The Bible tells us, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot." Ps. 16:5 Modern genetic research, by contrast, claims that a person's traits, including the proclivity to have specific diseases, are controlled by genes. Although it's obvious that modern genetic theory was not the basis of the Biblical story of Adam's creation, the assumptions in that allegory are not far from those of genetics. They stand in stark contradiction to the account of creation given in the first chapter of the Scriptures and to the relation of God and man described in the Psalmist's words just quoted.
Since God is the source of man's inheritance —of his very being—man must image forth the nature of his creator in dominion, completeness, and fruitfulness. Made in the likeness of God, Spirit, man has no earthly component. He is spiritual, perfect, very good.
In the allegorical story of Adam, man is depicted as mortal, made from the dust of the ground and far from perfect or Godlike. This materialistic inheritance, including its failure to reflect God, is supposedly passed along to succeeding generations.
