How did Moses find out about Adam and Eve?

Answer 1

A:Of course ancient people did not know about Adam and Eve. A realistic statement on this was made recently by Cardinal George Pell in a televised debate, when he said that the story of Adam and Eve is a myth - a religious story told for religious purposes. There never was an Adam or Eve.

Answer 2

The question assumes that Moses, Adam and Eve were all real, historical people. It also assumes that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis.

The respected Israeli archaeologist, Israel Finkelstein says that over ninety per cent of scholars believe that the Exodus from Egypt never happened as described in The Bible. With no Exodus, there is no reason to believe that there ever was a Moses in history.

The same applies for the story of Adam and Eve, which can be seen to be based on earlier Mesopotamian myths. This is demonstrated most vividly by the fact that there is not one, but two different and incompatible creation stories in the Book of Genesis, and Adam and Eve do not feature in the first creation story (Genesis 1:1-2:4a). The two stories were based on two separate legends or myths, not facts passed down through the centuries.

Moreover, there is no claim made in Genesis or any of the books of the Pentateuch that the books were written by Moses, and there is nothing written therein to suggest that he did. In fact, there is overwhelming evidence, widely accepted by biblical scholars, that Genesis had multiple authors.

If either Moses or Adam and Eve did not exist, then the question would be unanswerable. Yet it has been shown that not one of them ever existed. It has also been shown that Genesis had multiple authors, which is inconsistent with the tradition that Moses, alone, wrote the book. Moses did not find out about Adam and Eve.

Answer 3

It could have been revealed to him directly by God, or knowledge of some of the events may have been passed down orally from one generation to the next. Since humans had a longer life span in early times, much of what Moses recorded in Genesis could have been passed from Adam to Moses through just five human links-Methuselah, Shem, Isaac, Levi, and Amram.

Additionally, Moses may have consulted written records. In this regard, it is noteworthy that Moses frequently uses the phrase "this is the history of," before naming the person to be discussed. (Genesis 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2) Some scholars say that the Hebrew word here translated "history," toh‧le‧dhohth′, refers to an already existing written historical document that Moses used as a source for his writing. Of course, this cannot be stated conclusively.

It could be that the information contained in the book of Genesis was obtained by all three of the above methods-some by direct revelation, some by oral transmission, and some from written records. The important point is that Jehovah's spirit inspired Moses. Hence, what he wrote is rightly viewed as the word of God.

Answer 4

There are only two ways that the author or authors of the Book of Genesis could have known about the creation of the world, if indeed the story is true: either Adam passed the story down orally to later generations, or God told the person who later wrote down the story.

Adam could not have known how the world was created, nor even how he himself was created. He could not have known enough to pass down accurately to later generations.

There are two different and incompatible creation stories in Genesis. Verses 1:1-2:4a (the first sentence of verse 2:4) form the first creation story, when man and woman are created together, after all other living things. Verses 2:4b-2:20 form the second creation story, when man (Adam) was created before any other living creature and Eve was the last creation of all. God did not tell the author of Genesis, because it is not rational to say that God told the author two completely different and incompatible accounts. It can only be that there were two different authors who wrote down two different creation traditions that came from more ancient sources. Those authors were anonymous and are now known as the Yahwist and the Priestly source. Moses did not need to know about Adam and Eve.

For more information, please visit:

http://christianity.answers.com/bible/the-pentateuch-explained

http://christianity.answers.com/bible/the-book-of-genesis

http://christianity.answers.com/theology/moses-in-history-and-tradition