We began with a time of fellowship around some thematic snacks (Fig Newtons and animal crackers) in order to relax and get to know each other before we got down to business.
The study started with an overview of the reason why Carissa and Dan chose the topic. We then passed out a handout with a timeline of when most of the non-canonical texts were thought to have been written. We then discussed the adoption of the Jewish canon (approx. 100 AD) and what it contained (basically the OT), the (Protestant) Christian Bible and who canonized it (a group of bishops approx. 375 AD at a synod convened during the rule of Constantine in Rome), and the Bible's translation into English by King James (1611 AD).
After the general overview, Dan gave a brief background to the books we would discuss tonight:
We then began the discussion with the question: What passages struck you as being very similar or drastically different from the [creation story in the] Bible?
After our discussion of the above topics and their what they mean to our faith, Dan offered three concluding thoughts. These are some additional themes from the readings that we didn't have time to cover in-depth.
Carissa concluded with announcements:
I. Genesis 1 - 3
II. The Book of Jubilees (The Little Genesis) http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical
a) Chapter 2
1 And the angel of the presence spake to Moses according to the word of the Lord, saying: Write the complete history of the creation, how in six days the Lord God finished all His works and all that He created, and kept Sabbath on the seventh day and hallowed it for all ages, and
2 appointed it as a sign for all His works...
...And on the sixth day
14 He created all the animals of the earth, and all cattle, and everything that moves on the earth. And after all this He created man, a man and a woman created He them, and gave him dominion over all that is upon the earth, and in the seas, and over everything that flies, and over beasts and over cattle, and over everything that moves on the earth, and over the whole earth, and over all this He gave
15 him dominion. And these four kinds He created on the sixth day. And there were altogether
16 two and twenty kinds. And He finished all his work on the sixth day -all that is in the heavens and on the earth, and in the seas and in the abysses, and in the light and in the darkness, and in
17 everything. And He gave us a great sign, the Sabbath day, that we should work six days, but
18 keep Sabbath on the seventh day from all work. And all the angels of the presence, and all the angels of sanctification, these two great classes -He hath bidden us to keep the Sabbath with Him
19 in heaven and on earth. And He said unto us: 'Behold, I will separate unto Myself a people from among all the peoples, and these shall keep the Sabbath day, and I will sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them; as I have sanctified the Sabbath day and do sanctify (it) unto
20 Myself, even so will I bless them, and they shall be My people and I will be their God. And I have chosen the seed of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as My first-born son,and have sanctified him unto Myself for ever and ever; and I will teach them the
21 Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all work.' And thus He created therein a sign in accordance with which they should keep Sabbath with us on the seventh day, to eat and to drink, and to bless Him who has created all things as He has blessed and sanctified unto Himself
22 a peculiar people above all peoples, and that they should keep Sabbath together with us. And He caused His commands to ascend as a sweet savour acceptable before Him all the days . . .
23 There (were) two and twenty heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob, and two and twenty kinds of work were made until the seventh day; this is blessed and holy; and the former also is blessed and
24 holy; and this one serves with that one for sanctification and blessing. And to this (Jacob and his seed) it was granted that they should always be the blessed and holy ones of the first testimony
25 and law, even as He had sanctified and blessed the Sabbath day on the seventh day. He created heaven and earth and everything that He created in six days, and God made the seventh day holy, for all His works; therefore He commanded on its behalf that, whoever does any work thereon
26 shall die, and that he who defiles it shall surely die. Wherefore do thou command the children of Israel to observe this day that they may keep it holy and not do thereon any work, and not to
27 defile it, as it is holier than all other days. And whoever profanes it shall surely die, and whoever does thereon any work shall surely die eternally, that the children of Israel may observe this day throughout their generations, and not be rooted out of the land; for it is a holy day and a blessed
28 day. And every one who observes it and keeps Sabbath thereon from all his work, will be holy and
29 blessed throughout all days like unto us. Declare and say to the children of Israel the law of this day both that they should keep Sabbath thereon, and that they should not forsake it in the error of their hearts; (and) that it is not lawful to do any work thereon which is unseemly, to do thereon their own pleasure, and that they should not prepare thereon anything to be eaten or drunk, and (that it is not lawful) to draw water, or bring in or take out thereon through their gates any burden,
30 which they had not prepared for themselves on the sixth day in their dwellings. And they shall not bring in nor take out from house to house on that day; for that day is more holy and blessed than any jubilee day of the jubilees; on this we kept Sabbath in the heavens before it was made
31 known to any flesh to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed it, but he did not sanctify all peoples and nations to keep Sabbath thereon, but Israel alone: them
32 alone he permitted to eat and drink and to keep Sabbath thereon on the earth. And the Creator of all things blessed this day which He had created for blessing and holiness and glory above all
33 days. This law and testimony was given to the children of Israel as a law for ever unto their generations.
