Introduction

Adam and Eve were the first humans placed on Earth by God, according to Christian tradition. Cast out of paradise after they disobeyed God's commandment not to eat from the Tree of Life,³Bible: Genesis 3. the Bible states that the Fall of Man, as this event is often called, affected all of humanity.⁴Bible: Romans 5:12

There are two accounts of creation appearing in the first two chapters of Genesis. Some scholars suggest that this is a chiasmus: a Jewish literary device used to assist in learning by telling a story twice, the second time with facts or concepts in reverse order. Others suggest what is called the "Documentary Hypothesis," which accounts for a few different authors of the same text. Since the scriptures are filled with symbolic language and parables, the precise events and chronology of creation cannot be accurately interpreted from reading the Bible. In spite of scientific advances and the fact that evolution has been supported for centuries by a great deal of evidence, most Christians still accept Adam and Eve as actual historic figures.⁶The Catholic communion has embraced evolution as part of God’s plan in recent times.

Life Story

After creating the world and populating it with plant and animal life, Christian belief holds that God then created humanity in his own likeness:

Then God said, 'Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.' So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.⁷Bible: Genesis 1:26-27.

After creating Adam, God placed him in a paradise called the Garden of Eden and gave him dominion over all creation. God then created Eve, and gave them two commandments: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it" and "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."⁸Bible: Genesis 1:28; 2:17.

After a time, a serpent––later identified with the figure known as Satan––entered Eden and tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit: "for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."⁹Bible: Genesis 3:5. After some resistance, Eve ate the fruit, followed by Adam. God then appeared, and Adam and Eve realized they were naked. They hid from God, covering themselves with fig leaves. God questioned them, allowing a chance for them to confess, which they reluctantly did.

According to scripture, God then cast them out of Eden and placed a curse on all three beings. First, he turned to the serpent and said:

Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.¹⁰Bible: Genesis 3:14-15.

Then, he turned to Eve and stated, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you."¹¹Bible: Genesis 3:16. Finally, he turned to Adam and said:

Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.¹²Bible: Genesis 3:17-19

God then placed cherubim with a flaming sword at the entrance to Eden. Based on biblical and other ancient manuscripts, Bishop James Ussher (1581-1656 CE) made the first calculation of the expulsion from Eden, placing it at 4004 BCE. Modern Christian scholars differ on the relevance of these findings, though many believe that it was around that year.

According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had children. Their sons, Cain and Abel, are named, but others are referenced. Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. At one point, when sacrifices are to be made, God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but Cain’s did not find the same acceptance. God said to Cain: “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it." Jealous of his brother, Cain later murdered Abel and was cursed and marked by God. The "mark of Cain" then became synonymous with ultimate betrayal by one who should have been absolutely trustworthy. Cain's wife and several generations of descendants were mentioned, after which Cain is no longer referenced in biblical history.¹⁴Bible: Genesis 4

The birth of Seth, another son, marked the end of the biblical narrative concerning Adam and Eve:

When Adam had lived one hundred thirty years, he became the father of a son in his likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. The days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years; and he had other sons and daughters. Thus, all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years; and he died.¹⁵Bible: Genesis 5:3-5

The lifespan and death of Eve are not mentioned.

Adam and Eve are rarely mentioned in the rest of the Old or the New Testaments. Adam is listed in the opening verse of Chronicles and Luke's genealogy of Jesus, and Paul mentioned Adam significantly in his epistles. He notes, "Yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who is a type of the one who was to come."¹⁶Bible: Romans 5:14 This verse in interpreted in Christianity as that Adam brought sin into the human condition, and therefore, all humanity stands in need of Christ's redemption.