Adam&Eve--In light of present-day facts

We have no ability to interrogate a first-hand witness. So, the next alternative must be examination of present-day facts. How believable is the Genesis account of Adam and Eve in view of "modern" knowledge?

Some facts/customs/widespread beliefs compared to Scripture:

• Basis for clothing only worn by mankind
• This fact is readily known. Animals may have fur and/or feathers, but they do not go to the trouble to make clothing for themselves.
• Genesis 3:6-7, "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings."
• Basis for observance of the week
• The week is not only clearly present in the US calendar, but is also recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
• Genesis 2:1-3, "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."--How would billions of years of evolution yield this observance?
• Basis for long, painful labor in childbirth only seen in mankind
• This is recognized by even scientists.
• Genesis 3:11-16, "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' . . . "To the woman He said,
              'I will greatly multiply
              Your pain in childbirth,
              In pain you will bring forth children;
              Yet your desire will be for your husband,
              And he will rule over you.'"
• Basis for human agriculture/toiling over the ground to raise crops
• Setting aside the cases of certain termites, ants, and ambrosia beetles, this practice is not seen among the claimed close evolutionary ancestors of man.
• Genesis 3:17-19, "Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat from it";
              Cursed is the ground because of you;
              In toil you will eat of it
              All the days of your life.
        Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
              And you will eat the plants of the field;
        By the sweat of your face
              You will eat bread,
              Till you return to the ground,
              Because from it you were taken;
              For you are dust,
              And to dust you shall return.'"
• Basis for man's unique moral awareness
•  Recognized by Darwin and now within modern psychology
•  Genesis 3:5-6, "'For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."
• Basis for man's unique intelligence
• Globally apparent from mankind's unrivaled achievements: space exploration as Earth dwellers, deep-sea exploration as land-dwellers, nanotechnology, computers, cars, sky-scrapers, instant long-distance communication, etc.
• Genesis 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'"
• Basis for belief in a Supernatural Being
• There is a significant percentage of people worldwide who believe in God.
• Genesis 3:8, "They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden."
• Basis for discipline/punishment
• The practice of discipline or punishment is clear through worldwide child discipline, police, governmental courts, and prisons or correctional facilities.
• Genesis 3:22-23, "Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'— therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken."
• Basis for mankind's dominion over the Earth
• Clear from the existence of zoos, agriculture, industrialization, rapid transportation, etc.
• Genesis 1:27-28, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
• Basis for family household of a man and woman, providing care for any young children.
• Shown in research by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• Genesis 2:22-24, "The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,
              'This is now bone of my bones,
              And flesh of my flesh;
              She shall be called Woman,
              Because she was taken out of Man.'
  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
• Beginning of marital conflict/heartache/divorce
• A widely enough known problem to stimulate much research. Some 2010 research.
• Genesis 3:11-13, "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' The man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.' Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'"
• Basis for lifelong marriage
• Recognized by US census (see page 4).
• Genesis 2:22-24, seen above under family household
• Basis for racial equality
• What the American Civil War/War between the States was fought over.
• Genesis 3:20, "Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living."
• Basis for value of women/a two-gender humanity rather than a single-gender
• Recognized so strongly today that this is a political pitfall for those who don't choose their words carefully.
• Genesis 2:18, "Then the LORD God said, “It is not good [emphasis added] for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

 

"Names, names . . . come now, you can find legends in any culture."

How do you know what is legend and what is truth? Is truth not known by first-hand witness, trustworthy reports, or present-day fact? So how does one search out the truth in a list of names? Surely finding out the truth of a matter requires being willing to do a little research--going back to those primary sources, as students and researchers are encouraged to do in writing good papers.

So, the first primary source, in this case, would be the document making the claim/putting forward genealogical list (i.e. Scripture).

How does Adam figure in the rest of Scripture (outside of Genesis, I Chronicles, and Luke)?

• Hosea 6:4-7, "'What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
              What shall I do with you, O Judah?
              For your loyalty is like a morning cloud
              And like the dew which goes away early.
        Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets;
              I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
              And the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth.
        For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
              And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
        But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant;
              There they have dealt treacherously against Me.'"
  

• Ephraim - One of Joseph's sons, a tribe of Israel, and one of the tribes identified with the Northern Kingdom of Israel (conquered by the Assyrians).

• Judah - One of Israel/Jacob's sons, a tribe of Israel, and first tribe associated with the Southern Kingdom (conquered by the Babylonians), later joined by the tribe of Benjamin.

• Adam - In context, a historical figure against whom the historical tribe of Ephraim/the Northern Kingdom and the historical tribe of Judah/the Southern Kingdom could be compared.

• I Timothy 2:12-15, "But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint."

• I realize this is a controversial passage, both within and without Christian circles. But surely I cannot be accused of bigotry against women, as a woman myself, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering. Why would I be my own antagonist?

• Adam - Apparently a historical figure, alongside Eve, since historical New Testament Christian men and women are compared to them. Would men and women truly be compared to and be held accountable for the imaginative deeds of imaginative ancestors?

• Creation of mankind is given in the same sequence as in Genesis--first Adam, and then Eve.

• Again, as in Genesis, Eve was the one deceived (by the serpent).

• Jude 1:14, "It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, 'Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'"

• Adam - Apparently a historical figure, as he was named the forefather of one who foretold of coming events. It would be self-defeating to say that imaginary characters were given Word from God which was "later" fulfilled in the time of real New Testament Christians.

• As in Genesis, Adam is identified with the starting point generation, while Enoch is identified with the 7th generation.

• I Corinthians 15:42-47, "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, 'The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven."

• Adam - Understanding the larger context of I Corinthians, the first Adam is referring to Adam in the Garden of Eden, while the last Adam refers to Christ. Apparently, the first Adam was an earthly, historical, living person, just as much as Christ, the 2nd Adam, was the Son of God from heaven. 

• The first Adam set the example of what it means to have an earthly body.

• Romans 5:12-15, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many."

• Adam - Apparently a historical figure, as Christ's counterpart--noted for bringing death and sin into the world, unlike Christ who brought life and righteousness.

• Just as Christ acted as representative for mankind in the form of a historical man, so Adam in the Garden of Eden could only have acted as representative for mankind as a historical man.

 

Contradictory Creation account? (Gen. 2:5-7)

Gen. 2:5-6, "Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground."

• "Now . . . yet": Hebrew ṭe-rem (Strong's 2962) - exact word is translated as "before", "now before", or "that before" 9 out of 14 times in the NASB; can also mean "ere" or "not yet"; the word comes from a root word meaning to interrupt or suspend; the word is first used in Gen. 2:5--all remaining NAS translations in Genesis (Gen. 19:4, 24:15, and 24:45) read as "Before . . .", with the word placed at the beginning of the sentence.

• "of the field": Hebrew haś-śā-ḏeh (Strong's 7704) - when associated with plant(s) refers to agricultural field (25 times out of 131 total instances of the word); this excludes instances of association with plants in II Kings 4:39, Psalm 103:15, Isaiah 40:6 (which appears to quote Psalm 103:15), Isaiah 55:12 (prophecy), Ezekiel 17:24 (prophecy), and Ezekiel 31:4 (prophecy).

• "to cultivate": Hebrew la-‘ă-ḇōḏ (Strong's 5647) - means to work or serve; the only other translation as to "cultivate" or "till" in the NAS, KJV, and INT is in Gen. 3:23, "therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken."

Gen. 2:7, "Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."

• "Then . . . formed": Hebrew way-yî-ṣer (Strong's 3335) - formed/fashioned by human hands (i.e. by a potter or wood-carver), or formed/fashioned by God; the exact word is used only twice, here in Gen. 2:7 and in Gen. 2:19.

• "and breathed": Hebrew way-yip-paḥ (Strong's 5301) - means to breathe or blow; the exact word only occurs in this verse, Gen. 2:7.

