Adam and Eve

Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo shows God creating Adam, with Eve in His arm. While not strictly true to the Genesis account, this is one of the most famous depictions of the creation of Adam and Eve in Western art.

Adam (Hebrew: אָדָם, Adam, "man"; and Eve (Hebrew: חַוָּה, Ḥavva, "living one") were the first man and woman created by God, according to the Bible and the Qur'an.

The story of Adam and Eve is told in the early chapters of the book of Genesis. The main story elements are the creation of man and woman; the temptation and the Fall; the expulsion from Eden; and the subsequent peopling of the world outside the Garden of Eden.

The story of the first human couple underwent extensive elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, and modern textual scholarship continues to analyze the it several layers and demonstrate its relationship with eariler Sumerian mythology. The story has provided many of the most important symbols in Western culture, including the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the forbidden fruit, and the serpent as Satan. It also provides much of the scriptural basis for the doctrine of original sin, a central doctrine in Christianity which is not shared by Judaism and Islam.

Biblical account

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The creation of Eve

The creation of man and woman

The story of Adam and Eve begins in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, but they are not refered to here by name. Instead, the text refers to God's deciding to "make man in our image, in our likeness." The creation of man takes place after six "days" of creation in which God first brings into being the heavens and the earth, light, day and night, sky and sea, dry land, trees and other vegetation, the sun and the moon, sea creatures and birds, and finally livestock and wild animals. The manifestation of God's image in "man" is both masculine and feminine:

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them. — Gen. 1:27

God proceeds to bless the couple to "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." (Gen. 1:28) God gives them "every tree that has fruit with seed in it" to eat. At the conclusion of this sixth day of creation God declares His work to be "very good" and proceeds to rest on the seventh day.

The account of Genesis 2 is seen by many scholars as a distinct narrative from a different source. Among several differences between the two accounts, God is no longer called Elohim here, but is referred as Yahweh, translated as "the Lord" in most English versions. Here, for the first time, the man and woman are named. Also, in this account, no tree or shrub has yet been made to grow yet. God creates Adam out of clay and places him in the Garden of Eden. Then he causes all kinds of trees to grow in the Garden, including two special trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Here, Adam is not free to eat of any tree he wishes, as in chapter one. Instead God tells Adam that he must not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, warning him that "In the day you eat of it, you will die." (Gen. 2:17). Seeing that Adam is alone, God then creates Eve out of his rib (Gen. 2:22). Adam then names the animals, and calls Eve "woman." They are both "naked and unashamed."

The fall of man

For an unspecified period of time, Adam and Eve obey the one commandment they have been given, to refrain from eating of the forbidden fruit. However, one day, a serpent comes to Eve and seduces her into partaking of it. "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened," he tells her, "and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." The serpent shows Eve that the fruit is "good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom," so she eats it. She then gives some of the fruit to Adam, and he, too, eats. Adam and Eve immediately realize that they are naked, and become of ashamed of this, using fig leaves to cover their sexual organs.

Soon, God walks through the Garden looking for Adam and Eve, but he cannot find them, because they are hiding from Him. God calls out to Adam: "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9) Adam responds, "I heard your voice, and I was afraid, because I was naked." God then replies: "How did you know you were naked? Did you eat of the fruit of the tree I told you not to eat of?" Adam admits his disobedience but blames it on Eve, and Eve in turn blames it on the serpent.

As a result of these events, God curses all three of the characters in the drama: the serpent must crawl on his belly and eat dust; the woman must suffer increased pain in childbearing and be ruled by her husband; and the man must now labor for his food instead of eating freely of what grows in the Garden, for the land too is cursed.

God recognizes that the serpent's prophecy has come true: "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:21) To prevent Adam from also partaking of the Tree of Life and living forever, God casts him out of the Garden, posting cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the entrance.

Life outside of paradise

Adam and Eve now begin their lives outside of Eden and begin to raise a family. Their first child is called Cain, and their second is called Abel. After the grow up to the point of establishing a livelihood for themselves, Cain becomes a farmer, while Abel is a shepherd. Later, the two brothers each offers a sacrifice to God: Cain brings an offering of his crops, while Abel brings an offering of his flocks. God accepts Cain's offering but rejects Abel's. As a result, Cain becomes dejected. God warns Cain that he must overcome his feelings, for he too will be accepted. However, Cain is unable to change his outlook. Instead, he lures Abel into the field and kills him. Cain moved toward the east, where his wife—not previously mentioned—gave birth to Adam and Eve's first grandson, Enoch.