Chapter 3
1 And on the six days of the second week we brought, according to the word of God, unto Adam all the beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moves on the earth, and everything that moves in the water, according to their kinds, and according to their types: the beasts on the first day; the cattle on the second day; the birds on the third day; and all that which moves on the earth on the fourth day; and that which moves in the water on the fifth day.
2 And Adam named them all by their respective names, and as he called them, so was their name.
3 And on these five days Adam saw all these, male and female, according to every kind that was on
4 the earth, but he was alone and found no helpmeet for him. And the Lord said unto us: 'It is not
5 good that the man should be alone: let us make a helpmeet for him.' And the Lord our God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and he slept, and He took for the woman one rib from amongst
6 his ribs, and this rib was the origin of the woman from amongst his ribs, and He built up the flesh in its stead, and built the woman. And He awaked Adam out of his sleep and on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and He brought her to him, and he knew her, and said unto her: 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called
7 [my] wife; because she was taken from her husband.' Therefore shall man and wife be one and therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be
8 one flesh. In the first week was Adam created, and the rib -his wife: in the second week He showed her unto him: and for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their defilement,
9 for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days. And after Adam had completed forty days in the land where he had been created, we brought him into the garden of Eden to till and keep it, but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden
10 of Eden. And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tablets in regard to her that gives birth: 'if she bears a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness seven days according to the first week of days, and thirty and three days shall she remain in the blood of her purifying, and she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes these
11 days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child. But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two weeks, and sixty-six days
12 in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all eighty days.' And when she had completed these eighty days we brought her into the garden of Eden, for it is holier than all the earth besides and
13 every tree that is planted in it is holy. Therefore, there was ordained regarding her who bears a male or a female child the statute of those days that she should touch no hallowed thing, nor
14 enter into the sanctuary until these days for the male or female child are accomplished. This is the law and testimony which was written down for Israel, in order that they should observe (it) all the
15 days. And in the first week of the first jubilee, [1-7 A.M.] Adam and his wife were in the garden of Eden for seven years tilling and keeping it, and we gave him work and we instructed him to do everything
16 that is suitable for tillage. And he tilled (the garden), and was naked and knew it not, and was not ashamed, and he protected the garden from the birds and beasts and cattle, and gathered its fruit, and eat, and put aside the residue for himself and for his wife [and put aside that which was
17 being kept]. And after the completion of the seven years, which he had completed there, seven years exactly, [8 A.M.] and in the second month, on the seventeenth day (of the month), the serpent came and approached the woman, and the serpent said to the woman, 'Hath God commanded you,
18 saying, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?' And she said to it, 'Of all the fruit of the trees of the garden God hath said unto us, Eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said unto us, Ye shall not eat thereof, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' And the serpent said unto the woman, 'Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that on the day ye shall eat thereof, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as gods, and ye will know good and
20 evil. And the woman saw the tree that it was agreeable and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit
21 was good for food, and she took thereof and eat. And when she had first covered her shame with fig leaves, she gave thereof to Adam and he eat, and his eyes were opened, and he saw that he was
22 naked. And he took fig leaves and sewed (them) together, and made an apron for himself, and
23, 24 covered his shame. And God cursed the serpent, and was wroth with it for ever . . . And He was wroth with the woman, because she harkened to the voice of the serpent, and did eat; and He said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy pains: in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
25 children, and thy return shall be unto thy husband, and he will rule over thee.' And to Adam also he said, ' Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat thereof, cursed be the ground for thy sake: thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face, till thou returnest to the earth from whence thou wast taken; for earth thou art, and unto earth shalt
26 thou return.' And He made for them coats of skin, and clothed them, and sent them forth from
27 the Garden of Eden. And on that day on which Adam went forth from the Garden, he offered as a sweet savour an offering, frankincense, galbanum, and stacte, and spices in the morning with the
28 rising of the sun from the day when he covered his shame. And on that day was closed the mouth of all beasts, and of cattle, and of birds, and of whatever walks, and of whatever moves, so that they could no longer speak: for they had all spoken one with another with one lip and with one tongue.
