which adam, which eden 7 jul 09 v2

Tuesday 7th July 2009 Which Adam, which Eden ? by Gary Auker 1

Which Adam, Which Eden ?

A talk to

Springfield Park Baptist Church

On Tuesday 7th July 2009

by

Gary Auker


Adam & Eve by 16th Century German painter Lucas Cranach




• Adam & Eve story in Genesis reached its final

form without further editing about 450 BC

• Written form of the Adam & Eve story took shape

shape between 1000 to 500 BC

• Adam & Eve story had an oral tradition probably

a few thousand years before it was written down


Which Adam, Which Eden ?Ways of reading the 1st few chapters of Genesis

• Literalistic view:

Early Church Leaders like Origen (185-254 AD)

& St. Augustine (354 - 430 AD) did not accept a literalistic reading

of scripture but an allegorical one, that is one with a deeper meaning

to scripture than just a direct unimaginative reading would convey.

Literalism is a relatively recent idea in the church. It gained in popularity

after the 16th century Reformation led by Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)

& Jean Calvin (1509 –64). James Ussher (1581-1656) most notably used

a literalist interpretation in 1650 to work out the date of creation to 4004 BC.

Literalistic readings of Genesis appear to make our understanding of

God’s Word contradict God’s World which cannot be true.

Most theologians do not take a Literalistic reading of Genesis too seriously.



Ways of reading the 1st few chapters of Genesis

• Literalistic view: not a serious option

• Mythical view:

This view rejects any historical content to the Adam & Eve account in Genesis

and views the text as purely a religious picture which conveys important truth’s

about man & his moral condition. It is not about the origin of sin but the nature

of sin – being cut off from God. The Mythical view which rejects any historical

content undermines the concept of redemption (bought back at a price) and the

forgiveness of sins through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

The Mythical view is not thought to be compatible with Biblical Christianity

and is therefore not a serious Christian Theological view.



Ways of reading the 1st few chapters of Genesis

• Literalistic view: makes knowledge of God’s Creation disagree

with God’s Word, not a serious option.

• Mythical view: undermines Christian redemption, not a serious option.

• Historical view:

This view says that not every point in Genesis 2 – 4 is to be taken literally

(e.g God making Eve from Adam’s rib) but allegory is interwoven with real

historical events in time & space e.g Gen 2:10 – 14 for the location of Eden .

This view preserves our need for redemption after rejecting God in the Garden

without leading to a too rigid reading that leads to conflicts with what is known

about God’s Creation from human reason a concern raised by St. Augustine

in his 408 AD work “ The Literal Meaning of Genesis”



• This talk will use the Historical Interpretation of Genesis 2-4 that combines

both allegory & historical information as a guide to see when & were Adam,

that is Man came from.

• The talk will also use the latest information from science to help illuminate

our understanding of Humanity’s Ancestral homeland .

Tuesday 7th July 2009 Which Adam, which Eden ? by Gary Auker


What’s in a name ?

• Name Eve is derived from the Hebrew word חוה (chavah) "to breathe“

or the related word חיה (chayah) "to live".

• Adam is Hebrew for “Man” so the story of Adam is the story of Mankind

• According to Genesis 2:7 Adam or Man was created from the earth by God

(there is a word play in Hebrew אֲדָמָה ('adamah) meaning "earth")



Where was Eden ?

• The Bible gives information on the location of Eden Gen 2: 10 - 14

• Scholars have attemped to use Genesis 2:10-14 to try and identify the location

of Eden.

We will now look at 2 possible locations in the Middle East consistent

with the account in Genesis 2: 10 -14



Was Eden

near Mount Ararat

in Eastern Turkey ?


The Bible repeatedly implies that Adam and his immediate offspring

were farmers

Genesis 2:15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress

it and too keep it."

Genesis 3:23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the

ground from whence he was taken."

Genesis 4:2 And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."

It is known that agriculture spread from the Middle East to Europe during the Neolithic period

starting about 10,000 years ago, but for many years archeologists have debated how this occurred.

