The Adam and Eve Genesis story - true or false?

I go to a catholic secondary school and my RE teacher told me that Adam and Eve weren't real - just a made up story.


true or false?


personally, i think its true and Adam and Eve really were the first human beings everThe Adam and Eve Genesis story - true or false?
Both.





And neither.The Adam and Eve Genesis story - true or false?
Dear Friend,





I think you may have misunderstood your RE. Or your RE taught how one can understand Genesis, but not express it clearly. One can take the story as literal history and it would be true to an extent, but scientific facts tell a different story. So, there is another way the story may be understood; as a myth. Now when it comes to myths, fairytales, and fables it does not mean a story is untrue. These are descriptive stories that point to a larger truth. For example, the fable of the fox and the grapes.


A fox is walking down the road and is thirsty. He sees a batch of grapes hanging over his head. He jumps for the grapes, but cannot reach them. He keeps trying and trying. Finally the fox gives up and says, ';they are probably sour anyway.'; The moral or truth of the story is ';it is easy to despise what you cannot have.';


Now this is a true story because of the truth it is teaching. In our human experience we all have complained or spoken ill about things we cannot have. However, must I find a fox that can speak english to proove this story is true? No, the fox is only a descriptive character. The fox in ancient times represented one who was foolish much like today where we have the chimpanzee as a symbol of foolishness (e.g.) quit monkeying around!


So, we can see how fairytales, myths, and fables are useful in leading one to the real truth they are expressing. And so, Genesis can be understood in the same way. It can be understood as not being historically accurate because it is describing (as best as it can) what was happening BEFORE recorded history. And the only way to explain or express that is through myth and not historical facts (names, dates, time, etc. etc.). For all of this occured before we began recording history.


Also, the author of Genesis was not interested in giving historical facts. The point of the story was to explain how powerful and wise God is and how we let evil into the world. It then explains how evil grows until the Hebrew people are enslaved by the Egyptians and later the Babylonians. So, the author is only intrested in explaining the Hebrew people's present circumstance; why are we slaves and how did all this happen?


We can learn alot from how Genesis is written. For example, a lot of people wonder if the world was created in 6 days. Of course, it is not beyond God's power to create the world in 6 days. However, there is a deeper truth that this is saying. It is saying the world was chaos (a formless void), but God took what was chaotic and made it ordered. That is why the creation story is told with Day One, Day Two, Day Three...and so on. God created order in the universe.


Now Adam and Eve were the names of the first parents of humanity (had to begin with two). However, there is another verse in Genesis which says, ';Male and Female He created 'them''; This could mean just Adam and Eve, but may even mean more then the two of them. We do not know. Why? Because we were not there and we did not come into existence yet. And neither did the author of Genesis. The author was not an eyewitness to the beginning, but the author tries to explain, as best as possible, the perfection of the world before history and he does it with symbolic language.


I hope this has been helpful to you. May the Lord bless and keep you. May the light of His face shine upon you.





God's and your beast of burden


Fr. john
Your RE teacher is wrong. In the Catholic Church it is Dogmatic that there was a first man (Adam) and a first woman (Eve) it has never decreed whether the story of creation should be interpreted literally, metaphorically or symbolically but the Church obliges you to recognise the existence of Adam and Eve.
The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis is spiritually true but not historically factual.





The account of the fall in Genesis uses figurative language, but affirms a real primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man.





If we assume Evolution is true then the scenario might happen like this. A manlike being is slowly evolving. At some point God gives these beings a soul and they become human beings with free will and responsibility. We call these new human beings Adam and Eve although there may have been more than two of them.





These human beings lived in complete “original” holiness. They loved God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their mind. They loved their neighbors as much as they loved themselves.





Then the first human beings disobeyed God, choosing to follow their own will rather than God's will. This was the Original Sin.





Consequently, they lost the grace of original holiness and sin became universally present in the world.





Besides the personal sin of the first human beings, original sin describes the fallen state of human nature, which affects every person born into the world, and from which Christ, the ';new Adam,'; came to redeem us.





For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 390 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1s…





With love in Christ.
urockmysocks, you are correct!





Adam and Eve lived upon this earth.





Adam was made just as the Scripture teaches from the dust of the ground and the Almighty God breathed into his nostrils His breath of life.





The Almighty God made Eve by placing Adam into a deep sleep and removed his rib and formed a woman out of it.





Your teacher is incorrect Adam and Eve were real people.





Praise Almighty God because He is working through you - because even though you are being falsely taught, you still KNOW instinctively what is truth.





The Roman Catholic church is infamous for dismissing, altering or simply removing any Scripture that she pleases from the Holy Word of Almighty God.





';ALL SCRIPTURE is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right'; (2 Timothy 3:16).





