Literal?

[hindsey]

I am wondering how many in this forum believe that there really was a man with the name of Adam that lived in a garden with a woman named Eve. And subsequently this woman, Eve, was tempted by a serpent and ate from a tree that God did not want them to, resulting in them being exiled from this garden.

Basically, I'm wondering if you take Genesis 2-3 literally, or is that figurative language, and what I wrote above never actually happened in the literal, physical sense.

Do you take that story to be literal, actually physically happening?

 

[Deamiter]

I am wondering how many in this forum believe that there really was a man with the name of Adam that lived in a garden with a woman named Eve. And subsequently this woman, Eve, was tempted by a serpent and ate from a tree that God did not want them to, resulting in them being exiled from this garden.

Basically, I'm wondering if you take Genesis 2-3 literally, or is that figurative language, and what I wrote above never actually happened in the literal, physical sense.

Do you take that story to be literal, actually physically happening?

You're not a regular poster in these forums, so I'll quickly point out that you've posted in the Theistic Evolution subforum of origins. Here, you'll get mostly people who accept evolution responding. If you want to address all the Christians who post on this topic, you should post in the main Origins Theology forum.

To answer the OP, I do not believe there was ever a man named Adam or a woman named Eve who lived in an actual garden and ate a piece of fruit. Adam is a generic man (scripturally evidenced by the Hebrew word Adam) and Eve a generic woman. The story describes how our sinning is a choice, and how we are directly responsible for our sinful disobediance.

There's a TON of symbolism in there, most of which even creationists will acknowledge. If you want to get into it further, though, you'll have to post in the main Origins Theology forum as debate is forbidden here.

 

[hindsey]

You're not a regular poster in these forums, so I'll quickly point out that you've posted in the Theistic Evolution subforum of origins. Here, you'll get mostly people who accept evolution responding. If you want to address all the Christians who post on this topic, you should post in the main Origins Theology forum.

To answer the OP, I do not believe there was ever a man named Adam or a woman named Eve who lived in an actual garden and ate a piece of fruit. Adam is a generic man (scripturally evidenced by the Hebrew word Adam) and Eve a generic woman. The story describes how our sinning is a choice, and how we are directly responsible for our sinful disobediance.

There's a TON of symbolism in there, most of which even creationists will acknowledge. If you want to get into it further, though, you'll have to post in the main Origins Theology forum as debate is forbidden here.

Thank you,
I posted here on purpose after having asked a question in a previous thread. I understand, and I will not debate in this forum.

 

[Melethiel]

I, on the other hand, do believe in a literal Adam and Eve. I'm pretty theologically conservative.

 

[GhostKid]

I am wondering how many in this forum believe that there really was a man with the name of Adam that lived in a garden with a woman named Eve. And subsequently this woman, Eve, was tempted by a serpent and ate from a tree that God did not want them to, resulting in them being exiled from this garden.

Basically, I'm wondering if you take Genesis 2-3 literally, or is that figurative language, and what I wrote above never actually happened in the literal, physical sense.

Do you take that story to be literal, actually physically happening?

Well, no I dont take it litterally, although I take quite a bit of the Bible as Parable.

 

[Willtor]

Not to be too overtly TE, but you forgot an "other" option in the poll for those of us who are uncertain.

 

[FranciscanJ]

Well if J.R.R. Tolkein believed in a literal Adam & Eve, THEN I DO TOO!!!

Actually I'd probably go with the "other" category where I'm not sure yet.

Right now I lean toward the view that they where probably somewhat historical figures and that the parable truth of man's fallen state was placed on
Adam & Eve's lives--which was about as far back as ancient man could trace writing I think.

So the bottom line is the revealed and obvious truth of original sin and seperation from God traced back to as far as far back as man could remember---to the primeval gardens of the distant past.

 

[HocEstMe]

If Adam was not real, then the New Testament writers wouldn't have mentioned Adam's name so many times. As for the whole story I think there is poetic license but it is used to prove a point, not to say that it never happened. A serpent brings terrifying pictures to many. Serpents are poisonous, capable of killing if the venom gets in the system. In fact, Adam and Eve did die, the venom was temptation. And the act of eating the forbidden fruit was sin. Like some venom after it enters the system is toxic to the nervous system. The serpents temptation was toxic to their eternal life.

20 times the word Adam is mentioned in the Old Testament. Paul, Luke and Jude all mention Adam.

​

 

[Assyrian]

Actually the Hebrew word adm occurs over 570s times in the OT but it nearly always means man or mankind.
AV translates this word as Adam 20 times, but it is actually very unclear when it should be translated as Adam rather than man.
In fact the AV's 20 occurrences was up from older translations like the 1568 Bishops bible 17 times and 1599 Geneva bible 16
In modern translations the number of occurrences of Adam has gone down again.
The Message has Adam 17 times
ESV 12 times
RSV 11
Good News 10
JPS Jewish Publication Society 10
CEV only 9

If Adam was not real, then the New Testament writers wouldn't have mentioned Adam's name so many times. As for the whole story I think there is poetic license but it is used to prove a point, not to say that it never happened. A serpent brings terrifying pictures to many. Serpents are poisonous, capable of killing if the venom gets in the system. In fact, Adam and Eve did die, the venom was temptation. And the act of eating the forbidden fruit was sin. Like some venom after it enters the system is toxic to the nervous system. The serpents temptation was toxic to their eternal life.

You are quite good at these allegorical interpretations