Re: [asa] Adam, Eve, Garden Myth

Dave -

It's not entirely true that The Cosmos in the Light of the Cross doesn't deal with this - see the last full paragraph on p.125 & the 1st on p.169. But it's true that I didn't deal with the issues of sin & salvation in great detail in that book. That's one of the things I'm working on now, the PSCF articles at http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2006/PSCF6-06Murphy.pdf being one aspect of the work in progress. This is not, however, a detailed exegesis of Gen.2 &3.

There is a great deal of theological significance in those chapters. Briefly, the human as God's creation & object of God's special care - while still a being of the earth, the task of humanity to "guard & serve" the earth, the human ability to understand the animals & his superiority over them, marriage & society as God's purpose for humanity, humanity being called to observe limits set by God & the transgression of them as sin, the reality of temptation, & God's care for humanity even as sinners are just a few important themes. In addition, the difference between the pictures of God's activity in Gen.1 & Gen.2 is significant - in one case a transcendent sovereign creating by fiat & in the other an immanent creator who gets down in the dirt to form the human. Having 2 accounts gives a fuller picture of the creator.

Shalom
George
http://home.roadrunner.com/~scitheologyglm

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Wallace" <wmdavid.wallace@gmail.com>
To: "ASA" <asa@calvin.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 04, 2009 2:48 PM
Subject: [asa] Adam, Eve, Garden Myth

> Assuming a theology without a literal Adam and Eve, I have been
> wondering what the purpose of the Adam and Eve myth is? The Cosmos in
> the Light of the Cross does not deal with this issue. The whole account
> in Gen 2 and 3 does not seem to serve much theological purpose. What
> are we to make of details like the garden, the rib, naming the animals,
> the snake, the apple, the tree of life, God clothing Adam and Eve and so
> on? Of course one possibility is to assume that these 2 chapters should
> not have been included in scripture and thus ignore them totally.
>
> Here I am using myth as:
>
> **" traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to
> unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief,
> or natural phenomenon"
>
> I am not saying that I accept a theology with Adam and Eve, just that I
> would like to understand.
>
> Dave W
>
>
>
>
>
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Received on Sat Apr 4 16:36:24 2009