Do you believe that Genesis and the story of Adam and Eve is true?

Question

Or is it a myth that someone just wrote for intertainment?

Answer 1

Were Adam and Eve merely allegorical (fictional) persons?
Is it unreasonable to believe that all of us descended from the same original parents?
“Science now corroborates what most great religions have long been preaching: Human beings of all races are . . . descended from the same first man.”-Heredity in Humans (Philadelphia and New York, 1972), Amram Scheinfeld, p. 238.
“The Bible story of Adam and Eve, father and mother of the whole human race, told centuries ago the same truth that science has shown today: that all the peoples of the earth are a single family and have a common origin.”-The Races of Mankind (New York, 1978), Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish, p. 3.
Acts 17:26: “[God] made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.”
Does the Bible present Adam simply as an allegorical character representing all early mankind?
Jude 14: “The seventh one in line from Adam, Enoch, prophesied.” (Enoch was not the seventh in line from all early mankind.)
Luke 3:23-38: “Jesus himself, when he commenced his work, was about thirty years old, being the . . . son of David . . . son of Abraham . . . son of Adam.” (David and Abraham are well-known historical persons. So is it not reasonable to conclude that Adam was a real person?)
Gen. 5:3: “Adam lived on for a hundred and thirty years. Then he became father to a son in his likeness, in his image, and called his name Seth.” (Seth certainly was not fathered by all early men, nor did all early men father sons at 130 years of age.)
Does the statement that a serpent spoke to Eve require that the account be allegorical?
Gen. 3:1-4: “Now the serpent proved to be the most cautious of all the wild beasts of the field that Jehovah God had made. So it began to say to the woman: ‘Is it really so that God said you must not eat from every tree of the garden?’ At this the woman said to the serpent: ‘ . . . God has said, “You must not eat from it, no, you must not touch it that you do not die.”’ At this the serpent said to the woman: ‘You positively will not die.’”
John 8:44: “[Jesus said:] The Devil . . . is a liar and the father of the lie.” (So the Devil was the source of the first lie, spoken in Eden. He used the serpent as a visible mouthpiece. The Genesis account is not using fictional creatures to teach a lesson. See also Revelation 12:9.)
Illustration: It is not unusual for a ventriloquist to make it appear that his voice comes from another source. Compare Numbers 22:26-31, which tells that Jehovah caused Balaam’s she-*** to speak.
If “the first man Adam” was simply allegorical, what about “the last Adam,” Jesus Christ?
1 Cor. 15:45, 47: “It is even so written: ‘The first man Adam became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first man is out of the earth and made of dust; the second man is out of heaven.” (Thus denial that Adam was a real person who sinned against God implies doubt as to the identity of Jesus Christ. Such denial leads to rejection of the reason it was necessary for Jesus to give his life for mankind. Rejection of that means repudiation of the Christian faith.)
How did Jesus himself view the Genesis account?
Matt. 19:4, 5: “[Jesus] said: ‘Did you not read [at Genesis 1:27; 2:24] that he who created them [Adam and Eve] from the beginning made them male and female and said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh”?’” (Since Jesus believed the Genesis account to be factual, should we not believe it too?)

Answer 2

Yes. Whether we are the product of mere chance, or are the special creative work of a loving Creator, is enormously important. If the stories convey mythic truths only, then humanity has no special origin, and we tell ourselves these stories merely to calm our fear of the night, and nothing more. The whole point of evolution is that given enough time, blind, unthinking, totally random events will produce creatures like us, with no need whatsoever for intelligent intervention. If you buy the evolutionary premise, you have sold God.

However, if the stories are factually as well as morally and theologically true, then the fabric of the moral and theological elements holds together. There is a God. He can do as He pleases with His own creative energy in the physical as well as the spiritual universe. Making man from mud is trivial. There are no boundaries to what might have happened with such a Being, and unless He told us what had happened, we would not know, no matter how hard we labored at finding out on our own. With such a Being, there are no limits to what might happen in the future, and unless He told us so, we would not know that one day we will stand again in His presence, to be rewarded according to His mercy and justice.

