E
Euthymios
Guest
Archbishop Lazar Puhalo once suggested in a video that Adam and Eve might not have been historical personages. I think he holds to a kind of neo-orthodox view of Scripture --the notion that the Bible has historical and scientific errors in it. His ideas do not reflect the consensus of Orthodox Christians.
I don't think there are any good reasons to deny Adam and Eve lived; and I believe that the attack of liberals on Adam and Eve consequently amounts to an attack on the person, work and authority of the Lord Jesus. But I am sure this is not your reason and intention. I am going to present my case for why I believe Adam and Eve were historical personages, and why I believe it is not possible for an Orthodox Christian to deny their historicity. First, the Lord Jesus affirmed the existence of Adam and Eve.
In Matthew 19:4-5, it says:
"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Second, Genesis chapters 1 and 2 speaks of Adam and Eve as historical persons, and narrates key events in their lives.
Third, Genesis 1 is not in the form of Hebrew poetry.
Fourth, the creation account is in the form of historical narrative.
Fifth, Adam and Eve gave birth to literal children. See Gen. 4:1, 25, and 5:1.
Sixth, the phrase "this is the account of' is used to record later history in Genesis, the creation account, and of Adam and Eve, including their descendants (Gen.5:1).
Seventh, The Old Testament chronology in 1Chron 1:1 places Adam and Eve at the top of the list.
Eighth, In Luke 3:38, Adam and Eve are listed as Jesus' literal ancestors.
Ninth, Saint Paul teaches us n Romans 5:12-14 that Adam brought death into the world.
Tenth, in 1Cor. 15:45, St. Paul shows the comparison between the first man, Adam, and Christ, the last Adam. It is clear from this passage, that St. Paul understood Adam to be an historical person.
Eleventh, in 1Tim. 2:13-14, St. Paul is speaking of the literal and historical Adam and Eve, when he uses the phrase "Adam was first formed, then Eve." As I have shown, by denying the historicity of Adam and Eve, one would be doing great harm to other parts of the Bible.
Twelfth, logically the human race must have had first parents.
Thirteenth, we have the evidence from the Ebla Tablets.
Sixteen thousand clay tablets dated to the third millennium B.C. were found in Ebla Syria. They are known as the Ebla tablets. These tablets contain the oldest creation account outside the Bible, and pre-date the Babylonian creation account by 600 years. Not only do these tablets speak of one supreme God who created out of nothing, like Genesis says, but they also make reference to Adam, Eve, and Noah.
Fourteenth, archaeological findings tend to support Old Testament history and reliability.
William F. Albright was known as the dean of American Bible archaeologists. He said: "There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of the Old Testament tradition. (Archaeology and Religion of Israel, p. 176).
Even liberal sources admit to the general historical reliability of the Old Testament. In his book, "Is the Bible True?" Jeffrey Sheler writes:
"In extraordinary ways, modern archaeology has affirmed the historical core of the Old Testament---corroborating key portions of the stories of Israel's patriarchs, the Exodus, the Davidic monarchy, and the life and times of Jesus." (p. 52).
WHEN WRITING ABOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT, WILLIAM GREEN writes:
"It may safely be said that no other work of antiquity has ever been so accurately transmitted." [Green, General Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 21].
The Jewish archeologist Nelson Glueck said:
"It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible." [Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, p. 31].
The Fifteenth point I want to make is, that The Holy Fathers had high regard for the Bible.
St. Basil the Great writes: Plainly it is a falling away from faith and an offence chargeable to pride, either to reject anything that is in Scripture, or to introduce anything that is not in Scripture.
St. Gregory the Theologian: We who extend the accuracy of the Spirit to every letter and serif [of Scripture] will never admit, for it were impious to do so, that even the smallest matters were recorded in a careless and hasty manner by those who wrote them down.
St. Epiphanius of Cyprus teaches: Nothing of discrepancy will be found in Sacred Scripture, nor will there be found any statement in opposition to any other statement.