Evidence of domesticated crops in the core area dates to about 10,000 years ago, while the earliest

signs of farming elsewhere are about 9,300 years ago.

When did farming 1st originate (Adam’s tribe)



"Perath is simply the Hebrew version of Arabic

Firat and Greek Euphrates;

Four Great Rivers in Genesis :

"Hiddekel is Hebrew for Sumerian Idiglat

from which the Greek Tigris derives."


Gihon; "... the River Aras, was once

called the Gaihun

"Pishon - "Hebrew (West Semitic) name

derived from the old Iranian Uizhun

Iranian vowel 'U' had been converted into the

Semitic consonant 'P‘.

Thus we have Uizhun to Pizhun to Pishon.

The river Uizhun (the modern Qezel Uzun)

- thus identified as the biblical Pishon



Eden means Paradise in Hebrew. In Persian Paradise means walled Garden.

The mountains surrounding the valley’s in this part of the world act like walls.

Zagros Mountains in Iran


Spread and Evolution of LanguagesWhich Adam, Which Eden ?

A family tree of Indo-European languages

suggests they began to spread and split

about 9,000 years ago. The finding hints

that farmers in what is now Turkey drove the

language boom.

After The Flood Genesis talks about people

being dispersed with different languages



Is Eden now at the bottom of

the Persian Gulf ?



Strait of Hormuz

Iraqoutflow of

Tigris & Euphrates

rivers

Iran

Saudi

Arabia

Kuwait

• Persian Gulf stretches from Iraq to the

Strait of Hormuz.

• Persian Gulf quiet shallow.

Average depth ~ 50m ; Max ~ 90 m

• Persian Gulf was a dry land oasis until

15,000 BC when sea level rose

as Ice Age began to thaw

• Persian Gulf flooded ~ 9,000BC

when sea level rose

as Ice Age ended



Persian Gulf dry basin 15,000 BC when sea level 115 m below today’s value



Dr. Zarins claims that the Garden of Eden was situated at the head of the Persian Gulf

Land of

Havilah

Genesis 2:11-12

Gold, Onyx

found

Land of

Cush

Eden in

Gulf ?

Riverbed dried up

before 5,000 years ago

Wad

i Bat

in

In ancient times the "source" or "head" of the river is what we would call the "mouth"

of the river today. (Hess & Tsumura, 1994, 178-9).

Pish

on?

Euphrates

Tigris

Gih

on

?

Eden ?



Persian Gulf 17,000 years ago would have been similar to Dhofar Mountains,

in Oman today, a Green Lush Paradise surrounded by Desert.



Scientific evidence on were the

first people walked the Earth



Human Fossil evidence



• Modern human fossils in Qafzeh, Israel found to be 87 - 97,000 years old using

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of burnt flints used to make fire alongside the bones

TL dating in 1988 of flints used to make fire found among bones


Early Modern Man (Homo Sapien Idulta) 154 -160,000 yrs old

Herto, Ethiopia, AFRICA uncovered in 1997, Published 2003




Oldest human remains found in the Worldin 1967 in this valley near the Omo River, Southern Ethiopia, Africa



Omo I fossilsDated in 2005 with modern & accurate

40Ar /

39Ar technique to between

190,000 to 200,000 years old

Omo I & II The high domed skull cap is a

defining feature of Modern Humans



Oldest Human

Fossils found in AFRICA

~ 200,000 years old

Traditional

Biblical

Eden region

Oldest Human fossils found to date are from AFRICA. Genesis puts Eden in Middle East.

Can we find another way of checking were the first people came from ? Yes we can !


DNA evidence

On

Human Origins



Sir Alec Jeffreys F.R.S.

Invented DNA

“Fingerprinting”

Which Adam, Which Eden ?• Jeffreys had a "eureka moment" in his Univ. Leicester

lab at 9:05 am on Monday 10 September 1984,

which unexpectedly showed both similarities and

differences in his technician's family's DNA.