• "the breath": Hebrew niš-maṯ (Strong's 5397) - only three other instances of exact word: Gen. 7:22, "breath of the spirit of life" (Noah's flood); Prov. 20:27, "The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD"; Isaiah 30:33, " . . . The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire."

• "of life": Hebrew ḥay-yîm (Strong's 2416) - exact word first occurs in Gen. 2:7; the word's following occurrences in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, I Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, and II Chronicles all refer to either physical aliveness, physically dwelling in a land, flowing water, or the living God. 

Set off by the transitional word ṭe-rem, these verses appear to jump back to the sixth day, similar to a literary flashback. The chronologizing of passing days with morning and evening is no longer seen in the text. Instead, one sees a much more detailed picture of God at work. 

Has the Genesis account of creation endured? (Gen. 1:11-30)

(Quotations of Scripture are taken from the New American Standard version)

Gen. 1:11, "Then God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them . . .'"

• Yes, we do still see seed-bearing plants.
• Yes, excluding algae, kelp, and a few others (whose seed-bearing, plant nature may be questioned), all seed-bearing plants I can think of must grow on land, or very near land. We don't see subterranean, wind-borne, or oceanic "islands" of seed-bearing plants. 
• Yes, I watch, and see that a grass seed grows into a grass plant, a bean seed grows into a bean plant, and a pine tree seed grows into a pine tree. If not, seed companies would be non-existent or need really good insurance, and gardeners would be extremely frustrated--said from the viewpoint of a past avid gardener.

Gen. 1:14-16, "Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years'; God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also."

• Yes, we still have only two great lights: the sun and the moon.

[(12/21/2015) Just realized I accidentally skipped part of these verses.

• Yes, the lights of heaven have repeatedly served as signs (Strong's 226: "signal, flag, beacon"): 2 Kings 20:9 (King Hezekiah); Matt. 2:2 (Christ's birth); Luke 23:45 (Christ's death); and navigation by the sun, moon, planets, and 58 navigational stars.
• Yes, the sun, by the earth's orbit, still governs the seasons of summer, fall, winter, and spring.
• Yes, man still notes the passing of days by the appearance of the sun and moon.
• Yes, man still notes the passing of years by the earth's orbit around the sun.

]

• Yes, the greater light, the sun, dominates the daytime sky--repelling darkness (excepting extremes like the North Pole, South Pole, and eclipses).
• Yes, the lesser light, the moon, dominates the night sky--without dispelling the darkness of night.

Gen. 1:20-22, "Then God said, 'Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.' God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind . . . God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.'"

• Yes, the bodies of water on the earth certainly "teem" with living creatures.
• Yes, the birds, or flying creatures, are still seen in the sky.
• Yes, whales, fish, jellyfish, etc. only fill the seas. They die if brought out of water.
• Yes, the flying creatures do not multiply on the oceans, but rather nest or roost on the land.

Gen. 1:24-25, "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind' . . . "

• Yes, apart from the flying creatures and the creatures of the seas, we see many land-bound animals.

Gen. 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'"

• Yes, man stands out pretty distinct from the rest of creation. Man has unique creativity, fabricating increasingly sophisticated dwellings, machinery, and means of recording/exchanging knowledge (books, electronics, TV, wifi, etc.)
• Yes, man does exercise rule over all living creatures, whether fish, bird, or beast of the earth. We have fishermen, whalers, livestock owners, birders, and hunters (of bird and beast).

Gen. 1:28, "God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth . . .'"

• Yes, man has multiplied greatly all across the globe.
• Yes, man still calls the the land home (i.e. homelands, not home-waters or home-airs).

Gen. 1:29-30, "Then God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food'; and it was so."

• Yes, I dare not try to number or name all the seed-bearing plants and fruit-bearing trees we harvest for food.
• Yes, every green plant I know of is kept in check by the voracious appetites of various animals (including the small creeping animals/insects/bugs/small creatures) and flying creatures.

. . . Well, that was a little longer than expected.