Reading Notes: Adam & Eve, Part B

For the second part of this weeks reading, I chose to focus on the First Book of Adam and Eve from the Forgotten Book of Eden anthology. I chose poorly. While this may very much be an un-Christian thing to say, I found the text and the message to be overly repetitive and boring. One could easily believe that the repetition is designed to drive home the overriding message of the text, it seems to me that in the last few thousands of years of translations, the message gets lost as the reader begins to distance himself from the "hero" to which he is suppose to relate.

As a religious text, it's intention it to instruct, not to entertain. So it stands to reason that the message should be plain and irrefutable. The intention of these passages was to convey the message that Adam and Eve have sinned against God and must now face the consequences. That seems a simple concept. But in this text, we are left rehashing the same things over and over again.

Adam wept and smote, because he is exiled from the garden. God tells Adam that he is exiled because of his sin. Adam wept, smote, and fell to the ground as if dead.

Adam wept and smote, because it is dark in cave. God tells Adam that he is exiled because of his sin. Adam wept, smote, and fell to the ground as if dead.

Adam wept and smote, because it is light when the day arrives. God tells Adam that he is exiled because of his sin. Adam wept, smote, and fell to the ground as if dead.

Adam wept and smote, because he is afraid of the beasts that may harm him. God tells Adam that he is exiled because of his sin. Adam wept, smote, and fell to the ground as if dead. 

To use a modern colloquialism, Adam "had one job." Just don't eat that that tree, Adam. You ate from it. You're done here.

I seems to me that the repetition drives a wedge between Adam and the reader that harms the intention of the text. Adam should be a a character to whom the reader can relate. We have at all times in our lives sinned and been left to deal with the unpleasant, sometimes excruciating consequences. Relating to Adam and aspiring to overcome these challenges should come easy to the reader. But in this text, it was extremely difficult.

It is very possible that the disconnect lies in the thousands of years and multiple translations that these texts have undergone. Because these stories are considered to be the word of God, they are translated far more literally than perhaps a less important text may be. Perhaps some of the endless repetition would not seems so in the original form. Or perhaps the ancient reader would not have so harsh a view as I do.

Or perhaps, I am a bad person. Always a possibility.

Nevertheless, I will turn my focus back to Aesops Fables to plan for my storytelling exercise.

Bibliography: The First Book of Adam and Eve. Source: The UNtextbook

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