• The DNA profiling method has become important in

forensic science to assist police detective work,

and it has also proved useful in resolving paternity

and immigration disputes.

• DNA analysis has now been used to trace how

different people groups are related to one

another & to track when & how they migrated

around the world.


DNA evidence can the analysed down both:


• Female line

Mitochondrial DNA inherited exclusively from your

Mother’s egg that was fertilized to make you.

• Male line

DNA on a man’s Y chromosome, only

directly available to men.


• DNA evidence

-Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA)

Male Y chromosomal 60-90 kyrs

- MRCA Female mitochondrial (mt) DNA 140 kyrs

Difference in Male & Female MRCA possibly due to

the Male MRCA (60-90,000 yrs ago) had more

than one wife pushing the MRCA in female line back

even further in time.

- 1st Human’s appeared ~ 200,000 year ago

in agreement with Omo I & II fossil age in Ethiopia, Africa




• The human population with the greatest

genetic variation due to mutations

(i.e DNA copying error down the generations)

must be the oldest Human population

where people have been settled the longest.

Tracing our Human Origin through our DNA

• If a member of the oldest population

then moves to another part of the world

they will not carry all the variety of mutations

in those that stay in the homeland only a

sub-set hence the genetic variation of the

new population will have less variation within

its members.

• The African population has the most varied genetics in the world.

Hence people must have come from Africa.


San bushmen - Africa was the cradle of ALL HumanityDNA evidence shows we are all descended from the San peoples distant ancestors




The DNA evidence clearly shows Men & Women came from East Africa

and is in agreement with the Human Fossil evidence



Humanity’s Timeline

Thousands of years before present

Climate (based on Vostok Ice Core data)

Significant Human Events

010100200 110120130140150160170180190 2030405060708090210220

Man

on the

Moon

Crucifixion

Great

Pyramids

built

Black Sea

Flood

Agriculture

Persian Gulf

Floods

Super Volcano Toba erupts

Human’s driven

close to extinction

Qafzeh cave

Human fossils

Israel

Writing

Human fossils

Herto, Ethiopia

Oldest Human

fossils

Omo, Ethiopia

Reading Genesis

indicates farming

used by Adam &

Cain, hence dates

to New Stone Age

~ 10,000 years ago

010100200 110120130140150160170180190 2030405060708090210220

Ice Age Glacial EpochIce Age Glacial Epoch

Warm

Period

Warm

Period

Warm

Period

Human’s finally leave

Africa for rest of World

If we accept St. Paul’s view

1 Cor 15:45 – Adam was 1st man

would put him living in Middle Stone Age

~ 65 - 200,000 years ago.


Which Adam, Which Eden ?How do we resolve the Genesis Story that points to Adam in Eden in Middle East

with the overwhelming fossil & DNA evidence showing Africa is the

Ancestral Homeland of ALL People alive today ?

• Based on the Historical view of Genesis the geography puts Eden in Middle East

but the Adam that lived there was not the first Human being.

The Bible itself hints of other people around , Cain’s wife (Gen 4:17) and who was

Cain afraid of (Gen 4:14 ) when he was sent away after killing Abel.

• Adam not being the 1st Man appears to contradict St. Paul 1 Corinthian 15:45

were it states Adam the 1st man in the context of Jesus being the 1st new man

bringing in the Kingdom of God.

• Can only reconcile if view St. Paul’s comments as a theological statement of

the 1st man (Adam means Man) rejecting God but not necessarily the Adam

in the Middle East.

The Historical view of Genesis allows both Allegory & History interwoven together.