St. Barsanuphius of Optina: In the Apocalypse it is said: Blessed is he that readeth the words of this book. If this is written, it means that it is really so, for the words of the Sacred Scripture are the words of the Holy Spirit.
St. Ambrose: Moses spoke to God the Most High, not in a vision nor in dreams, but mouth to mouth."
St. Basil: "This man, who is made equal to the angels, being considered worthy of the sight of God face to face, reports to us those things which he heard from God."
St. John Chrysostom in his Homilies on Genesis comes back again and again to the statement that every word of the Scripture is Divinely inspired and has a profound meaning - that it is not Moses' words, but God's:
Let us see now what we are taught by the blessed Moses, who speaks not of himself but by the inspiration of the grace of the Spirit.
St. John Chrysostom says that, just as St. John the Theologian was a prophet of things of the future, Moses was a prophet of things of the past.
He says: All the other prophets spoke either of what was to occur after a long time or of what was about to happen then; but he, the blessed (Moses), who lived many generations after (the creation of the world), was vouchsafed by the guidance of the right hand of the Most High to utter what had been done by the Lord before his own birth. It is for this reason that he begins to speak thus: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," as if calling out to us all with a loud voice: it is not by the instruction of men that I say this; He Who called them (heaven and earth) out of non-being into being - it is He Who has roused my tongue to relate of them. And therefore I entreat you, let us pay heed to these words as if we heard not Moses but the very Lord of the universe Who speaks through the tongue of Moses, and let us take leave for good of our own opinions.
Saints Gregory the Theologian and Amphilocius tell us to accept Moses' books and all the Bible.
Canon 5 of the Regional Council of Carthage says that the Bible is divine.
I do not believe it is possible for a Christian to deny the historical reality of Adam and Eve, and still remain a Christian. To be a Christian, one must believe in Christian Scripture. To deny a literal Adam and Eve, is to consequently damage significant portions of Holy Scripture, undermine the authority of the Word of God, and undermine the person, work and authority of the Lord Jesus himself.
I don't think there are any good reasons to deny Adam and Eve lived; and I believe that the attack of liberals on Adam and Eve consequently amounts to an attack on the person, work and authority of the Lord Jesus. But I am sure this is not your reason and intention. I am going to present my case for why I believe Adam and Eve were historical personages, and why I believe it is not possible for an Orthodox Christian to deny their historicity. First, the Lord Jesus affirmed the existence of Adam and Eve.
In Matthew 19:4-5, it says:
"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Second, Genesis chapters 1 and 2 speaks of Adam and Eve as historical persons, and narrates key events in their lives.
Third, Genesis 1 is not in the form of Hebrew poetry.
Fourth, the creation account is in the form of historical narrative.
Fifth, Adam and Eve gave birth to literal children. See Gen. 4:1, 25, and 5:1.
Sixth, the phrase "this is the account of' is used to record later history in Genesis, the creation account, and of Adam and Eve, including their descendants (Gen.5:1).
Seventh, The Old Testament chronology in 1Chron 1:1 places Adam and Eve at the top of the list.
Eighth, In Luke 3:38, Adam and Eve are listed as Jesus' literal ancestors.
Ninth, Saint Paul teaches us n Romans 5:12-14 that Adam brought death into the world.
Tenth, in 1Cor. 15:45, St. Paul shows the comparison between the first man, Adam, and Christ, the last Adam. It is clear from this passage, that St. Paul understood Adam to be an historical person.
Eleventh, in 1Tim. 2:13-14, St. Paul is speaking of the literal and historical Adam and Eve, when he uses the phrase "Adam was first formed, then Eve." As I have shown, by denying the historicity of Adam and Eve, one would be doing great harm to other parts of the Bible.
Twelfth, logically the human race must have had first parents.
Thirteenth, we have the evidence from the Ebla Tablets.
