Genesis 2 -- 3: Adam & Eve

Adam & Eve:
Mortals Called to Wisdom in God’s Sacred Space

John H. Walton, Old Testament scholar and professor emeritus at Wheaton College, continues his exploration of Genesis in The Lost World of Adam and Eve. Reading Genesis 2–3 against its ancient Near Eastern background, Walton argues that the text is primarily concerned with function, role, and sacred space rather than material or biological origins. Adam and Eve are presented as archetypal figures—real people who also represent all humanity—and are assigned a priestly role in the ordered sacred space of the garden. The forming of Adam from dust and Eve from Adam’s side are archetypal statements about mortality and relationship, not scientific accounts of how the first humans were made. In this reading, the central issue of Genesis 3 is the loss of access to God’s presence and the introduction of disorder through the human desire to seize wisdom and order for themselves. Walton’s approach seeks to honor the authority of Scripture while opening space for constructive dialogue with scientific understandings of human origins.