Part 1 If There was No Adam and Eve

Part one of a discussion on the question, "What impact would it have if there was no historical Adam?"

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[Chad01234]

Vladika, when you say we were created in the "image and likeness" of God, does that mean physically (the body) as well as spiritually (the soul)? I have always assumed that Orthodox Christianity teaches that the likeness of God refers only to the soul. Therefore, the physical shell can have a myriad of forms (hue of skin, deformity, gender, etc).

[allsaintsmonastery]

@Chad01234 Son, what we would conclude from the holy fathers is that it refers to intellect and free-will, and perhaps the will to virtue (arete).

[ndzoko]

Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden ,a nice kindergarten fairy tale.

[allsaintsmonastery]

@ndzoko It is notable that the story is never mentioned in Hebrew Scripture, after the Creation Narrative, and it does not become significant until the New Testament. It may very well be, as many scholars assert, that the book of Genesis, up until Abraham, was added only after the Exile into Babylon. The era of Abraham is the first actually historical era in the book. The story about Paradise may not have existed in Hebrew literature until after the Exile.

[AegeanKing]

@allsaintsmonastery It is also notable that "Adam" is not an actual name in Hebrew. It means "mankind". The word for just one man is "ish".  Also, the Jewish Theologian Nachmanides said in the 13th century that what made Adam a true human was his soul and that there were other man like creatures without a soul. His contemporary Maimonides echoes this same sentiment in his "Guide for the perplexed" in the first part chapter 7. Thanks for the Video!

[neildingman]

I've started to read Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives by Peter Bouteneff. It has been very good in covering the same material discussed in this video.

[Chad01234]

By the way, I had to ask if you have read the "Neandertal Engima, Solving the Mystery of Modern Human Origins," by James Shreeve @1995?

[Chad01234]

I like the train. My last two years as an undergrad at Elmhurst College was spent in a dorm next to the tracks. It became quite pleasant after a while.

[allsaintsmonastery]

@tifforo1 There is solid and clear scientific reason to believe that the idea that all people descended from a single set of parents is quite impossible. It is certain that there were at least three distinct species of humans which interbred to form modern man. Of them, the Neandertal likely contributed the most to the violent nature. It is, in fact, professors in Fundamenalist institutions such as Trinity Western here in British Columbia, who are calling Adam into question.

[allsaintsmonastery]

@MilitantPeaceist Oh that all Orthodox Christians, especially clergy, could actually live up to that command. We don't. There is still far to much hate and prejudice in all religions, and Christians have the least excuse for it because Christ taught so much the opposite.