Answer 3

I don't think it was written for entertainment, and I don't think it's complely true either.

My view on it was it was written in a way that people back then could understand the beginning of the universe, that we came from SOMEWHERE and ultimately to give us a sense of purpose. If you told them all the scientific theories of today, everyone would have been like 'you what?'

I think that there is a God and he's a clever guy that gives us just enough information to not go crazy.
I feel that he created us, but he did it in such a way that uses science.
After all, why wouldn't he have used evolution? It seems like a good idea! Evolution doesn't imply that he isn't perfect or good enough to make animals straight off the bat - without evolution the world wouldn't be the same way, have the same balance or be in the same state as it is today.
That's what I think anyway.

Answer 4

Jesus's genealogy right back to Adam was recored by the Gospel writer Luke.
Many people today can trace their lineage to Abraham. So he was an actual person. Or to his descendants.
If Genesis were myth, then where in the genealogy would the real names end and the so called legendar ones begin?
Jesus, who existed in heaven before coming to earth, believed what was written in Genesis,including the account of Adam and Eve. He also said, "it will be like before the days of Noah. Why would he say that if Noah were not a real person? To much archology evidence proves Genesis to be true.

Answer 5

The Catholic Church has accepted the truth of evolution. Most believers accept the findings of science. The Adam & Eve story is not accepted as literally true by most believers. Uh, 'cavemen' isn't a scientific term.

Answer 6

From a scientific and factual point of view it's more like a fairytale. I've even heard fairytales more believeable. That is in fact my biggest problem with the bible, and the reason I believe that religions are man made, and more specifically "men made". I can't accept that Adam took a bone and had Eve made from it, hence that being the reason why women have one rib less. Women have one set of ribs less so as to have room for a baby growin within them. Nature evolves through natural selection, and I also believe that our dna is very much alive, and that there is a constant fight for dominance within our dna, just like in nature at large. And i belive that we adapt genetically, and that in people or animals that have certain genetic traits will survive in a certain environment. Plant and animate life has had many eons of years to perfect this process. I belive that there are universal physical and mathematical laws governing how everything develops within a certain environment, whether it be on earth or on some other planet. I belive tha there are all kinds of life and pre-life out there. Though our earth is very special, and I cherish it much, the posistioning of our earth in the universe is not in it self unique or special, and it would be ridiculous to belive that the whole universe, as such revolves around our globe, and what happens on our planet alone. We are not alone! There's life everywhere!

Answer 7

If Adam and Eve are true then what the hell are history teaches doing telling us that we descended from Apes. There is enough proof that we have evolved that it makes the whole Adam and Eve thing a bit of a joke on Christian ideas, I would hate to have gone to a catholic school as being taught both would confuse me, if I was only told about Adam and Eve then I have had history withheld. I hope this has been interesting to read as it is a personal choice really.

Answer 8

The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Genesis is true. The story of Adam and Eve is true.

Myths are made up by men and women who have lost their way.

Answer 9

The evidence of mitochondrial DNA shows we all come from a common ancestor. A common mother..was she named Eve..I don't know. The point is, both science and the Bible say we are all brothers and sisters. That in spite of race, or origin we are all the same. That is the important message. Maybe God figured man wasn't advanced enough to understand the nuances of DNA..so he gave us this story. Maybe her name was Eve???

Answer 10

As you move down the scale of gullibility you finally reach bottom and meet those who believe the Genesis Adam and Eve story is literal. Its not entertaining either way.

Answer 11

I believe that this is a question which can never be answered. However, I am more inclined to believe in evolution rather than Genesis. Somehow, when i look at the world around me and all the difficulties faced by many of the people, it's hard for me to assume that there is someone who would sustain me through life. I also just don't understand the concept of all humans being sinners, just because we make mistakes. In my opinions, our mistakes only serve to improve us. No offense to anyone but this is just my opinion.