The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate

2016 Christianity Today Biblical Studies Award of Merit For centuries the story of Adam and Eve has resonated richly through the corridors of art, literature and theology. But for most moderns, taking it at face value is incongruous. And even for many thinking Christians today who want to take seriously the authority of Scripture, insisting on a "literal" understanding of Genesis 2–3 looks painfully like a "tear here" strip between faith and science. How can Christians of good faith move forward? Who were the historical Adam and Eve? What if we've been reading Genesis―and its claims regarding material origins―wrong? In what cultural context was this couple, this garden, this tree, this serpent portrayed? Following his groundbreaking Lost World of Genesis One, John Walton explores the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis 2–3, creating space for a faithful reading of Scripture along with full engagement with science for a new way forward in the human origins debate. As a bonus, an illuminating excursus by N. T. Wright places Adam in the implied narrative of Paul's theology. The Lost World of Adam and Eve will be required reading for anyone seeking to understand this foundational text historically and theologically, and wondering how to view it alongside contemporary understandings of human origins.

• The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate
• The Lost World of the Flood: Mythology, Theology, and the Deluge Debate
• The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest: Covenant, Retribution, and the Fate of the Canaanites
• The Lost World of Scripture: Ancient Literary Culture and Biblical Authority
• Old Testament Theology for Christians: From Ancient Context to Enduring Belief
• The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context
• Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament
• Adam and the Genome: Reading Scripture after Genetic Science
• Four Views on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology)
• Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible