Adam
About this date: Narrative order and literary setting do not establish a precise historical date for this figure.
The first human in the garden narrative.
Historical context
Genesis and Job introduce creation, human fracture, covenant ancestors, Israel's family lines, and wisdom's protest against simple explanations of suffering. These are literary and theological settings, not an exact chronology.
Key points
- The first human in the garden narrative.
- Primary reading: Genesis 2–3. Read the complete passage in its literary context.
- Read family relationships and covenant promises in their full narrative setting; do not turn narrative order into an exact chronology.
Scripture
- Genesis 2–3 — Principal biblical passage cluster for Adam; check the summary against the complete text.
Primary sources
Irenaeus writes in Against Heresies:
Irenaeus says that the Word, recapitulating Adam in himself, received a birth.
so did He who is the Word, recapitulating Adam in Himself, rightly receive a birth
Passage context and translation
Irenaeus reads Christ's birth from the Virgin as the recapitulation and healing of the humanity first formed in Adam.
Before the excerpt
and the Lord took dust from the earth and formed man;
After the excerpt
enabling Him to gather up Adam [into Himself], from Mary, who was as yet a virgin.
Sources and further reading
- USCCB introduction to Genesis
Literary and historical introduction; not independent verification of every narrated event.