Adam and Eve!

According to the introduction in the First Book of Adam and Eve, this tale was written by unknown Egyptians and parts of it have found its way into the Talmud (Jewish Oral Law/Tradition), The Qur'an, and "elsewhere." As I may have stated before, I'm going to be going over this book because of it's contribution to Christian mythology and folklore, and because of the interesting prophecies about Christ that fill this tale. Of course, since we have no idea when the book was written, I can't be sure whether or not these prophecies are truly "prophecies." The book was translated into English by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr in 1926 (according to the information in the introduction). From what I have read so far (the first 60 chapters), I can say that this is quite an interesting literary gem in the way of religious mythology and speculation. Today I'll cover chapters 1, 2, and 3. You can click on each number for a link to read along.

We know that Adam and Eve (from now on, AE) have been exiled from the garden, but the Bible doesn't tell us where they went. The First Book of Adam and Eve (from now on FBAE) gives us a bit of speculation about where they may have gone. The book opens up by telling us about the Crystal Sea, where God has planned that at the last day, all of the righteous will have their souls returned to their bodies, bathe in the Crystal Sea, and repent of their sins. When God exiles AE, he doesn't want to send them to the North, because that is too near the sea. God feels that AE would simply bathe in the sea, forget their sin, and forget about the fact that they are deserving of punishment.

God also doesn't want AE to go South, because the wind that blows from the Garden would carry its sweet scent into the South, and AE would smell that sweet smell of the fruit and feel justified in their disobedience. Who wouldn't want to eat good fruit? The Garden is in the East - AE obviously can't go back there - so the only direction left for them to head is West. God commands AE to go to a cave called the "Cave of Treasures"

AE leave the Garden by subconsciously walking. They don't realize they are walking, and I'm not sure if this is a hint at how emotionally numb they must be feeling - or if it is a hint that before the fall they didn't need to use their feet. Immediately after leaving the Garden, AE both faint. Before their exile, all they'd ever seen were beautiful trees, flowers, and bushes. Everything had been lush and plentiful in the Garden, but outside of the garden everything is barren. Rocks, sand, and dry earth are what they must now become accustomed to. After their fainting, God sends his "Word" to AE and God's "Word" raises them up. Since the Bible declares Jesus to be God's "Word," I am assuming that Jesus is the "Word" God is sending to AE.

God's Word speaks to AE and tells them that He has ordained years and days, and that AE and their descendants will live in the earth until he "shall send the Word...that will save thee when the five and a half days are fulfilled." (FBAE 3:1-2). Adam misunderstands and is afraid that he only have five and a half days to live. God explains to Adam that the "five and a half days" actually means 5,500 years, after which time "one would ten come and save (Adam) and his seed."

Right now in the Jewish Calendar, I believe we are in the year 5773, so unless AE lived for quite some time before being expelled from the Garden - Jesus is late in coming. Or, if this prophecy refers to the first time Jesus came, Jesus was early. But I'm really not that good at math, and I know that different calendars have been used throughout the centuries - so who knows!

Chapter three continues with another story about Adam having fainted, I'm not sure of the order of the events in these first few chapters. It seems like AE have passed out more than once. But I'll let you decide that for yourself, if you're reading along. The Cherub appointed to guard the garden prays for Adam, and God sends his "Word" to AE again and instructs them to go to the Cave of Treasures.

For me, the first few chapters of the FBAE really emphasizes how we should react to sin. AE are constantly passing out in grief over their circumstances. There's going to be more "passing out" to come in future chapters. When reading this book, I actually get sick of them fainting all the time. I just want to shake them and say, "Guys, it's not that serious!" But I think society has desensitized us to the reality of our accountability to God. It is that serious! May we all learn to take our wrong-doings so seriously!

Not that I want anyone passing out every time they screw up....

Intro! The Forgotten Books of Eden, The First Book of Adam and Eve.

It's always exciting for me to read some of the extra-Biblical accounts of things that may (or may not) have happened during the lives of famous Biblical characters. So I'm excited to get into the details of what may (or may not) have happened to Adam and Eve during their exile from the garden. There are about 70 something very short chapters (by short I mean like - mere paragraphs long) that describe some of the things that Adam and Eve went through during their exile before Cain and Abel were born.

What I find incredibly interesting about "The Forgotten Books of Eden" and more specifically "The First Book of Adam and Eve," from which I'll be reading, is that despite their non-canonical status - they have incredible amounts of prophecy about Jesus Christ. One of the questions I have is whether these books were written before Christ (as opposed to after Christ, but set in a time period before Christ). The Forgotten Books of Eden seem to have been written before Christ by Egyptians, and discovered and translated into English the early 1900s. Of course, no one really knows the origins of these books (as far as I am aware) and I guess that is one reasons why they can't be considered apart of the canon of scripture.

I'm going to do a little more research into the origins of these books and I'll post what I find. I'll get into the actual text of the book in my next post, which should be soon! So stay tuned :-)