29 And He sent out of the Garden of Eden all flesh that was in the Garden of Eden, and all flesh was scattered according to its kinds, and according to its types unto the places which had been created
30 for them. And to Adam alone did He give (the wherewithal) to cover his shame, of all the beasts and
31 cattle. On this account, it is prescribed on the heavenly tablets as touching all those who know the judgment of the law, that they should cover their shame, and should not uncover themselves as the
32 Gentiles uncover themselves. And on the new moon of the fourth month, Adam and his wife went
33 forth from the Garden of Eden, and they dwelt in the land of Elda in the land of their creation. And
34 Adam called the name of his wife Eve. And they had no son till the first jubilee, [8 A.M.] and after this he
35 knew her. Now he tilled the land as he had been instructed in the Garden of Eden.
b) Exodus 31: 12 - 17
c) Leviticus 12
III. The Life of Adam and Eve (Latin Vita and Greek Apocalypse) http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical
a) Vita Adae et Evae 32 - 36
And Adam answered and said: 'Hear me, my sons. When God made us, me and your mother, and placed us in paradise and gave us every tree bearing fruit to eat, he laid a prohibition on us concerning the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is in the midst of paradise; (saying)
2 'Do not eat of it.' But God gave a part of paradise to me and (a part) to your mother: the trees of the eastern part and the north, which is over against Aquilo he gave to me, and to your mother he gave the part of the south and the western part.
xxxiii 1 (Moreover) God the Lord gave us two angels
2 to guard us. The hour came when the angels had ascended to worship in the sight of God; forthwith the adversary [the devil] found an opportunity while the angels were absent and the devil led your mother astray to eat of the
3 unlawful and forbidden tree. And she did eat and gave to me.
xxxiv 1 And immediately, the Lord God was wrath with us, and the Lord said to me: 'In that thou hast left behind my commandment and hast not kept my word, which I confirmed to thee; behold, I will bring upon thy body, seventy blows; with divers griefs, shalt thou be tormented, beginning at thy head and thine eyes and thine ears down to thy nails on thy toes, and in every
2 separate limb. These hath God appointed for chastisement. All these things hath the Lord sent to me and to all our race.'
xxxv 1 Thus spake Adam to his sons, and he was seized with violent pains, and he cried out with a loud voice, 'What shall I do? I am in distress. So cruel are the pains with which I am beset.' And when Eve had seen him weeping, she also began to weep herself, and said: 'O Lord my God, hand over to me his pain, for it is I who sinned.'
3 And Eve said to Adam: 'My lord, give me a part of thy pains, for this hath come to thee from fault of mine.'
xxxvi 1 And Adam said to Eve: 'Rise up and go with my son Seth to the neighbourhood of paradise, and put dust on your heads and throw yourselves on the ground and lament in the sight of
2 God. Perchance He will have pity (upon you) and send His angel across to the tree of His mercy, whence floweth the oil of life, and will give you a drop of it, to anoint me with it, that I may have rest from these pains, by which I am being consumed.'
b) Greek Apocalypse of Moses (Greek Life of Adam and Eve) 15 - 30:
xv 1 Then saith Eve to them: 'Hear all my children and children's children and I will relate to you
2 how the enemy deceived us. It befell that we were guarding paradise, each of us the portion
3 allotted to us from God. Now I guarded in my lot, the west and the south. But the devil went to Adam's lot, where the male creatures were. [For God divided the creatures; all the males he gave to your father and all the females he gave to me.]