After this, Adam and Eve themselves have another son, Seth, and Eve declares "God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him." After Seth grew to maturity, he became the father Enosh.

Later Abrahamic traditions

Jewish traditions

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Adam after the Fall. Fresco from the monastery of Cantauque, Provence.

In the Sibylline Oracles, the name Adam is explained as a notaricon composed of the initials of the four directions; anatole (east), dusis (west), arktos (north), and mesembria (south). The Jews had their own acrostic interpretation of the name Adam. In the 2nd century, Rabbi Yohanan used the Greek technique of notarichon to explain the name אָדָם as the initials of the words afer, dam, and marah, being dust, blood, and gall.

According to the Torah (Genesis 2:7), Adam is said to have been formed by God from "dust from the earth"; in the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 38b) of the first centuries of the Christian era he is, more specifically, described as having initially been a golem kneaded from mud. (cf Prometheus) In the Torah, God is described, at Genesis 1:26, as breathing the breath of life into the nostrils of the first man, and this is usually interpreted in Judaeo-Christian circles as having brought life immediately to the first man.

At this point, in the Torah, God is described as causing a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and removing part of his body, usually interpreted as a rib (though a more literal translation is non-specific, referring to "side"). Once a matron asked Rabbi Jose (Talmud ^{[citation needed]}), "Why did God steal a rib from Adam?" "Steal?" replied the Sage. "If one were to take away from your house an ounce of silver, and give you in return a pound of gold, that would not be stealing from you." "But," persisted the matron, "what need was there for secrecy?" "It was surely better," replied R. José, "to present Eve to Adam when she was quite presentable, and when no traces of the effects of the operation were visible"[1].

Even in ancient times, the presence of two distinct accounts was noted, and regarded with some curiosity. The first account says male and female [God] created them, which has been assumed by critical scholars to imply simultaneous creation, whereas the second account states that God created Eve from Adam's rib because Adam was lonely. Thus to resolve this apparent discrepancy, mediaeval rabbis suggested that Eve and the woman of the first account were two separate individuals. Preserved in the Midrash, and the mediaeval Alphabet of Ben Sira, this rabbinic tradition held that the first woman refused to take the submissive position to Adam in sex, and eventually fled from him, consequently leaving him lonely. This first woman was identified in the Midrash as Lilith, a figure elsewhere described as a night demon.

The word liyliyth can also mean "screech owl", as it is translated in the King James Version of Isaiah 34:14, although some scholars take this to be a reference to the same demonic entity as mentioned in the Talmud.

In the Talmud, Adam is said to have separated from Eve for 130 years, during which time his ejaculations gave rise to ghouls, and demons.^{[citation needed]} Elsewhere in the Talmud, Lilith is identified as the mother of these creatures. The demons were said to prey on newborn males before they had been circumcised, and so a tradition arose in which a protective amulet was placed around the neck of newborns. Traditions in the Midrash concerning Lilith, and her sexual appetite, have been compared to Sumerian mythology concerning the demon ki-sikil-lil-la-ke, by scholars who postulate an intermediate Akkadian folk etymology interpreting the lil-la-ke portion of the name as a corruption of lîlîtu, a female storm demon originating in Sumer.

The Alphabet of Ben Sira Midrash goes even further and identifies a third wife, created after Lilith deserted Adam, but before Eve. This unnamed wife was purportedly made in the same way as Adam, from the "dust of the earth", but the sight of her being created proved too much for Adam to take and he refused to go near her. It is also said that she was created from nothing at all, and that God created into being a skeleton, then organs, and then flesh. The Midrash tells that Adam saw her as "full of blood and secretions," suggesting that he witnessed her creation and was horrified at seeing a body from the inside out. Ben Sira does not record this wife's fate. She was never named, and it assumed that she was allowed to leave the Garden a perpetual virgin, or was ultimately destroyed by God in favor of Eve, who was created when Adam was asleep and oblivious. It should be noted here, that both Lilith and the Second Wife are free from any curse of the Tree of Knowledge, as they left long before the event occurred.

