Adam and Eve: Allegorical Progenitors?

by Letters Editor · September 29, 2011

From Anthony Sturges, Johannesburg

When it comes to discussions over the origins of man (How Church’s teachings on Adam and Eve have evolved, September 7), opinions can and do vary wildly.

Literalists will limit themselves to the narrow confines of their own insular perspective, not allowing any thought that falls outside their thinking; while the other side of the spectrum will, with an equally sectarian viewpoint, insist on a random beginning, claiming that we evolved from the proverbial single-celled amoeba, with no chance of any first cause.

When considering the story of Adam and Eve, we first need to contextualise, putting the story into its own timeframe. The Book of Genesis can be dated to between 1446 and 1406 BCE.

It is not hard to envision a tribal society, grounded in an agrarian lifestyle. The concept of origin would have to have been based on personal experience as well as the world around them; hence, if one were to use the postulation of Ockhams razor, in the simplest of deductions, man would have been seen to originate from one pair! However, even the question where did that first pair come from would have raised its head. Thus, perhaps, the early extrapolation of the creation?

It makes sense that there would have to have been a large number of Adam and Eves (polygenism) to ensure the chance of survival of the species homo sapiens; the large variation within humankind today would, within my logic structure, demand a wider gene pool to start with than just one pair. Yet, an alarming number of people still believe in monogenism, despite the contrary evidence or logic.

For me, Adam and Eve represent the dawn of man unto God, where man was given sentience, a soul. Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (Genesis 2:7).

How we arrived at the point of sentience, defines the glory and magnificence of Gods creation, culminating in man, made in his image.