xvi 1 And the devil spake to the serpent saying, Rise up, come to me and I will tell thee a word
2 whereby thou mayst have profit." And he arose and came to him. And the devil saith to him:
3 "I hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, and I have come to counsel thee. Why dost thou eat of Adam's tares and not of paradise? Rise up and we will cause him to be cast out of paradise, even
4 as we were cast out through him." The serpent saith to him, "I fear lest the Lord be wroth with
5 me." The devil saith to him: "Fear not, only be my vessel and I will speak through thy mouth words to deceive him."
xvii 1 And instantly he hung himself from the wall of paradise, and when the angels ascended to
2 worship God, then Satan appeared in the form of an angel and sang hymns like the angels. And I bent over the wall and saw him, like an angel. But he saith to me: "Art thou Eve?" And I said
3 to him, "I am." 'What art thou doing in paradise?" And I said to him, "God set us to guard and
4 to eat of it." The devil answered through the mouth of the serpent: 'Ye do well but ye do not eat
5 of every plant." And I said: "Yea, we eat of all. save one only, which is in the midst of paradise, concerning which, God charged us not to eat of it: for, He said to us, on the day on which ye eat of it, ye shall die the death."
xviii 1 Then the serpent saith to me, "May God live! but I am grieved on your account, for I would not have you ignorant. But arise, (come) hither, hearken to me and eat and mind the value of that tree."
2,3 But I said to him, " I fear lest God be wroth with me as he told us." And he saith to me: "Fear not, for as soon as thou eatest of it, ye too shall be as God, in that ye shall know good and evil.
4 But God perceived this that ye would be like Him, so he envied you and said, Ye shall not eat of
5,6 it. Nay, do thou give heed to the plant and thou wilt see its great glory." Yet I feared to take of the fruit. And he saith to me: "Come hither, and I will give it thee. Follow me."
xix 1 And I opened to him and he walked a little way, then turned and said to me: "I have changed my
2 mind and I will not give thee to eat until thou swear to me to give also to thy husband." (And) I said. "What sort of oath shall I swear to thee? Yet what I know, I say to thee: By the throne of the
3 Master, and by the Cherubim and the Tree of Life! I will give also to my husband to eat." And when he had received the oath from me, he went and poured upon the fruit the poison of his wickedness, which is lust, the root and beginning of every sin, and he bent the branch on the earth and I took of the fruit and I ate.
xx 1 And in that very hour my eyes were opened, and forthwith I knew that I was bare of the righteousness
2 with which I had been clothed (upon), and I wept and said to him: "Why hast thou
3 done this to me in that thou hast deprived me of the glory with which I was clothed?" But I wept also about the oath, which I had sworn. But he descended from the tree and vanished.
4 And I began to seek, in my nakedness, in my part for leaves to hide my shame, but I found none, for, as soon as I had eaten, the leaves showered down from all the trees in my part, except the fig tree
5 only. But I took leaves from it and made for myself a girdle and it was from the very same plant of which I had eaten.
xxi 1 And I cried out in that very hour, 'Adam, Adam, where art thou? Rise up, come to me and
2 I will show thee a great secret." But when your father came, I spake to him words of transgression
3 [which have brought us down from our great glory]. For, when he came, I opened my mouth and the devil was speaking, and I began to exhort him and said, "Come hither, my lord Adam, hearken to me and eat of the fruit of the tree of which God told us not to eat of it, and thou shalt be as
4 a God." And your father answered and said, "I fear lest God be wroth with me." And I said to
5 him, "Fear not, for as soon as thou hast eaten thou shalt know good and evil." And speedily I persuaded him, and he ate and straightway his eyes were opened and he too knew his nakedness.
6 And to me he saith, "O wicked woman! what have I done to thee that thou hast deprived me of the glory of God?"
xxii 1 And in that same hour, we heard the archangel Michael blowing with his trumpet and calling to
2 the angels and saying: "Thus saith the Lord, Come with me to Paradise and hear the judgement with which I shall judge Adam."