Genesis does not tell for how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, but the Book of Jubilees states that they were removed from the garden on the new moon of the fourth month of the 8th year after creation (Jubilees 3:33); other Jewish sources assert that it was less than a day. Shortly after their expulsion, Eve brought forth her first-born child, and thereafter their second — Cain and Abel, respectively.

Another Jewish tradition — also used to explain "male and female He created them" line, is that God originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite [Midrash Rabbah - Genesis VIII:1] ^{[citation needed]}, and in this way was bodily and spiritually male and female. He later decided that "it is not good for [Adam] to be alone", and created the separate beings of Adam and Eve, thus creating the idea of two people joining together to achieve a union of the two separate spirits.

The Death of Adam, by Piero della Francesca (1452-1466).

Only three of Adam's children (Cain, Abel, and Seth) are explicitly named in Genesis, although it does state that there were other sons and daughters as well (Genesis 5:4). In Jubilees, two daughters are named - Azûrâ being the first, and Awân, who was born after Seth, Cain, Abel, nine other sons, and Azûrâ. Jubilees goes on to state that Cain later married Awân and Seth married Azûrâ, thus, accounting for their descendants. However, according to Genesis Rabba and other later sources, either Cain had a twin sister, and Abel had two twin sisters, or Cain had a twin sister named Lebuda, and Abel a twin sister named Qelimath. In the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, Cain's twin sister is named Luluwa, and Abel's twin sister is named Aklia.

Other pseudepigraphs give further details of their life outside of Eden, in particular, the Life of Adam and Eve (also known as the Apocalypse of Moses) consists entirely of a description of their life outside Eden. As the first man, Adam was traditionally a significant figure to whom was attributed prophecy and wisdom.

After Cain killed Abel, and was cursed to wander, Adam and Eve conceived a third child named Seth, who, with Cain, gave rise to the two family lines of the Generations of Adam.

A sidenote, when Cain was banished for killing Abel, Cain fears that God's punishment of his banishment is "too great to bear" and that he "must avoid [God]'s presence and become a restless wanderer on earth—anyone who meets me may kill me" (Genesis 4.3) suggesting life of other men outside of and prior to or during Cain's lineage.

According to the Bible, Adam finally died at the age of 930 years, the traditional Jewish view being that he and Eve are currently buried in the Cave of Machpelah, in Hebron.

Christianity

Adam and Eve, by Albrecht Dürer (1507).

Adam, Eve, and the (female) Serpent (Often identified as Lilith.) at the entrance to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Medieval Christian art often depicted the Edenic Serpent as a woman, thus both emphasizing the Serpent's seductiveness as well as its relationship to Eve. Several early Church Fathers, including Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea, interpreted the Hebrew "Heva" as not only the name of Eve, but in its aspirated form as "female serpent."

The story of Adam and Eve forms the basis for the Christian doctrine of original sin: "Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned," said Paul of Tarsus in his Epistle to the Romans, writing in Greek about 58 C.E. St Augustine of Hippo (354-430), working with a Latin translation of the epistle, understood Paul to have said that Adam's sin was hereditary: "Death passed upon (i.e. spread to) all men because of Adam, [in whom] all sinned". Original sin, the concept that man is born in a condition of sinfulness and must await redemption, became a cornerstone of Christian theological tradition, primarily in Western-rite churches, but is not shared by Judaism, the Orthodox churches, nor by post-Reformation churches such as the Congregationalist churches, nor The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Over the centuries, a system of uniquely Christian beliefs has developed from the Adam and Eve story. Baptism has become understood as a means of washing away the stain of hereditary sin in some churches. In other branches of Christianity, baptism is a means of washing away sins that were actually committed by the person being baptised. It is an identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a ceremony of spiritually washing one in the blood of the Savior, which was shed on the cross. In still other Christian traditions, this process is merely seen as a symbol of faith and also an initiation, or a public declaration of faith. Additionally, the serpent that tempted Eve was interpreted by some to have been Satan, although there is no mention of this identification in the Torah. Christian interpretations of the Scripture are often considered more literal than Jewish interpretations.

Because Eve had tempted Adam to eat of the fatal fruit, some early Fathers of the Church held her and all subsequent women to be the first sinners, and especially responsible for the Fall. "You are the devil's gateway," Tertullian told his female listeners in the early 2nd century, and went on to explain that they were responsible for the death of Christ: "On account of your desert _ that is, death - even the Son of God had to die." In 1486 the Dominicans Kramer and Sprengler used similar tracts to justify the Malleus Maleficarum ("Hammer of the Witches") that led to three centuries of persecution of "witches".

Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the sword placed at the entrance to Paradise to prevent humankind from returning to the Garden was removed once Jesus was born.

Liberal Christians teach that many parts of the Bible should not be taken literally. The story of Adam & Eve may be included.

See also: Harrowing of Hell

Gnostic and Manichaean traditions

While the Gnostics used scriptural texts as teaching devices, rather than viewing them to be literal accounts genuinely written by early patriarchs, this was the converse of what was true of what became official Christianity. The Gnostic's Nag Hamadi text "Apocalypse of Adam", for instance contains the account of the enlightenment Adam received, for which certain angels became jealous. The "Testament of Adam", for example takes a further step to produce a faked ancient prophecy, of events that had supposedly already occurred by the time it was published.

In certain forms of Christian Gnosticism the creation of Adam as Protanthropos - the original man, had a very important place. The Apocalypse of Adam suggests that Adam and Eve were originally conjoined in a single androgynous being both male and female and greater than the eternal angels and higher than Samael, the God of the Aeon and Powers that had created them. This seems to be what Irenaeus (I, xxix, 3) refers to when he states that the Aeon Autogenes (self-created Aeon) creates a true and perfect human Anthrôpos, also called Adamas, who has "Perfect Knowledge. In wrath of Samael, the God of the Aeon then separated Adam from Eve, causing their superior knowledge of God to flee from them.

The Perfection of the Protanthropos is also sometimes seen as a result of a non material emanation from God, called the Son of God and seen as the prefigurement for the appearance of Jesus, who, even in Conventional Christian literature is often referred to as "The Second Adam". According to the Naassenes it is only when Adam and Eve are separated that they "sink" into material form. The Genesis verse, that "according to the image of God he made them, male and female he made them", implied that the first account of the creation of man and woman, according to Theodotus (c. 160), that both man and God were anthropogynous beings, later separated by God, the Father/Mother. As Pagels shows "The followers of Valentinus suggested that the Mother herself had encouraged the God of Israel to think he was acting autonomously, but as they explain, "It was because he was foolish and ignorant of his Mother that he said, 'I am (the only) God; there is no-one beside me'. (p.69) In the Secret Book of John, the creator of Adam and Eve, when he said: 'I am a jealous God and there is no other God besides me.' But by announcing this he indicated to the angels ... that another God does exist; for if there were no other one, of whom would he be jealous?... Then the Mother began to be distressed."

This is taken up in the Manichaean belief that the Protanthropos is seen as "the World Soul", (Anima Mundi), sent to fight against darkness. The "Fall" is then seen as the primordial man being delivered up to evil and swallowed in darkness, with the Universe as a whole now existing as a means of delivering the primordial Adam from Darkness. Here too the intercourse between Adam and Eve was seen as the way in which darkness overcame the light.

"Mani said, 'Then Jesus came and spoke to the one who had been born, who was Adam, and explained to him (about) the gardens (of Paradise), the deities, Gehenna, the satans, earth, heaven, sun, and moon. He also made him fear Eve, showing him how to suppress (desire) for her, and he forbade him to approach her, and made him fear to be near her, so that he did (what Jesus commanded). Then that (male) archon came back to his daughter, who was Eve, and lustfully had intercourse with her. He engendered with her a son, deformed in shape and possessing a red complexion, and his name was Cain, the Red Man. Then that son had intercourse with his mother, and engendered with her a son of white complexion, whose name was Abel, the White Man. Then Cain again had intercourse with his mother, and engendered with her two girls, one of whom was named Hakimat al-Dahr and the other Ibnat al-Hirê . Then Cain took Ibnat al-Hirê as his wife and presented Hakimat al-Dahr to Abel, and he took her as his wife.'"

Gnostics seem to have taken the Marcionite belief that the Wrathful Yahweh of the Torah and the loving Father of Christianity were two separate divinities. In their book "The Origin of the World" for instance it states:-

The heaven and his earth were destroyed by the troublemaker that was below them all. And the six heavens shook violently; for the forces of chaos knew who it was that had destroyed the heaven that was below them. And when Pistis (Faith) knew about the breakage resulting from the disturbance, she sent forth her breath and bound him and cast him down into Tartarus. Since that day, the heaven, along with its earth, has consolidated itself through Sophia (Wisdom) the daughter of Yaldabaoth, she who is below them all.

