Adam and Eve, fact or fiction?

[laserhazel]

What is your opinion, did God actually create the first human beings on the planet earth and name them Adam and Eve?

To a person who believes in magick, it sounds feasible. However, I honestly disbelieve that God created any people other than the ones who were formed from biological evolution.

WOW a new angle? Evolution from God, instead of creationism??

I am not God, but if I were I would have created the planet before the people.

[Dawa Lhamo]

Nah. I think it's an old tale, and may have mythological and religious truth in it, but I don't believe, empirically, that it's true. I don't really consider Creation/Origin much. It's more cyclical to me, I guess. ^_^

[Amelserru_halqu]

Hmmm... I think its a myth, and a rather useless one too. Perhaps it served at one time to empower males in society by making it seem that woman came from man rather than man coming from woman but that's pure speculation. It may have more significance if you study jewish mysticism or something, but I don't know what that would be.

If I had to guess what it really meant, the whole creation thing, is that YHVH gave man a soul rather than giving life to an entire species. For without a soul (or consciousness) is a man truely alive?

[laserhazel]

There is not much room for fairy tale in the real world? It seems like a lie, you know, not much truth to it.

Like i said, the planet probably grew the human things. The real question is whether or not a magic being created the planet.

[Amelserru_halqu]

There is not much room for fairy tale in the real world? It seems like a lie, you know, not much truth to it.

Like i said, the planet probably grew the human things. The real question is whether or not a magic being created the planet.

Hmm... Seems to me that the real question is, even if a being did create everything, including us, what should be our response?

Should we worship? Why? Simply because it's more powerful than us? Because it's wise? Because it created us? These are not reasons to chain ourselves to a master. Fear of death is a much better reason, but still a slave is a slave any way you cut it.

Should we be affraid of it? Should we try to become more powerful than it so we can stand up to it if we have to? If we had the power should we destroy it? I see no need to destroy it so long as it doesn't move to chain us to its will, of course how would we know what its will was?

Indeed why would a being create anything? Boredom? For artistic purposes? To draw upon the psychic energies of the creatures it has spawned?

These seem to be much more important than whether or not something created us, at least to me they do. We may never know what happened so I think looking at posible consequences of a creature creating us and its potential motives a much more interesting pursuit than debating something that we may never know. Of course we only have our own motives with which to paint a picture of a being that is obviously not constrained by our limitations so we're limited in that regard, still I find it a better use of my time than, debative whether or not some being created us since in that regard I have absolutely nothing to work with.

[Xentor]

What is your opinion, did God actually create the first human beings on the planet earth and name them Adam and Eve?

No.


To a person who believes in magick, it sounds feasible. However, I honestly disbelieve that God created any people other than the ones who were formed from biological evolution.

Personally, I believe God didn't create people at all. I tend to believe people were a rather haphazard occurrence due to chaotic coincidence.


WOW a new angle? Evolution from God, instead of creationism??

Join the club.


I am not God, but if I were I would have created the planet before the people.

So did the Christian God, so did the Jewish God, and the Islamic one. Mine didn't even do that.

[Philosophia]

What is your opinion, did God actually create the first human beings on the planet earth and name them Adam and Eve?

No.


To a person who believes in magick, it sounds feasible.

Not to me, it doesn't.


However, I honestly disbelieve that God created any people other than the ones who were formed from biological evolution.

I don't think he created anybody or anything...


WOW a new angle? Evolution from God, instead of creationism??

Not really new. Some Christian scientists already believe it.


I am not God, but if I were I would have created the planet before the people.

If I were God......sorry, drifted off there....:hehehehe:

[Nemesis Descending]

What is your opinion, did God actually create the first human beings on the planet earth and name them Adam and Eve?

I always thought it odd that the god who created the earth and all its lifeforms needed to use mud to create a human. He didn't need mud to make the earth, so why not keep going with the original ju-ju that made everything else? Why crank it down and resort to mud?

Of course the idea that a creator god is limited to have to do something one way or another is contrary to the definition itself. So when we see a god, any god, make little mud pies into humans it's pretty clear we're looking at human story-telling and not science.

[omar]

I read some place the first humans were not Adam & Eve & was not made of clay. They was made of wood from trees not plain old dirt. Ugh. Hurray for the wooden headed beings. Was this a Norse beleif or ?

[ModernKnight]

I don't believe in the literal truth of any creation myth.

[Arion]

I think humans evolved over time, they weren't just automatically created one day fully matured in adult form. I find it unlikely that women were made from the rib of the first man. If anything, the female had to come first. If we all came from the same two ancestors, we'd all be related and have genetic defects and stuff, no I don't think that's possible, either. *shrug*

[Tim]

What is your opinion, did God actually create the first human beings on the planet earth and name them Adam and Eve?

To a person who believes in magick, it sounds feasible. However, I honestly disbelieve that God created any people other than the ones who were formed from biological evolution.

WOW a new angle? Evolution from God, instead of creationism??

I am not God, but if I were I would have created the planet before the people.

God... as in "the one true"? Adam and Eve? Is this a question directed to Pagans? If it is, seems you are making some odd assumptions the way your post is phrased.

[Xentor]

God... as in "the one true"? Adam and Eve? Is this a question directed to Pagans? If it is, seems you are making some odd assumptions the way your post is phrased.

Really? How so?

[Tim]

Really? How so?

