Adamic nature
Definition
Adamic nature describes the inherited human condition that results from Adam’s fall: mortal, fleshly, and imperfect, stripped of the original glory that God intended as the content of humanity. The Adamic nature is not merely a moral state but an ontological condition — a life lived from the Adamic flesh rather than from God’s Spirit. It stands in contrast to the new creation in Christ, the second Adam.
The term functions in the corpus as a collective name for the human constitution after the fall: not only individually but also systemically, as a force that permeates social, religious, and political structures.
Usage variants by author
Jones
Jones describes the Adamic nature as a double captivity: personal and societal. On the personal level, the human being is in bondage to his own Adamic flesh; on the societal level, the Adamic nature has embedded itself in the structures of the world:
“We are certainly in captivity to the old Adamic nature; however, we must also say that this Adamic nature has manifested itself in the world — political, religious, social, and economic systems — throughout history.” [The Laws of the Second Coming, chap. 7]
The Adamic nature is the inheritance of mortality passed to all humanity through Adam (Rom. 5:12). Adam’s children were born after he had lost the glorified body; they are therefore born mortal, fleshly, and imperfect. The redemption of the body (Rom. 8:23) is for Jones the definitive breakthrough of the Adamic nature, when the Adamic “head” falls away and the new creation is fully manifested (cf. 1Cor. 15:51-53).
The relationship between the Adamic nature and the restoration of the imago Dei Jones formulates as a journey from one image to another:
“It is not a journey from earth to heaven, but a journey on the earth from death to life, from corruption to incorruption, from the image of the first Adam to the image of the second Adam.” [The Laws of the Second Coming, chap. 14]