a divine covenant. The act of cleaving to one’s wife (Genesis 2:24) establishes the relational context in which children are to be nurtured. The evolutionary model cannot account for this; it describes mating rituals but cannot sanctify marriage. It promotes copulation but cannot explain communion.
- Theological anthropology insists that fatherhood flows from covenant fidelity. A man who deserts his marital covenant disqualifies himself from true fatherhood, for he has severed the very bond that God uses to transmit identity, security, and moral instruction to the next generation.
-
- Dominion and Not Domination: Rethinking Authority
- The command to have dominion (Genesis 1:28) has often been distorted into domination. But the Hebrew word "radah" implies stewardship, not subjugation. In Genesis 2:15, Adam is tasked with working (abad) and guarding (shamar) the garden, words associated with priestly service. Thus, fatherhood is liturgical before it is hierarchical.
- This challenges the patriarchal distortions seen in many cultures, including those in Nagaland, where authority is too often equated with coercion.
- Biblical fatherhood is exercised through sacrifice, instruction, and presence. It is embodied in the servant leadership of Christ, who washed the disciples’ feet (John 13) and bore their burdens on the cross.
- In rejecting evolutionary dominance models (e.g., alpha-male theories), Scripture presents the father as one who leads through wisdom and serves through love. Authority in the biblical sense is not for control, but for cultivation.
-
- The Fall: Silence and Passive Fatherhood
- Adam’s failure in Genesis 3 is paradigmatic. He was present but silent while the serpent tempted Eve. His sin was not merely in eating the fruit, but in abdicating his protective role. This sin of silence is still echoed in homes today, fathers who are physically present but spiritually absent.
- Evolutionary theory has no category for such failure, only adaptation. But Scripture indicts and redeems. It does not explain sin away as maladaptive behaviour; it names it, condemns it, and offers atonement. The father who fails is not discarded, he is clothed by God, pursued by grace, and restored through repentance (Genesis 3:21).
-
- Christ as the Second Adam: The Model of Redemptive Fatherhood
- Paul’s designation of Christ as the "second Adam" (Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 15) reorients our vision of fatherhood. Jesus, though childless in the physical sense, embodies spiritual fatherhood. He teaches (Rabbi), protects (Shepherd), sacrifices (Lamb), and provides (Bread of Life).
- Isaiah 9:6 calls Him the "Everlasting Father," not in Trinitarian confusion, but in relational sufficiency. Christ is the true image of what Adam failed to be: a faithful son who becomes a redemptive father. In Him, fatherhood is not toxic, passive, or tribal, it is cruciform.
-
- Fatherhood in Nagaland: From Custom to Calling
- In the tribal framework of Nagaland, fatherhood is often inherited, tribalised, and politicised. But Scripture dismantles these false securities. Biblical fatherhood is not about bloodline but about blessing. It is not maintained by cultural honour but by covenantal obedience.
- The church in Nagaland must re-evangelise its men with a theology of fatherhood that begins in Eden, is redeemed at Calvary, and is consummated in the New Creation. A father is one who reflects the presence of the Father, speaks with the authority of Scripture, and leads with the humility of Christ.
-
- Conclusion: From Dust to Destiny
- To affirm that "the first father was never born" is to make a profoundly theological and philosophical claim: that fatherhood is not an evolutionary artefact but a divine vocation. Adam's creation ex nihilo, not by natural generation but by supernatural formation, shatters the Darwinian myth that man and by extension, fatherhood is the product of chance, adaptation, and instinct. Instead, the Genesis account presents a radical ontology: that the essence of manhood and fatherhood originates not in biology, but in God’s breath (Genesis 2:7).
- In a culture saturated by materialist anthropology, which reduces fatherhood to reproductive utility or social function, the biblical portrait restores fatherhood as covenantal stewardship. Adam was called to lead, protect, cultivate, and represent divine authority before he ever begot children. Fatherhood, then, is not merely about lineage or legacy; it is about spiritual headship rooted in divine design.
- As we observe Father’s Day, we must resist the temptation to sentimentalise or secularise the role of fathers. The celebration must serve as a summon to return to a vision of fatherhood shaped by creation, covenant, and Christ. In Christ, the Second Adam, we find the restoration of fatherhood: sacrificial, redemptive, and everlasting (Isaiah 9:6; Romans 5:14–19).
- True fathers are not born; they are formed by the breath of God and forged in the crucible of moral responsibility. May this generation of fathers rise not by natural instinct or social expectation, but by the Spirit’s empowerment and the truth of God’s Word.
- Happy Father’s Day, to those who rule not by domination, but by devotion; not by nature, but by new creation.
-
- Vikiho Kiba
Nagaland Districts