3 And when God appeared in paradise, mounted on the chariot of his cherubim with the angels proceeding before him and singing hymns of praises, all the plants of paradise, both of your father's lot
4 and mine, broke out into flowers. And the throne of God was fixed where the Tree of Life was.
xxiii 1 And God called Adam saying, "Adam, where art thou? Can the house be hidden from the presence
2 of its builder? "Then your father answered; "It is not because we think not to be found by thee, Lord, that we hide, but I was afraid, because I am naked, and I was ashamed before thy might,
3 (my) Master." God saith to him, "Who showed thee that thou art naked, unless thou hast forsaken my
4 commandment, which I delivered thee to keep (it)." Then Adam called to mind the word which I spake to him, (saying) "I will make thee secure before God"; and he turned and said to me: "Why hast thou done this?" And I said, "The serpent deceived me."
xxiv 1 God saith to Adam: 'Since thou hast disregarded my commandment and hast hearkened to thy wife, cursed is the earth in thy labours. Thou shalt work it and it shall not give its strength: thorns and thistles shall spring up for thee, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread. [Thou shalt be in manifold toils; thou shalt be crushed by bitterness, but of sweetness shalt thou not taste.]
3 Weary shalt thou be and shalt not rest; by heat shalt thou be tired, by cold shalt thou be straitened: abundantly shalt thou busy thyself, but thou shalt not be rich; and thou shalt grow fat, but come to no end.
4 The beasts, over whom thou didst rule, shall rise up in rebellion against thee, for thou hast not kept my commandment."
xxv 1 And the Lord turned to me and said: "Since thou hast hearkened to the serpent, and turned
2 a deaf ear to my commandment, thou shalt be in throes of travail and intolerable agonies; thou shalt bear children in much trembling and in one hour thou shalt come to the birth, and lose thy
3 life, from thy sore trouble and anguish. But thou shalt confess and say: 'Lord, Lord, save me, and
4 I will turn no more to the sin of the flesh.' And on this account, from thine own words I will judge thee, by reason of the enmity which the enemy has planted in thee."
xxvi 1 But he turned to the serpent [in great wrath] and said: "Since thou hast done this, and become a thankless vessel until thou hast deceived the innocent hearts, accursed art thou among all beasts.
2 Thou shalt be deprived of the victual of which thou didst eat and shalt feed on dust all the days of
3 thy life: on thy breast and thy belly shalt thou walk and be robbed of hands and feet. There shall not be left thee ear nor wing, nor one limb of all that with which thou didst ensnare them in
4 thy malice and causedst them to be cast out of paradise; and I will put enmity between thee and his seed: he shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel until the day of Judgement." xxvii 1,2 Thus he spake and bade the angels have us cast out of paradise: and as we were being driven out amid our loud lamentations, your father Adam besought the angels and said: "Leave me a little (space) that I may entreat the Lord that he have compassion on me and pity me, for I only
3 have sinned." And they left off driving him and Adam cried aloud and wept saying: "Pardon me O Lord, my deed." Then the Lord saith to the angels, "Why have ye ceased from driving Adam from paradise? Why do ye not cast him out? Is it I who have done wrong? Or is my judgement
5 badly judged?" Then the angels fell down on the ground and worshipped the Lord saying, "Thou art just, O Lord, and thou judgest righteous judgement."
xxviii 1 But the Lord turned to Adam and said: 'I will not suffer thee henceforward to be in paradise."
2 And Adam answered and said, " Grant me, O Lord, of the Tree of Life that I may eat of it, before
3 I be cast out." Then the Lord spake to Adam, "Thou shalt not take of it now, for I have commanded the cherubim with the flaming sword that turneth (every way) to guard it from thee that
4 thou taste not of it; but thou hast the war which the adversary hath put into thee, yet when thou art gone out of paradise, if thou shouldst keep thyself from all evil, as one about to die, when again the Resurrection hath come to pass, I will raise thee up and then there shall be given to thee the Tree of Life."