Sixteen thousand clay tablets dated to the third millennium B.C. were found in Ebla Syria. They are known as the Ebla tablets. These tablets contain the oldest creation account outside the Bible, and pre-date the Babylonian creation account by 600 years. Not only do these tablets speak of one supreme God who created out of nothing, like Genesis says, but they also make reference to Adam, Eve, and Noah.
Fourteenth, archaeological findings tend to support Old Testament history and reliability.
William F. Albright was known as the dean of American Bible archaeologists. He said: "There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of the Old Testament tradition. (Archaeology and Religion of Israel, p. 176).
Even liberal sources admit to the general historical reliability of the Old Testament. In his book, "Is the Bible True?" Jeffrey Sheler writes:
"In extraordinary ways, modern archaeology has affirmed the historical core of the Old Testament---corroborating key portions of the stories of Israel's patriarchs, the Exodus, the Davidic monarchy, and the life and times of Jesus." (p. 52).
WHEN WRITING ABOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT, WILLIAM GREEN writes:
"It may safely be said that no other work of antiquity has ever been so accurately transmitted." [Green, General Introduction to the Old Testament, p. 21].
The Jewish archeologist Nelson Glueck said:
"It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible." [Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, p. 31].
The Fifteenth point I want to make is, that The Holy Fathers had high regard for the Bible.
St. Basil the Great writes: Plainly it is a falling away from faith and an offence chargeable to pride, either to reject anything that is in Scripture, or to introduce anything that is not in Scripture.
St. Gregory the Theologian: We who extend the accuracy of the Spirit to every letter and serif [of Scripture] will never admit, for it were impious to do so, that even the smallest matters were recorded in a careless and hasty manner by those who wrote them down.
St. Epiphanius of Cyprus teaches: Nothing of discrepancy will be found in Sacred Scripture, nor will there be found any statement in opposition to any other statement.
St. Barsanuphius of Optina: In the Apocalypse it is said: Blessed is he that readeth the words of this book. If this is written, it means that it is really so, for the words of the Sacred Scripture are the words of the Holy Spirit.
St. Ambrose: Moses spoke to God the Most High, not in a vision nor in dreams, but mouth to mouth."
St. Basil: "This man, who is made equal to the angels, being considered worthy of the sight of God face to face, reports to us those things which he heard from God."
St. John Chrysostom in his Homilies on Genesis comes back again and again to the statement that every word of the Scripture is Divinely inspired and has a profound meaning - that it is not Moses' words, but God's:
Let us see now what we are taught by the blessed Moses, who speaks not of himself but by the inspiration of the grace of the Spirit.
St. John Chrysostom says that, just as St. John the Theologian was a prophet of things of the future, Moses was a prophet of things of the past.
He says: All the other prophets spoke either of what was to occur after a long time or of what was about to happen then; but he, the blessed (Moses), who lived many generations after (the creation of the world), was vouchsafed by the guidance of the right hand of the Most High to utter what had been done by the Lord before his own birth. It is for this reason that he begins to speak thus: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," as if calling out to us all with a loud voice: it is not by the instruction of men that I say this; He Who called them (heaven and earth) out of non-being into being - it is He Who has roused my tongue to relate of them. And therefore I entreat you, let us pay heed to these words as if we heard not Moses but the very Lord of the universe Who speaks through the tongue of Moses, and let us take leave for good of our own opinions.
Saints Gregory the Theologian and Amphilocius tell us to accept Moses' books and all the Bible.
Canon 5 of the Regional Council of Carthage says that the Bible is divine.
I do not believe it is possible for a Christian to deny the historical reality of Adam and Eve, and still remain a Christian. To be a Christian, one must believe in Christian Scripture. To deny a literal Adam and Eve, is to consequently damage significant portions of Holy Scripture, undermine the authority of the Word of God, and undermine the person, work and authority of the Lord Jesus himself.