Which Adam, Which Eden ?Getting a feel for how long ago the first Modern people walked the Earth

Regional Floods Space AgeWarm periodsIce Age

Human existence scaled into a single Human lifetime, say 80 years

EventActual Years

Before Present

Scaled

Years

Pre-

80yrs Unit

Age

of Individual

in Years

Oldest known Human fossils - Omo river , Ethiopia AFRICA 195,000 78 yrs 2

Herto Human fossils , Ethiopia AFRICA 156,000 62 yrs 18

Sahara Desert shrinks allowing Modern Man's 1st attempt to leave AFRICA 125,000 50 yrs 30

Human fossils Qafzeh cave, Israel - World drys & cools, Desert returns, 1st attempt out of AFRICA fails 92,000 37 yrs 43

Toba super volcano, Sumatra - Human population reduced 76,000 30 yrs 50

2nd attempt to leave Africa via Arabia when sea level 82m (~270 ft) below today's level. Stone tools Oman 60,000yrs old 65,000 26 yrs 54

Man sails 90 miles to Australia when sea level 87 m ( ~285 ft) below today's level. Mungo Man fossil 40,000 yrs old 42,000 17 yrs 63

Man walks into Europe & Central Asia - sewing needle allows better clothing , aids survial in cold North 40,000 16 yrs 64

Man 1st walks into North America: Cactus Hill site, Virginia, USA (14

C Cal yrs ~ 18 - 22,000 yrs) 24,000 10 yrs 70

Man 1st walks into South America (Monte Verde, Chile dated 14,000 yrs old) 14,000 6 yrs 74

Persian Gulf Floods - Ice starts to melt 12,000 5 yrs 75

End of most recent Glaciation in Ice Age 11,400 5 yrs 75

Agriculture found 1st time in archaeological record in Middle East 10,000 4 yrs 76

Black Sea Flood 7,600 3 yrs 77

1st Writing, Sumeria (Iraq), Kish Tablet 5,500 2 yrs 78

Sumerian Flood 4,900 2 yrs 78

Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt built 4,500 22 mo 78

Man 1st sails to New Zealand 2,000 10 mo 79

Crucifixion of Jesus ~ 32 AD ( based on Total Lunar Eclipse 14 April 32 AD ) 1,977 9 mo 79

Man 1st walks on Antartica (Sealer John Davis 1821 AD) 188 1 mo 80

Man 1st walks on the Moon (Astronaut Neil Armstrong 1969 AD) 40 6 days 80



Thankyou for listening.

Any Questions ?



BACK UP SLIDES



Who were the Nephilim ?

in

Genesis 6:4



Nephilim

• Genesis 6:4 states "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days…”

• Nephilim were possibly a hybrid race between two distinct but

sexually compatible beings.

• Is it possible that Neanderthal Man could be the Nephilim of Genesis ?

• Neanderthal’s & Modern Human’s are known, from the fossil record, to have

co-existed for thousands of years before the Neanderthal’s died out.

• Nephilim may simply mean "giant," champion, or “strong man”.



• The DNA evidence suggests that there was little if any

inter-breeding between Neanderthal’s & Modern Humans.

However one skull found in Gibralter & another in Israel

exhibit hybrid features of Neanderthal’s & Modern Humans

• Genesis 6:4 talks of a group called the Nephilim

(possibly Giants or Strong Men)

• Base on Neanderthal DNA

we know some had red

hair & light coloured skin

• Most recent Neanderthal’s

fossils found to date are

about 30,000 yrs old.



• Neanderthal Man confined to Europe,& parts of Middle East & Asia


Which Adam, Which Eden ?• Neanderthal’s were meat eaters, and based

on their bone structure are thought to have

been stronger than Modern Humans

Neanderthal man Modern manNeanderthal hunter Modern hunter

• Neanderthal’s bones show more fractures

than Modern Human’s possibly showing they

fought large game in close combat rather than

Modern Human’s hunting strategy that seeks

to weaken or kill larger game from a distance

by using a sling shot or bow & arrow.



• Modern humans Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms

(SNP’s) variation 0.1 %

• SNP variation between Neanderthals & Modern humans ~ 0.5 %

so Neanderthal’s were different to Modern Human’s.

• Draft Neanderthal genome released 12 Feb 2009,

Max Planck Inst. Germany.

Neanderthal genome 3.7 Gbp c.f Modern human 3.04 Gbp

which adam, which eden 7 jul 09 v2

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