Adam

Frère Hayton: Expulsion from Paradise.

Adam
Etymology: Heb., adam, human.

The first man. Created by God from clay; from his rib, God created the first woman, his wife Eve. Both were created in the image of God. See Catechism #374s. Both enjoyed the beatific vision until they sinned and were expelled from Paradise.

His children: The Bible mentions three: Cain, Abel, and Seth. But they must have had more, at least one daughter, for the human race to continue. See: Where did Cain’s wife come from?

After his wife Eve succumbed to temptation, Adam was led into disobedience and ate the forbidden fruit by God's command. As a consequence, he was expelled from the Garden of Eden, and as a result of his sin, he had to work the land with great toil. (Genesis 2-5). Work is not a punishment, but working with great effort producing little.

Many doctrines of the New Testament trace back to Adam: original sin, Jesus as the New Adam. This is why it is important to uphold the doctrine of Monogenism (all men come from one).

If the fall of Adam did not happen, then the salvation of Christ would not have been necessary. St. Paul intentionally links and draws a parallel between these two in Romans 6, calling Christ the New Adam or the Second Adam. If the first Adam is a myth, the second Adam becomes a myth as well. If the fall of the first did not occur, the redemption of the second did not either.

Adam and the story of creation and the fall are real events. However, this does not mean we believe the Genesis narrative is a literal story. For example, the creation account in Genesis 1-2. Creation certainly occurred as a sovereign act of God. But it is clear that these chapters are historical, but not literal. They use symbols and a poetic form to express the truth.

Similarly, the two trees, the serpent, and the fruit may be poetic symbols used to explain the story.

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