Now when the heavens had consolidated themselves along with their forces and all their administration, the prime parent became insolent. And he was honored by all the army of angels. And all the gods and their angels gave blessing and honor to him. And for his part, he was delighted and continually boasted, saying to them, "I have no need of anyone." He said, "It is I who am God, and there is no other one that exists apart from me." And when he said this, he sinned against all the immortal beings who give answer. And they laid it to his charge.

Then when Pistis saw the impiety of the chief ruler, she was filled with anger. She was invisible. She said, "You are mistaken, Samael," (that is, "blind god"). "There is an immortal man of light who has been in existence before you, and who will appear among your modelled forms; he will trample you to scorn, just as potter's clay is pounded. And you will descend to your mother, the abyss, along with those that belong to you.

Gnostic accounts also turned the identification of the serpent with Satan on its head, and the serpent was seen as the hero, particularly to Ophites, who was trying to help the couple gain knowledge to defeat evil Samael, whom the Gnostics saw as the jealous demiurge of the creation.

There is also the tradition that Satan refused to bow to Adam as a result of his exclusive love of God, and felt that bowing to humankind was a form of idolatry. This tradition informs the treatment of Satan in some forms of Christian gnosticism.

More extended versions of the fall of Satan exist in which he leads a divine war, which, while in works such as the Book of Enoch is recorded as being in heaven after Satan turns away from God.

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Islamic tradition

The Qur'an tells of آدم (ʾĀdam) in the surah al-Baqara (2):30-39, al-A'raf (7):11-25, al-Hijr (15):26-44, al-Isra (17):61-65, Ta-Ha (20):115-124, and Sad (38):71-85.

The early Islamic commentator Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari adds a number of details to the Torah, based on claimed hadith as well as specific Jewish traditions (so-called isra'iliyyat). Tabari records that when it came time to create Adam, God sent Gabriel (Jibril), then Michael (Mika'il), to fetch clay from the earth; but the earth complained, saying I take refuge in God from you, if you have come to diminish or deform me, so the angels returned empty-handed. Tabari goes on to state that God responded by sending the Angel of Death, who took clay from all regions, hence providing an explanation for the variety of appearances of the different races of mankind.

According to Tabari's account, after receiving the breath of God, Adam remained a dry body for 40 days, then gradually came to life from the head downwards, sneezing when he had finished coming to life, saying All praise be to God, the Lord of all beings^{[citation needed]}. Having been created, Adam, the first man, is described as having been given dominion over all the lower creatures, which he proceeds to name. As one of the people to whom God is said to have spoken to directly, Adam is seen as a prophet in Islam.

At this point, Adam takes a prominent role in Islamic traditions concerning the fall of Satan, which is not recorded in the Torah, but in the Book of Enoch which is used in Oriental Orthodox churches. In these, when God announces his intention of creating Adam, some of the angels express dismay, asking why he would create a being that would do evil. Teaching Adam the names reassures the angels as to Adam's abilities, though commentators dispute which particular names were involved; various theories say they were the names of all things animate and inanimate, the names of the angels, the names of his own descendants, or the names of God.

When God orders the angels to bow to Adam one of those present, Satan [Lucifer] (Iblis in Islam, a Djinn who said "why should I bow to man, I am made of pure fire"), refuses due to his pride, and is summarily banished from the Heavens. Liberal movements within Islam have viewed God's commanding the angels to bow before Adam as an exaltation of humanity, and as a means of supporting human rights, others view it as an act of showing Adam that the biggest enemy of humans on earth will be their ego.

More extended versions of the fall of Satan also exist in works such as that of Tabari, and the Shia commentator al-Qummi. In these explanations Iblis is sent against the jinn, who had angered God by sin and fighting. In such versions where Satan leads the battle on God's behalf, rather than his own, it is the pride and conceit resulting from his victory which results in his expulsion, since pride is seen as a sin. Islamic traditions further record that, in vengeful anger, Iblis promises God that he will lead as many humans astray as he can, to which God replies that it is the choice of humans - those who so desire will follow Satan, while those who so desire will follow God.