xxix 1,2 Thus spake the Lord and ordered us to be cast out of paradise. But your father Adam wept before the angels opposite paradise and the angels say to him: "What wouldst thou have us to do,
3 Adam? "And your father saith to them, "Behold, ye cast me out. I pray you, allow me to take away fragrant herbs from paradise, so that I may offer an offering to God after I have gone out of paradise that he hear me." And the angels approached God and said: "JA'EL, Eternal King, command, my Lord, that there be given to Adam incense of sweet odour from paradise and seeds
5 for his food." And God bade Adam go in and take sweet spices and fragrant herbs from paradise
6 and seeds for his food. And the angels let him go and he took four kinds: crocus and nard and calamus and cinnamon and the other seeds for his food: and, after taking these, he went out of
7 paradise. And we were on the earth.
xxx 1 Now then, my children, I have shown you the way in which we were deceived; and do ye guard yourselves from transgressing against the good.'
c) Vita Adae et Evae 1 - 11
i 1 When they were driven out from paradise, they made themselves a booth, and spent seven days mourning and lamenting in great grief.
ii 1 But after seven days, they began to be hungry and started to look for victual to eat, and they
2 found it not. Then Eve said to Adam: 'My lord, I am hungry. Go, look for (something) for us to eat. Perchance the Lord God will look back and pity us and recall us to the place in which we were before.
iii I And Adam arose and walked seven days over all that land, and found no victual such as they
2 used to have in paradise. And Eve said to Adam: 'Wilt thou slay me? that I may die, and perchance God the Lord will bring thee into paradise, for on my account hast thou been driven thence.'
3 Adam answered: 'Forbear, Eve, from such words, that peradventure God bring not some other curse upon us. How is it possible that I should stretch forth my hand against my own flesh? Nay, let us arise and look for something for us to live on, that we fail not.'
iv 1 And they walked about and searched for nine days, and they found none such as they were used to have in paradise, but found only animals'
2 food. And Adam said to Eve: 'This hath the Lord provided for animals and brutes to eat;
3 but we used to have angels' food. But it is just and right that we lament before the sight of God who made us. Let us repent with a great penitence: perchance the Lord will be gracious to us and will pity us and give us a share of something for our living.'
v 1 And Eve said to Adam: 'What is penitence? Tell me, what sort of penitence am I to do? Let us not put too great a labour on ourselves, which we cannot endure, so that the Lord will not hearken to our prayers: and will turn away His countenance from us, because we have not
3 fulfilled what we promised. My lord, how much penitence hast thou thought (to do) for I have brought trouble and anguish upon thee?'
vi 1 And Adam said to Eve: 'Thou canst not do so much as I, but do only so much as thou hast strength for. For I will spend forty days fasting, but do thou arise and go to the river Tigris and lift up a stone and stand on it in the water up to thy neck in the deep of the river. And let no speech proceed out of thy mouth, since we are unworthy to address the Lord, for our lips are unclean from the unlawful and forbidden tree.
2 And do thou stand in the water of the river thirty-seven days. But I will spend forty days in the water of Jordan, perchance the Lord God will take pity upon us.'
vii 1 And Eve walked to the river Tigris and did
2 as Adam had told her. Likewise, Adam walked to the river Jordan and stood on a stone up to his neck in water.
viii 1 And Adam said: 'I tell thee, water of Jordan, grieve with me, and assemble to me all swimming (creatures), which are in thee, and let them surround me and mourn in company with me. Not for themselves let them lament, but for me; for it is not they that have sinned, but I.'
3 Forthwith, all living things came and surrounded him, and, from that hour, the water of Jordan stood (still) and its current was stayed.'
ix 1 And eighteen days passed by; then Satan was wroth and transformed himself into the brightness of angels, and went away to the river
2 Tigris to Eve, and found her weeping, and the devil himself pretended to grieve with her, and he began to weep and said to her: 'Come out of the river and lament no more. Cease now from sorrow and moans. Why art thou anxious
3 and thy husband Adam? The Lord God hath heard your groaning and hath accepted your penitence, and all we angels have entreated on your behalf, and made supplication to the Lord;
4 and he hath sent me to bring you out of the water and give you the nourishment which you had in paradise, and for which you are crying
5 out. Now come out of the water and I will conduct you to the place where your victual hath been made ready.'
x 1 But Eve heard and believed and went out of the water of the river, and her flesh was (trembling)
2 like grass, from the chill of the water. And when she had gone out, she fell on the earth and the devil raised her up and led her to Adam.
