I am finally at the point in my life I no longer believe in the tales of the bible. My husband feels for the most part that it too is stuff made up. There are just a few things that he wants to get cleared up, and one of those being the story of Adam and Eve. But everything I find deals with the creation of Adam, or something involving aliens. Does anyone know of any good links that really goes into the actual facts?
Need help in finding some information regarding the Adam and Eve tale.
by Tameria2001 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Tameria2001
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blondie
I have no background in non-jw writings on Adam and Eve: Leolaia was a source but she no longer posts on JWN that I can tell. peaceful pete, has been doing research in non-jw writings (scholarly) about Adam and Eve. He might have suggestions.
There are others on here that have shared such info. Hopefully, they will see your post and chime in.
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Phizzy
There is a long and Academic post by Leolaia on here which deals with a number of the aspects of the Genesis Myth of Adam and Eve. It may not be all you are looking for, but is very eye-opening and very informative.
Her Post is Titled " The Tree of Life, Asherah, and Her Snakes" use the Search box on here, you may find other stuff by Leo too. She is a well read and trustworthy source.
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Finkelstein
My husband feels for the most part that it too is stuff made up.
The bible is a mix of mythological expressions combined with historical facts from beginning to end .
The ancients hadn't the knowledge of the world in which we exist back then, so gods were a needed and necessary answer to those unknowns.
In the adherence to intellectual honesty, human ignorance is an indefensible fact.
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OnTheWayOut
I feel that if you follow this expert on the Hebrew Bible, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, you may get anwers. Don't purchase any material unless you are sure you want it. Many videos and books, papers are free on the internet somewhere.
She did a BBC series called THE BIBLE'S BURIED SECRETS (not to be confused with an American series by same name.) One episode was THE REAL GARDEN OF EDEN. I saw it on youtube or similar.
It is a journey to learn the real truth, or to unlearn the lies. Enjoy wherever it takes you.
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fulano
Blondie finds everything 👍🏻
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peacefulpete
I heard my name..lol I'm not the equal or even the shadow of some who have posted in the past but I can try to be of help. The link blondie provided is top shelf stuff. It reveals the larger cultural milieu of the author of the Eden story. The names and characters all provide clues to the intent of the author. The suggestion of onthewayout to look at the work of Francesca Stavrakopoulou is also good one. I don't agree with her in this particular conclusion but she has popularized the idea of looking for clues to the original meaning in its cultural setting. She suggests the Eden story in its original context was symbolism for the loss of the King at the fall of Jerusalm in 587. While the timing is consistant with the time of writing of the Eden story in the view of most scholars, I still hold the tale was an origin story. How we got here and why things are the way they are.
The first version by the P source (chapt 1-2:4a) says nothing about trees or snakes etc. It ends with the unnamed first man and woman being blessed and all is well so we can disregard it for now.
The nonpriestly (JE) version (2:4b-4:6) introduces whole expulsion and sacred tree story. The snake and sacred trees were popular and widely accepted symbols of the wisdom/creator goddess Ashera and her cognates in Israel and surrounding lands. The writer acting as a reformist of sorts seem to be taking familiar symbols and tropes and reversing their place in a thinly disguised polemic against the sacred objects of the Israelites and Judeans in the centuries prior to the Babylonian destruction of the temple. It also serves as an origin legend for birth pain, snakes without legs and why God made weeds. etc.
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Crazyguy2
It’s a combination of Old Sumerian stories. Someone took elements of several different stories and put them together to make the Adam and Eve story. In the original stories a god named Enki created man with the help of a female god and the sacrifice of another god for his blood. The idea of taking a rib to create Eve is from another story about Enki again and another female goddess healing him (can’t remember the details) but do to a mistranslation the mentioning of a Rib is in that story.
Enki had a garden and a man who tended to this garden named Adamu. It’s was also in another story where Adamu was called to the sky gods and then offered immortality if he would eat of the food provided but Enki told him it was a trick so Adamu didn’t eat and therefore didn’t gain immortality. Enki is also the original god that warned man about a coming flood and to save yourself a and to build a boat, save living things.
Yes the alien connection is very tiresome.
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Vidiot
Crazyguy2 - "...the alien connection is very tiresome."
"Awwww... don't say that."
