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Adam and Eve - Part 1

© Wayne Kreger

Let us now venture on our quest for understanding in our exploration of mythology. But mythology spans across every culture on the globe, both past and present, and covers a wide variety of myth types. So where should we begin, you ask? At the beginning, of course. We will examine several creation myths from cultures around the world in the next series of articles beginning with a look at the Bible.

There are two creation myths in the Bible: 1. The Adam and Eve story, and 2. The Genesis story. In this article we're going to concentrate on the earlier of the two stories - Adam and Eve.

King David died around 970 BC and it is around this time that the Adam and Eve creation story was produced. It is a folkloric tale full of imagery and symbolism. Basically, the story goes as follows:

The earth was a void. A stream irrigated the land. Then God created Man, Adam, from dust and blew breath into him. The great Garden of Eden was created next for Adam to dwell in and God gave him one commandment to follow, that he may eat anything in the Garden except for the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil lest he should die. God then created the animals so that Adam would not be alone, but none made a suitable partner for him. So God put Adam into a deep sleep. He then took one of Adam's ribs and fashioned Woman, Eve, from it and presented her to Adam. Eve later encountered a Serpent in the Garden who talked her into eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and she in turn got Adam to eat of it as well. Their eyes opened and they felt shame for their nakedness. God found out about their deed and punished them all, cursing the Snake to crawl on its belly, Adam to toil for his living, and Eve to suffer pain in childbirth, and they were all banished from the Garden of Eden.

For a good account of the Adam and Eve story visit: The Life of Adam and Eve: The Biblical Story in Judaism and Christianity

So let's review the elements of this story. We find: the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Tree of Life (mentioned briefly near the end of the story), the fertile Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, the Serpent, God, and the punishment.