If it is directed at Pagans then it assumes that Pagans believe in (at some level) in the Book of Genesis (at the very least). It assumes that Pagans believe that the Abrahamic God is the creator of the world. It assumes that Pagans believe the Abrahamic God is the godhead, or "the One", or "the Source", or the "first principle". It assumes that Pagans (in general) give biblical text more credence and/or historical weight then other sets of myths. Pagans are (even with how loosely the term has begun to be used) for the most part are Pagans... the Abrahamic God is not at the forefront of most Pagan belief systems.

[Xentor]

Or it merely assumes that some of us may have heard about Genesis? Not necessarily believing in it?

[Tim]

I'm looking at the way both the post and the poll options are phrased... and why I said "the way your post is phrased"... maybe a clarification from the OP is in order.

[Xentor]

It seems he lost interest. Too bad.

[Sesen]

You will usually create a lot of confusion for yourself when you start interpreting religious stories literally. Most of them can be read at many different levels. I like to study from all religions and not just limit myself to paganism so I have come across many different interpretations of Genesis while studying christianity. I have come across one interpretation that is quite esoteric in nature which I agree with to some extent, though not completely,that I will post later if anyone is interested in reading it. I'll have to locate my Bible first though.:)

[God]

This is a nice topic l. I believe in the one true lord that is the divine creator of the universe. Of course I also know the story works only relative to the perception of the creator to the creation. I also know that God put the first two beings on planet Mars by mistake and it was actually dust, no water on Mars at the time, that didn't come along until he wanted to punish Moses.

The names were Adam and Eve.

[Twinkle]

Excellent!:viking:

[Lolair]

The first man and woman are not an original story. In Ireland the first man came from the Alder Tree and the first woman came from the Rowan. In Norse belief the first man came from the Ash (named Ask) and the first woman from the Elm (named Embla) - they were made from driftwood and brought to life by three gods. There are endless Aboriginal creation stories involving the first humans. In some stories man is not the first race. There is also the Greek Deucalion who has many similarities to Noah, and his wife Pyrrha. The only difference between these myths and the Christian/Judaic are that they are monotheistic.

While I don't necessarily believe that there were only two original humans, I like to think that the belief across cultures is more concerned with ancestors and knowing where you came from. Perhaps Adam and Eve or Ask and Embla are your great-great-great-great-great.... granparents? Or the grandparents of a tribe who's story is told in a beautiful creation story. The original blood of a tribe and in this way as across many cultures, they would be honoured as ancestors.

[laserhazel]

Very grateful for the insight Lolair. I had imagined there being a good deal of stories about creation. Being completely at the mercy of the Bible Belt I have not read a lot of books outside of the Bible.

Aborigines stories sound quite fascinating. They seemed to have invented some of the coolest things. Do you know any Native American Stories about creation?

[omar]

Some Nat. Amer. in the north- east, say they was created from the "embers of a camp fire". The Dakota-Lakota, say they was created from the "red catilite in the Black Hills.

[Lolair]

Hi LaserHazel,

Here's Wikipedia's section on Creation Stories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Creation_stories)

And here's a cool link from Indigenous Peoples Liturature: Creation/Origin Stories (http://www.indigenouspeople.net/legend.htm) - it's pretty extensive.

A funny background on the story of Adam and Eve. The fruit that they were forbidden is thought to be the fruit of the fig tree. A fig is a very old symbol for a woman's genitals, so when Eve offered Adam a fig, she wasn't offering him a fruit... The awareness that ruined their paradise was sex _firedevil

Blessings!
Lolair

[morningstar2651]

What is your opinion, did God actually create the first human beings on the planet earth and name them Adam and Eve?

To a person who believes in magick, it sounds feasible. However, I honestly disbelieve that God created any people other than the ones who were formed from biological evolution.

WOW a new angle? Evolution from God, instead of creationism??

I am not God, but if I were I would have created the planet before the people.It is physically impossible for the stories of Genesis to be literally true. However, they carry much symbolic meaning.

The following is the creation myth of the Bassari of Africa. It may sound a bit familiar.


Unumbotte made a human being. Its name was Man. Unumbotte next made an antelope, named Antelope. Unumbotte made a snake, named Snake. At the time these three were made there were no trees but one a palm. Nor had the earth been pounded smooth. All three were sitting on the rough ground, and Unumbotte said to them: "The earth has not yet been pounded. You must pound the ground smooth where you are sitting." Unumbotte gave them seeds of all kinds, and said: "Go plant these.'' Then Unumbotte went away. Unumbotte came back. He saw that the three had not yet pounded the earth. They had, however, planted the seeds. One of the seeds had sprouted and grown. It was a tree. It had grown tall and was bearing fruit, red fruit. Every seven days Unumbotte would return and pluck one of the red fruits.

One day Snake said: "We too should eat these fruits. Why must we go hungry?" Antelope said: "But we don't know anything about this fruit." Then Man and his wife took some of the fruit and ate it. Unumbotte came down from the sky and asked: "Who ate the fruit?" They answered: "We did." Unumbotte asked: "Who told you that you could eat that fruit?" They replied: "Snake did." ...

The Ouroboros ("self-devourer") is an ancient symbol in which a serpent or dragon is depicted devouring its own tail -- life consumes life. We consume life (plants and animals) order to live. One day, we too will die and become nourishment for other life. The snake is symbolic of this somewhat depressing truth.

Buddhism says that "Life is Dukkha". A lot is lost in the translation to "Life is suffering", but it does hint at the meaning of Dukkha. If life is suffering, then birth is the cause of one's suffering. This is why, in some creation myths, women are considered the cause of suffering (e.g. Pandora, Eve) because it is from women that we are born.

Such subtle symbolism is unseen by the bulk of "civilized" society.