Human History and Adam as Archetype

[Steve Petersen]

Curious: the name 'Adam' in the BIble can mean 'red, ruddy.' Apparently, beginning in the Upper Paleolithic period, humans began coating the bones or bodies of their dead with red ochre, a practice which became widespread for thousands of years. The biblical account says that Adam was made from the dust of the earth. Makes me wonder if this isn't rather a memory of earlier burial practices in connection with a RETURN of the body to the earth.

Adam was a gatherer at first. Gather cultures began to disappear in the Neolithic era. Adam's sons were farmers and shepherds, vocations that did not appear until the Neolithic Revolution. Adam himself became a farmer after the expulsion from Eden.

Jewish legends of Adam make him a fantastical character of mythologic proportions.

These elements are among some that lead me to the hypothesis that Adam was not a single historical person but an archetype of paleolithic humanity.

 

[visionary]

I have heard this thought line before.. but you still have to start with a pair.. unless you think that God made a batch at a time.

 

[Dave-W]

These elements are among some that lead me to the hypothesis that Adam was not a single historical person but an archetype of paleolithic humanity.

Ah yes - yet another attempt to de-supernaturalize the Bible.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Ah yes - yet another attempt to de-supernaturalize the Bible.

Just trying to apply Occam's Razor. Why leap to supernatural explanations when there are simpler, natural ones?

 

[Tishri1]

This is interesting Steve. Do you still believe a part of Adams DNA lives in each of us(being begotten at one time)?

Seems like no matter what actually happened we are connected...all of us through who he was.
I love imagining all the possibilities though.

 

[Dave-W]

Just trying to apply Occam's Razor. Why leap to supernatural explanations when there are simpler, natural ones?

The supernatural IS the simpler one.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Certain things are taken for granted in the Biblical narrative of Genesis 1 thru 10.
Naming animals requires abstract thinking and language.
Loss of innocence presupposes conscience.
The sacrifices of Cain and Abel imply domestication of grains and animals. Cain's son, Enoch, built a city. This requires domestication of grains and resulting population increase.
Five generations after Cain we have the creation of metallurgy, musical instruments. The Bible indicates that copper and iron were smithed.
The building of the Ark would have required a means of measurement and some degree of mathematics.
Noah planted a vineyard. This requires the domestication of grapes.

Most of these things can be dated. Some are harder to date and rest on best guesses.

Domestication of grains and livestock occurred during the Neolithic Revolution, about 12,000 years ago (Cain and Abel could be no earlier than this IF they were the first.) In the Near East, this started in the Zargos Mountains, between the Black and Caspian Seas. The Indo-European language groups have their roots in that region. Anthropologists believe that animal husbandry and agriculture spread from here to Europe, India and parts of Africa spread from here. Egyptologist David Rohl believes 'Eden' was also in that region.

The first cities were built in Mesopotamia about 9500 years ago. If Cain was the first city builder, he would have lived this long ago.

Viticulture appears to have originated in the region of Georgia and Armenia about 7000 years ago. If Noah was the first, he could have lived no earlier than this date.

The earliest use of metal in the Near East appears to have been about 7000 years ago in Armenia. The earliest man made iron artifacts in the Middle East are from about 4500 years ago in what is now Turkey. This is the same region as the other developments above, but it much later than any of the others. Hard to see how Tuval-Cain would fit into this timeline. BTW, it has been suggested that the name of the Greek god of the forge, Vulcan, is derived from the Hebrew 'Tuval-Cain.'

Archbishop Ussher and many Christians believe that Adam was created about 6000 years ago. As you can see, there was already a lot goin' on by that time.

Now, doesn't Genesis appear to be 'general history' without being literally true? I am speaking specifically about the first 10 chapters.

 

[MWood]

Sometimes yes, and sometimes no.