3 But when Adam had seen her and the devil with her, he wept and cried aloud and said: 'O Eve, Eve, where is the labour of thy penitence?
4 How hast thou been again ensnared by our adversary, by whose means we have been estranged from our abode in paradise and spiritual joy?'
xi 1 And when she heard this, Eve understood that (it was) the devil (who) had persuaded her to go out of the river; and she fell on her face on the earth and her sorrow and groaning and wailing
2 was redoubled. And she cried out and said: 'Woe unto thee, thou devil. Why dost thou attack us for no cause? What hast thou to do with us? What have we done to thee? for thou pursuest us with craft? Or why doth thy malice
3 assail us? Have we taken away thy glory and caused thee to be without honour? Why dost thou harry us, thou enemy (and persecute us) to the death in wickedness and envy?'
IV. The Slavonic Apocalypse (Secret Book) of Enoch (2nd Enoch): http://www.nazarene.net/
a) 2nd Enoch 24 - 32:
Chapter 24
1And the Lord summoned me, and said to me: Enoch, sit down on my left with Gabriel.
2And I bowed down to the Lord, and the Lord spoke to me: Enoch, beloved, all that you see, all things that are standing finished I tell to you even before the very beginning, all that I created from non-being, and visible things from invisible.
3Hear, Enoch, and take in these my words, for not to My angels have I told my secret, and I have not told them their rise, nor my endless realm, nor have they understood my creating, which I tell you to-day.
4For before all things were visible, I alone used to go about in the invisible things, like the sun from east to west, and from west to east.
5But even the sun has peace in itself, while I found no peace, because I was creating all things, and I conceived the thought of placing foundations, and of creating visible creation.
1I commanded in the very lowest parts, that visible things should come down from invisible, and Adoil came down very great, and I beheld him, and lo! He had a belly of great light.
2And I said to him: Become undone, Adoil, and let the visible come out of you.
3And he came undone, and a great light came out. And I was in the midst of the great light, and as there is born light from light, there came forth a great age, and showed all creation, which I had thought to create.
4And I saw that it was good.
5And I placed for myself a throne, and took my seat on it, and said to the light: Go thence up higher and fix yourself high above the throne, and be a foundation to the highest things.
6And above the light there is nothing else, and then I bent up and looked up from my throne.
1And I summoned the very lowest a second time, and said: Let Archas come forth hard, and he came forth hard from the invisible.
2And Archas came forth, hard, heavy, and very red.
3And I said: Be opened, Archas, and let there be born from you, and he came undone, an age came forth, very great and very dark, bearing the creation of all lower things, and I saw that it was good and said to him:
4Go thence down below, and make yourself firm, and be a foundation for the lower things, and it happened and he went down and fixed himself, and became the foundation for the lower things, and below the darkness there is nothing else.
1And I commanded that there should be taken from light and darkness, and I said: Be thick, and it became thus, and I spread it out with the light, and it became water, and I spread it out over the darkness, below the light, and then I made firm the waters, that is to say the bottomless, and I made foundation of light around the water, and created seven circles from inside, and imaged the water like crystal wet and dry, that is to say like glass, and the circumcession of the waters and the other elements, and I showed each one of them its road, and the seven stars each one of them in its heaven, that they go thus, and I saw that it was good.
2And I separated between light and between darkness, that is to say in the midst of the water hither and thither, and I said to the light, that it should be the day, and to the darkness, that it should be the night, and there was evening and there was morning the first day.
1And then I made firm the heavenly circle, and made that the lower water which is under heaven collect itself together, into one whole, and that the chaos become dry, and it became so.
2Out of the waves I created rock hard and big, and from the rock I piled up the dry, and the dry I called earth, and the midst of the earth I called abyss, that is to say the bottomless, I collected the sea in one place and bound it together with a yoke.
3And I said to the sea: Behold I give you your eternal limits, and you shalt not break loose from your component parts.
4Thus I made fast the firmament. This day I called me the first-created [Sunday].