Keep studying the Scriptures for yourself urockmysocks and let the LORD, not the church guide you.





Be Blessed:-)
Yeah, humans just appeared outta nowhere despite the physical PROOF that we have about evolution. Eve was made out of a rib that was ripped out of a sleeping man, and they were decieved by a talking snake. Yes, that's VERY legitimate. After all the bible was written 2000 years ago, and as we all know that's when we knew everything about science. Of course it's true because some man said it was....





I believe that god made the first creatures and the possibility of evolution, thus ALLOWING us to be created.
could be true can't be proved either way. But one thing i find interesting is the easter islander had a story of their god creating people out of mud, he made the man first then he put the man to sleep and opened up his chest, he then dipped a banana shoot ( i have never seen a banana shoot but it wouldn't surprise me if it looked a bit like a rib bone) in the man blood and inserted it into the mud woman's chest and breathed life in to her. Compare that with the bible story, it's quite weird
I think it is allegorical. Even if it were literal, how could it be exactly as it is written in the bible? It would have been passed down by word of mouth for man many generations before writing was invented and it was written down, and well... we've all played chinese whispers before if you know what i mean. A word here, a word there, and a story is blown up into something completely different to what actually happened.





But in reality, I don't believe it is true. It is just a story trying to teach a point.
Between Verse 1 and 2 of Genesis are millions of years of time. There was a heavenly (angelic, not flesh) creation, then in verse two, the earth (became) void and without form. God destroyed it. Why? Because of satans rebellion in Isa. 14 when he deceived a third of God's angels. Then God started over with a new earthly creation. First human beings is debatable, look what happened on the 6th day of creation. God rested on the 7th. Then He formed Adam, logically on the 8th day. So there you go. Hope I didn't overload your donkey.
There are actually two stories. They should be interpreted metaphorically.


About the evolution (ie-change) of humans...It is described by the Evolutionary Theory which would not be possible without variation...if you consider the worlds population, the fact that the Bible never mentions American Indians or the Chinese and that the time line of the OT doesn't 'add up', it's much easier to see that the OT should be taken metaphorically.


No, humans did not come from only one man and one woman. In the Evol. Th., there was a common primate long ago...it branched off and then those branches had branches, then on like that some more and eventually, humans, chimps and apes happened. The Theory does not state that we came directly from any of those animals. There are many different primate species-many of which are extinct. It's an interesting subject...
i am christian, and believe in evolution. so much facts support it, and it makes sense. there is fossil evidence, and adam and eve did not write the bible, so there's no proof. and, i know i sound all ';proof'; and stuff, but tis makes sense: back ten that was their only option. they didn't have the technology we have now. today, we have more clarity, so i suggest you open up to it. we have advantages, use them.
Your teacher is wrong.





The account of creation is written in the style of historical narrative, not poetry.





It explains where we came from, the origin of death, or sin, or marriage, of wearing clothes. It explains why Jesus had to die for our sins.


If Genesis is not a historical account, then Christianity has no foundation.





It is a modern abberation that thinks it is not true.





It is hard to imagine how the Bible could have been written to make it more clear that Genesis contains a historical account of recent 6 day creation.


• God confirmed this with his own finger (Ex 20:11, Ex 31:17).


• Jesus accepted the historicity of Genesis, quoting from it over 25 times, and taught a young earth, since he said “…He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’…” (Matthew 19:4; quoting Genesis 1:27). See also Mark 10:6–9; Luke 1:70, Luke 11:50-51.


• Many OT authors quote Genesis 1-11, as a historical account. None remotely suggest it is anything else.


• All the NT authors accepted the historicity of Genesis, quoting from it as a historical account.


• Taking account of tradition, Genesis has been accepted as a historical account by the vast majority of Christians for the vast majority of the church's life. This includes the reformers Calvin, Luther and Wesley.


• Finally, you would struggle to find a single Hebrew scholar in all the world that did not agree that the author's intended meaning was six 24 hour days.





[‘… probably, so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1–11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that:


1. creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience


2. the figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the biblical story


3. Noah’s flood was understood to be world-wide and extinguish all human and animal life except for those in the ark.’


James Barr, Oriel Professor of the interpretation of the Holy Scripture, Oxford University. 1984.]





With what authority and what reason is the above teaching set aside, and replaced with an alternative old-earth history, death-before-the-fall theology, and a gospel with a different foundation?


The Bible teaches a logical case for the atonement based on the facts of Genesis: Jesus died because death is the result of sin, and sin is the result of the Fall. If death and suffering was part of God’s original creation then why did Jesus have to die? And what does a creation full of death have to say about the nature of a good and perfect God? In the future, when the effects of the curse have been removed, then by the logic of theistic evolution we will still live with eternal death and suffering, since these were not the result of the Fall.
i am shocked and saddened that a RE teacher would say such blasphemous filth, especially in a Catholic school. i hope you and your parent's have complained as you need to get this heathen out.





of course Genesis is true, its the word of God Himself! how else do you think we got here?
You are correct! Adam and Eve were real.





