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

John H. Walton (Author), N.T. Wright (Author), Paul Boehmer (Narrator),

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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 is a must-listen book for anyone seeking to understand this foundational text historically, and theologically, and wondering how to view it alongside contemporary understandings of human origins.

Listening Length

8 hours and 23 minutes
Author

John H. Walton, see all
Narrator

Paul Boehmer
Audible release date

30 June 2018
Language

English
Publisher

Tantor Audio
ASIN

B07DTHZTJ9
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	8 hours and 23 minutes
Author	John H. Walton, N.T. Wright
Narrator	Paul Boehmer
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	30 June 2018
Publisher	Tantor Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B07DTHZTJ9
Best Sellers Rank	41,800 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 106 in Science & Religion 108 in Old Testament Bible Study 188 in Ancient History (Audible Books & Originals)

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G. Budrikis

Another great resource for Christians looking for something biblical but not fundamentalist.

Reviewed in Australia on 10 October 2015

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Another reasoned argument against one of the most controversial aspects of Christian fundamentalism, or "biblicism" as Christian Smith calls it. Well written and well worth a read.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in Australia on 20 February 2016

Verified Purchase

Every follower of Jesus must read this book.

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Peshat Books

Thought provoking, but ultimately disappointing.

Reviewed in Australia on 19 November 2018

I found this book to be at the same time, refreshing, thought provoking, but also disappointing. The author acknowledges the modern scientific understanding of the Earth, and that there may well have been humans long before Adam and Eve. He does not discuss evolutionary theory, nor does he rule out every tenet of that belief. His proposition concerning Adam and Eve as the first humans is theological, rather than material. He offers that they were the first to receive God’s guidance regarding His Own existence, and what was expected of them. In some ways, his thoughts parallel evolutionary creationism and Intelligent Design, but admits that these are outside his subject area. So far, so good, but what I found disappointing was his view of God. Let me offer two quotes: “Disorder is the result of sin, and it continues to reflect our inability to be as good as we were designed to be” (p. 151); and “Non-order is not being resolved according to the original plan” (p. 159). Effectively, he is saying that God didn’t know what He was doing: the design was deficient, and the plan not perfect. On this issue alone, I found his propositions artificial, because he ignored the propositions that God is infinite: omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. Such a God is incapable of deficient design and imperfect planning.

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Mr. J. Hastings

Lost World Understood

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 March 2018

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John Walton is professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College, Illinois, USA. In this book he re-examines the early chapters of Genesis in the light of the “cognitive environment” of the ancient Hebrews rather than imposing modern concepts and ways of thinking onto the text. We have to set aside our cultural assumptions and consider the text in relation to the ways of thinking of the ancient Near East. For example, “people in the ancient world had no category for what we call natural laws…they were more inclined to see the world’s operation in terms of divine cause…They would have viewed the cosmos not as a machine but as a kingdom…” (page 18). In particular we have to analyse the original Hebrew words and not rely on English translations. Walton has made a thorough analysis of the meanings of certain words, such as “bara” (create) and “asa” (made), as they are used throughout the Old Testament.

Walton’s twenty-one chapters are labelled as “Propositions”, which he sets out to establish. For example, in Genesis chapter one, God does not “create” in the sense of bringing material things into existence; He brings order, or organisation, to things; assigning roles and functions. So on Day Four the (already existing) Sun and Moon are given the functions of governing day and night and marking days and years and celebrations.

Human beings are created in God’s image to share this function of bringing order to the world. The garden in which Adam and Eve are placed is to be identified as “Sacred Space”, where God will dwell. However Adam and Eve tried to make themselves the centre of order and source of wisdom; and thereby brought disorder and chaos into the world.

While Adam and Eve are to be seen as archetype humans, Walton believes that the Bible does not teach that they were the first humans to be created nor that all humans today are genetically descended from them.

Walton’s conclusions will no doubt be unpalatable to Young Earth Creationists but for the rest of us, they will make more sense than a literal six-day creation. There is no case here for a clash between the Bible and Science.

3 people found this helpful

Tristan Sherwin

Highly Recommended

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 November 2016

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In light of biological evolution, what are we to do with the whole Adam and Eve story of Genesis 2 & 3? Are we still “made” in God’s image, if we are in fact formed by an evolutionary process? If the story of Adam and Eve, with the “Fall”, isn’t a literal historical story, then what does that mean with regards to sin, salvation and everything in between?

Firstly, I would agree with Christopher Wright (*Old Testament Ethics and the People of God*, chapter 4, Ecology and the Earth, pgs 116-126); that the image of God is not biological property that we possess within our genome, but a calling upon humanity to represent and serve God. As such, evolution doesn’t undo this. But that doesn’t really begin to answer the questions, does it?

For those of us who feel caught between the false dicohtamy of Science v’s Scripture, then this book will prove extremely helpful. John Walton, along with a nice contribution from N.T. Wright, provides an excellent resource for understanding the intent of the second and third chapters of the book of Genesis, and their use in the New Testament writings.

The book is very accessible and is written in short chapters that continually build-up Walton’s proposition, as he contrasts the writing of Genesis with other A.N.E creation accounts, as well as analysing the lexical concepts of the text. And the good thing is, you don’t have to be an academic to grasp this; although there is enough in this, I feel, to satisfy both scholars and lay-people.

I highly recommend reading this, regardless of you’re take of Genesis 2 & 3 – if you want to know Walton’s conclusions, then read the book.

If you want a more balanced approach, comparing Walton’s view with others on this topic, then I would also recommend Four Views on the Historical Adam (Counterpoints: Bible and Theology from Zondervan)

---Tristan Sherwin, author of *Love: Expessed*

4 people found this helpful

Glenn

Answering the big question of how to think about Adam and Eve in the Bible

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 October 2017

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In this book, we see why some of our assumptions are just that. What grounds do we have for saying the serpent was in the tree, or even in the garden of Eden? Could Adam's being "formed from dust" be the same as how we are all "formed from dust"?

This book takes The Lost World of Genesis One and re-presents its best bits, then goes on and adds in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 to show the biblical story of the universe created as a temple - sacred space - in which man is both the image of God and the priest between God and the rest of creation, managing creation for God's glory. That is the role that Adam, as a priest, failed in fulfilling.

The biblical story is not that there were only two people on the planet at the time. The biblical story is that the first calling in the story of priestly temples is Eden, followed by the calling of Noah, Abraham, and so on, until the Christ fulfills the priestly role and the image of God role to bring heaven and earth together in harmony as God intended.

John Walton bases what he shares on biblical scholarship. His intent is not to extrapolate to a definitive exhaustive interpretation, but to frame us in the right mindset as we read the Bible, using insights from biblical scholarship, history, and archeology. He is not interested in scientific theory, but mainly in biblical understanding, letting the modern Gentile get a taste of what an Ancient Hebrew writing was getting at, and the role it plays in theology.

To my way of thinking, the story of Adam as a failed priest is much more beneficial for a biblical world view then the fundamentalist story of Adam as a primordial physical specimen.

3 people found this helpful

Paula

Excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2021

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Excellent

Kindle Customer

A faithful reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 March 2018

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John Walton makes a compelling case for reading Genesis 1and 2 in the ancient context, how the text would be interpreted by people for whom it was originally written. A perspective that is pertinent to this generation, and very relevant for ministry for them.

One person found this helpful

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

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