Eve is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an, she is nevertheless referred to as Adam's spouse, and Islamic tradition refers to her by an etymologically similar name - حواء (Hawwāʾ) . In fact, although her creation is not recounted in the Qur'an, Tabari recounts the biblical tale of her creation, stating that she was named because she was created from a living thing (her name means living). The torah gives an etymology for woman, or rather the Hebrew equivalent (ish-shah), stating that she should be called woman since she was taken out of man (ish in Hebrew). The etymology is regarded as implausible by most semitic linguists. Interestingly, Quran blame both, Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. Some Muslims therefore interpret that this even does not pose a problem of women inferiority to men intrinsically. However, two hadiths seem to cast women differently:

“

Woman has been created from a rib and will in no way be straightened for you; so if you wish to benefit by her, benefit by her while crookedness remains in her. And if you attempt to straighten her, you will break her, and breaking her is divorcing her. (Sahih Muslim 3466[2])

”

“

Had it not been for Bani Isra'il, food would not have become stale, and meal would not have gone bad; and had it not been for Eve, a woman would never have acted unfaithfully toward her husband. (Sahih Muslim 3472 [3])

”

Al-Qummi records the opinion that Eden was not entirely earthly, and so, having been sent to earth, Adam and Eve first arrived at mountain peaks outside Mecca; Adam on Safa, and Eve on Marwa. In this Islamic tradition, Adam remained weeping for 40 days, until he repented, at which point God rewarded him by sending down the Kaaba, and teaching him the hajj. Other Islamic traditions hold that Adam was moved to Sri Lanka, as the next best thing to Eden, and, viewing Adam as having been a giant, human size having shrunk drastically before the great flood, Adam's Peak is said to contain his giant footprint.

The Qur'an also describes the two sons of Adam (named Qabil and Habil in Islamic tradition, but not mentioned by name in the Qur'an) that correspond to Cain and Abel.

Historicity

Many Biblical scholars consider Adam and Eve as an example of a story focusing on the teaching of perceived fundamental truths. In their interpretation, the narrative's purpose is to convey the importance and truth of sin and human rebellion in their traditions, regardless of historical accuracy. All, some, or none of the actual events of the narrative may have actually happened, or been embellished, although there is no real evidence of embellishment of this narrative in the Masoretic Text.

Adam and Eve are considered in evangelical Christianity and Orthodox Judaism as real historical people, as Genesis 5:4 records Adam within a genealogy. In the New Testament, Paul references Adam and Eve many times, especially contrasting Adam with Jesus where Paul writes in the 5th chapter of Romans "12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many." This is taken to support a historical Adam by fundamentalists as some theologians interpret Adam's sin as a historical event that changed humankind. Others argue that Paul could be merely using the myth as a teaching method, or that Paul believed in Adam and Eve but was mistaken on this count. However, Jesus also made reference to the story of Adam and Eve, in Matthew 19:4,5. Adam is also listed in Jesus' genealogy in Luke 3. Others view Adam and Eve as metaphorical for every person when they first sin and God seeks them out. Those who hold this view point out that adam can also be translated humankind.

Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason prompted some Christians to interpret the Bible as strict history; William Whiston was one such early scholar. James Ussher calculated Adam and Eve's life at approximately 4,000 B.C.E., basing on the Genealogies of Genesis and Table of Nations.

In modern times the theory of evolution has challenged the Christian belief in the historicity of Adam and Eve. Many denominations have rejected the historicity of Adam and Eve; others have retained it (at least officially), including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some conservative Christian denominations.

Ancestry and evolutionary biology

The idea of a single male and female human ancestor is contradictory to evolutionary theory. According to this theory, the population of humans gradually evolved from other hominans, and the population size was never two (indeed if the population size had been just two, humans would almost certainly have become extinct). Somewhat confusingly however, geneticists have identified individuals dubbed "Y-chromosomal Adam" and "Mitochondrial Eve". Mitochondrial Eve is the common matrilineal ancestor of all humans alive today whilst Y-chromosomal Adam is the common patrilineal ancestor who lived many millennia after Mitochondrial Eve.

Cultural influence

Early Renaissance artists used the theme of Adam and Eve as a way to represent female and male nudes. Later, the nudity was objected to by more modest elements, and fig leaves were added to the older pictures and sculptures, covering their genitals. The choice of the fig was a result of Mediterranean traditions identifying the unnamed Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as a fig tree, and since figs leaves were actually mentioned in Genesis as being used to cover Adam and Eve's nudity.