Jesus is even called ';the last Adam';, would he be referred to as someone who didn't exist? I am amazed at the many false teachings of Catholics and what's more mind-baffling is that they continue with their lies even after they have been shown to be so. You are the not the first Catholic to say that they've been taught Genesis is a myth.





Jesus is called the ';last Adam'; in that, the first one, a real person who was perfect, chose to disobey our Creator and thus lost everlasting life for all of us. There needed to be an exchange, a perfect man for a perfect man as a ransom. That perfect man was Jesus. Jesus then is referred to as the last Adam because he gave his life so we could again have the opportunity to have everlasting life. (John 3:16) So while the first Adam lost life for us, the last Adam got it back for us.





So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”a; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.(1 Corinthians 15:45-47)





Romans 5:12-14 says: ';Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.';





It's obvious the early Christians believed in Adam and Eve and so true Christians today believe in the Genesis account.





If your church/religion is teaching falsehoods, you need to get out and learn truth. Read the Bible, don't just believe what some person tells you about it. Read it yourself!
Understanding the creation story is foundational to understanding most of the rest of the Bible-salvation, man's sinful nature, why Jesus came and what he did,etc.


Your teacher is a rank unbeliever (see wolf in sheep's clothing)
The story is TRUE.


I've always wondered about the logic of people who find it so difficult to believe that humans came from humans, but so easy to believe that humans came from apes? Does that make sense to anyone else?
If your teacher is a Catholic then she would know better than to teach that. Of course, they were real people. The first to be created by God on the globe called earth as we know it today.


Are you sure you didn't misunderstand her comment?
Why do you think it is true??





The only reason is because your parents told you that when you were little. But don't you think if it were true it would be in history books??





You believe people talked to a snake?? you must be a loon
If the priest thinks you're mug enough to believe it, then it's literally true, but as soon as he sees your eyes glaze over, he will play the ';symbolic'; card. That's why religion has lasted so long - rat cunning priests.
I would go straight to the dean o0f the school and tell him about this. If he says that the teacher is right then you need to consider a different Catholic school.
There is other Bible's that tell a slightly different story to the Genesis story. You can look up Banned from the Bible on Youtube.
I am sure that the story of Adam and Eve its true. It is written in the bible, and I firmly believe in what the Bible says. The Bible is the Word of God, he does not tell lies. Bye bye!!!!!
True, all nationalities can be traced to one point of origin. If the catholics don't believe in scripture Why preach Jesus.
Most biblical scholars regard it as a morality tale, not a fact.
Quite obviously false. A simple lesson in biology would make that obvious.
your not going to get your answer on here.. there are allot of unbelievers on here, who's job is only to separate people from God..
Adam and Eve were real. He created man and woman from the rif of man.
So Jesus was lying...according to the bible he believe in them





Matthew 19:3-4 And Pharisees came up to him, intent on tempting him and saying: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on every sort of ground?”





4 In reply he said: “Did YOU not read that he who created them from [the] beginning made them male and female





Ask your teacher ...why Jesus need to die..if the story of Adam is false??





Mankind Faces a Difficult Problem





The original sin created a very critical problem for mankind. Adam began life as a perfect human. Therefore, his children could have enjoyed perfect everlasting life. However, Adam sinned before he fathered any children. The entire human race was still in his loins when he received the sentence: ';In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are and to dust you will return.'; (Genesis 3:19) So when Adam sinned and began to die as God said he would, all mankind was sentenced to death along with him.





http://www.watchtower.org/e/20011115/art…
The notion that all of the evil that has ever occurred in the entire history of humanity, all the torture and slaughter and persecution and conflict, all the disease and disaster, is due to one person plucking fruit from a tree 6,000 years ago, is just a completely, staggeringly, breath-takingly stupid idea, and anyone who is even tempted to believe it should seek psychiatric help immediately, before they go completely bonkers and start killing people.
I think so too! Why? It says it in the Bible!!!!!! Plus, a whole bunch of people believe it and a whole bunch of people wouldn't believe a made up thing!!!!!!! Plus another thing is that we have a seven day week - perfect, just like the Bible says!!!!!! Where did we get a SEVEN DAY WEEK if not from the BIBLE?????? Just like god planned!!!!!!
take out the literal interpretations of it, the parts dealing with the supernatural, scientifically inaccurate, unreasonable, and the whole garden thing and i will probably stop just short of giving it a giant FAIL