Did Adam keep a journal

I have been reading that Moses wrote genesis from ancient records. Anyone else know anything about this?

smaneck said:

Most scholars would insist that the belief that Moses wrote the Torah is a pious fiction. Certainly Adam would not have been literate. No writing system has been found which dates back further than 3500 B.C.; the dawn of civilization. But people had already been around for at least 200K (people meaning homo sapiens, not earlier hominids.) Even farming only dates back to about 10,000 years ago. So for 95% of homo sapiens existence on the face of the earth we have lived as hunters and gatherers. And for only the last maybe 2% of our existence have we been able to read and write.

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We do not know how long Adam and Eve were in the garden and how long they had been living. Since there was no vale between God and man don't you think that they could have had learning so they were not illiterate?

smaneck said:

You can't learn something if it hasn't even been invented yet. Written language was invented around 3500 B.C.
I don't take Genesis literally. I believe in Evolution. If there was a historical Adam I'm guessing that that he lived about 10,000 years ago at the dawn of the Agricultural Revolution. I don't think he was the first human being.

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So your telling me that God or his angels were illiterate? I believe that Adam not only was literate but very intelligent as was eve his wife. I believe that they had been taught many things while they were part of the garden of Eden. They had to know how to survive in the lone and dreary world. What they did lack was experience. All the learning in the universe would have meant nothing without the experience tongi with it. When I went to college I took classes that would help me in my profession. Farming and ranching. What was funny is that several of the professors had never worked on the farm. Some of those who had written the books had never hauled a bale of hay or cut an acre of grain. I remember when I got out of college I was excited to Impliment my wealth of knowledge. I followed to the letter what I had learned and it was a disaster. My dad just let me learn from my failures. I asked him why the crop had failed. He told me that you can't use a one method fits all soil types weather conditions seeding rates amount of water etc. for example my ground is a heavier ground with clay in it. They suggested watering in 10 day intervals. I darn near drowned it out.

smaneck said:

That's like asking if God and His angels could fly an airplane ten million years ago. Are such questions even meaningful?



Literacy has nothing to do with intelligence. Homo sapiens were just as intelligent 100,000 years ago when they were living as hunters and gatherers as they are today. They just hadn't invented writing yet.
I'd be a total idiot out on the savanna being hunted by a saber-tooth tiger. And I wouldn't know which plants were edible. Still doesn't change the fact I'm literate and hunter/gatherers are not.

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Adam was not illiterate. He could read and write and do his numbers. He had to. He had to have lots and lots of children

smaneck said:

I hate to break it to you but some of the most illiterate people in the world manage to have the most children. Could he count? Probably. People in non-literate socities are often better at counting than literate peoples, especially when it comes to counting large sums like the 20,000 cowrie shells necessary for a bride price in parts of Africa. But he probably couldn't do more complex mathematical operations beyond simple multiplication and division that he can be done in your head.

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Boy I thought I was king of speculation. I now bow to the queen

ChetSinger said:

You may be referring to the various "Tablet Theories". They divide Genesis into sections believed to have been written by various persons (God, Adam, Noah's sons, etc.). If you google "genesis tablet theory" you'll find links that describe them.

I'm intrigued by them and think there may be something to them. Moses himself says in Deut 32:7-8 that the elders of Israel had a history that went back a least as far as Babel.

Of course, the antediluvian portion of Genesis is short enough it could have been preserved orally. No written journal would have been necessary.

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That what I had heard thanks

smaneck said:

Not speculation at all. Read The Domestication of the Savage Mind by anthropologist Jack Goody. He documents the effects of literacy on the way people think.

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Since he did not live during that time wouldn't he be speculating as to whether or not they were literate or not?

smaneck said:

LOL. I thought you meant he was speculating regarding the ability of non-literate people to count. He doesn't talk about Adam. The evidence there was no literacy before 3500 B.C. is based on the fact that we can't find any artifacts containing writings prior to that. It is your assertion that Adam was literate that is pure speculation, one that contradicts all the evidence. After all, you didn't live during that time either.

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My grand kids think I did. In fact one of them asked if I was on the ark with Noah. I said no and then he asked how come I didn't drown