Another issue was whether they should be depicted with navels. Since they were created fully grown, and did not develop in a uterus, they would not have had the umbilical scars possessed by all born humans. However, paintings without navels looked unnatural.

In Northern Europe, the unnamed "Forbidden fruit" became considered a form of apple, because of a misunderstanding of the Latin "malum", where malum as an adjective means evil, but as a noun means apple. The larynx in the human throat, noticeably more prominent in males, was consequently called an Adam's apple, from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit sticking in Adam's throat as he swallowed, and the name has stuck.

Some Slavonic texts state that the "forbidden fruit" was actually the grape, that was later changed in its nature and made into something good, much as the serpent was changed by losing its legs and speech.

Other Eastern Christians sometimes assume that the "forbidden fruit" was the fig, from the account of their using leaves of this tree to cover themselves.

John Milton's Paradise Lost is a famous 17th century epic poem written in blank verse which explores the story of Adam and Eve in great detail. Notably, the character of Satan is portrayed almost sympathetically.

Jules Verne's The Eternal Adam presents a catastrophe that submerges all dry land and raises some submarine terrain. Among the survivors there are one Adam and one Eve. The resulting mankind holds them mythical. It is revealed that mankind has passed several times through a new creation, reproducing itself from pairs of Adams and Eves.

In C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe of The Chronicles of Narnia series of novels, the kings and queens that sit on Narnia's throne at the castle in Narnia's capital, Cair Paravel, are referred to as "Sons of Adam" and "Daughters of Eve". In the story, two male and two female humans are to sit on the four thrones of Cair Paravel to signify the return of peace to Narnia.

John Steinbeck's 1952 novel East of Eden is based on the story of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. It was later made into a film starring James Dean.

In late 20th Century / early 21st Century politics, the names of Adam and Eve are frequently invoked by those who oppose homosexuality on a religious basis, in the slogans "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" and "God made Adam and Eve, not Madam and Eve."

Cockney Rhyming Slang uses "Adam and Eve" to mean "believe" (e.g. "Would you Adam and Eve it?", meaning "Would you believe it?"). Unlike most cockney rhyming slang, both the rhyming and non-rhyming parts are typically used.

The story of Adam and Eve is parodied in The Simpsons' episode Simpsons Bible Stories.

In the television series Neon Genesis Evangelion and its film sequels Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, the first Angel is named Adam and all but one of the Evangelion mecha are created from this being's substance. As "Evangelion" is usually shortened to "Eva", the form of the name "Eve" in many languages, this creation myth parallels the Old Testament version. Also, one of the possible interpretations of the ending of The End of Evangelion is that Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu are slated to play the roles of the post-Third Impact Adam and Eve.

The opening view of Desperate Housewives features an allusion to Adam and Eve.

Prince's song "And God Created Woman" resembles the story of Adam and Eve

British-based Metal band Cradle of Filth used the story of Adam and Eve for the music video to their cover of Heaven 17's song "Temptation." In the video, frontman Dani Filth portrays Adam, while contributing vocalist Victoria Harrison, known by her stage name Dirty Harry, portrays Eve.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Mahmoud Ayoub, The Qur'an and its Interpreters, SUNY: Albany, 1984.
• R. Patai, The Jewish Alchemists, Princeton University Press, 1994.
• Fazale Rana and Ross, Hugh, Who Was Adam: A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Man, 2005, ISBN 1-57683-577-4
• Sibylline Oracles, III; 24-6. This Greek acrostic also appears in 2 Enoch 30:13.
• David Rohl, Legend: The Genesis of Civilisation, 1998
• Bryan Sykes, The Seven Daughters of Eve
• C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe"
• Adam Mackie, The Importance of being Adam - Alexo 1997 (only 2000 copies published)
• Robin Lane Fox, "The Unauthorized version", Penguin, 1991 (no ISBN available)

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Adam and Eve

• Adam (prophet of Islam)
• Adam and Eve (Mormonism)
• Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
• Creation narrative
• Garden of Eden
• Generations of Adam
• Kaliyan
• Mitochondrial Eve
• Pre-Adamite
• Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an
• Tree of Life
• Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
• Y-chromosomal Adam
• The Holy Bible

External links

• First Human Beings (Library of Congress)
• The Story of Lilith in The Alphabet of Ben Sira
• Islamic view of the fall of Adam (audio)
• Chromosome dating

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