Adam & Eve, Fables, and Genealogies

I interrogate my Bible when I read it. I think it's the best way to learn. Someone really, really smart once said that "the unexamined life isn't worth living." I think the unquestioned faith isn't worth believing. Therefore, I firmly believe that we must question what we believe. Not to be an annoying skeptical guy, but to deepen our faith, to arrive at tough answers for tough questions, and ultimately to know God better. My, is it scary sometimes. But your faith will be better for it.


So I asked myself the question, "Doesn't the story of Adam & Eve seem kind of like a fable? Doesn't it seem made up, possibly a cute and childish Jewish anecdote for how we all got here, and why everything's jacked up? Kinda like Greek mythology a little bit?" (P.S.- I ask myself weird questions like this all the time. Then I usually ask them and ramble about them to my wife. Poor gal.)


On the surface, how do we know that Adam & Eve is no more historical than say, the notable "Tortoise and the Hare"? Besides the typical (yet true) answer that the Bible is God's word, and is therefore true, how do we know?


I'm sure there are several answers better than the one I'm about to give. But the weird thing about Adam & Eve is that the story doesn't just get told in a vacuum. If skeptics kept on reading, they'd realize that Adam had children. And they had children. And this is all recorded. There are in fact 3-4 genealogies in the next few chapters (4:17-22, Gen. 5, Gen. 10 & Gen 11:10-32). These genealogies are retraced in the New Testament as well, linking Adam & Eve and their descendants to real, historical humans that, guess what, actually existed! (See. Matt. 1 & Luke 3:23-38)


Some claim that the biblical accounts of creation are nice, but are ultimately fictional. They would essentially equate the creation & fall of man in Genesis 3 to Aesop's Fables. However, a real reading of the text indicates that the author and his audience entirely took this account to be historical. There's no way around it.


Often times, genealogies are the sections I skip over in my Bible (except to look for funny names). But tonight, they really encouraged me and strengthened my faith in God's Word. Let 'em strengthen yours.