1And for all the heavenly troops I imaged the image and essence of fire, and my eye looked at the very hard, firm rock, and from the gleam of my eye the lightning received its wonderful nature, which is both fire in water and water in fire, and one does not put out the other, nor does the one dry up the other, therefore the lightning is brighter than the sun, softer than water and firmer than hard rock.
2And from the rock I cut off a great fire, and from the fire I created the orders of the incorporeal ten troops of angels, and their weapons are fiery and their raiment a burning flame, and I commanded that each one should stand in his order.
3And one from out the order of angels, having turned away with the order that was under him, conceived an impossible thought, to place his throne higher than the clouds above the earth, that he might become equal in rank to my power.
4And I threw him out from the height with his angels, and he was flying in the air continuously above the bottomless.
1On the third day I commanded the earth to make grow great and fruitful trees, and hills, and seed to sow, and I planted Paradise, and enclosed it, and placed as armed guardians flaming angels, and thus I created renewal.
2Then came evening, and came morning the fourth day.
3[Wednesday]. On the fourth day I commanded that there should be great lights on the heavenly circles.
4On the first uppermost circle I placed the stars, Kruno, and on the second Aphrodit, on the third Aris, on the fifth Zoues, on the sixth Ermis, on the seventh lesser the moon, and adorned it with the lesser stars.
5And on the lower I placed the sun for the illumination of day, and the moon and stars for the illumination of night.
6The sun that it should go according to each constellation, twelve, and I appointed the succession of the months and their names and lives, their thunderings, and their hour-markings, how they should succeed.
7Then evening came and morning came the fifth day.
8[Thursday]. On the fifth day I commanded the sea, that it should bring forth fishes, and feathered birds of many varieties, and all animals creeping over the earth, going forth over the earth on four legs, and soaring in the air, male sex and female, and every soul breathing the spirit of life.
9And there came evening, and there came morning the sixth day.
10[Friday]. On the sixth day I commanded my wisdom to create man from seven consistencies: one, his flesh from the earth; two, his blood from the dew; three, his eyes from the sun; four, his bones from stone; five, his intelligence from the swiftness of the angels and from cloud; six, his veins and his hair from the grass of the earth; seven, his soul from my breath and from the wind.
11And I gave him seven natures: to the flesh hearing, the eyes for sight, to the soul smell, the veins for touch, the blood for taste, the bones for endurance, to the intelligence sweetness [enjoyment].
12I conceived a cunning saying to say, I created man from invisible and from visible nature, of both are his death and life and image, he knows speech like some created thing, small in greatness and again great in smallness, and I placed him on earth, a second angel, honourable, great and glorious, and I appointed him as ruler to rule on earth and to have my wisdom, and there was none like him of earth of all my existing creatures.
13And I appointed him a name, from the four component parts, from east, from west, from south, from north, and I appointed for him four special stars, and I called his name Adam, and showed him the two ways, the light and the darkness, and I told him:
14This is good, and that bad, that I should learn whether he has love towards me, or hatred, that it be clear which in his race love me.
15For I have seen his nature, but he has not seen his own nature, therefore through not seeing he will sin worse, and I said After sin what is there but death?
16And I put sleep into him and he fell asleep. And I took from him a rib, and created him a wife, that death should come to him by his wife, and I took his last word and called her name mother, that is to say, Eva.
Chapter 31
1Adam has life on earth, and I created a garden in Eden in the east, that he should observe the testament and keep the command.
2I made the heavens open to him, that he should see the angels singing the song of victory, and the gloomless light.
3And he was continuously in paradise, and the devil understood that I wanted to create another world, because Adam was lord on earth, to rule and control it.
4The devil is the evil spirit of the lower places, as a fugitive he made Sotona (9) from the heavens as his name was Satanail (10), thus he became different from the angels, but his nature did not change his intelligence as far as his understanding of righteous and sinful things.
5And he understood his condemnation and the sin which he had sinned before, therefore he conceived thought against Adam, in such form he entered and seduced Eva, but did not touch Adam.
6But I cursed ignorance, but what I had blessed previously, those I did not curse, I cursed not man, nor the earth, nor other creatures, but man's evil fruit, and his works.
1I said to him: Earth you are, and into the earth whence I took you you shalt go, and I will not ruin you, but send you whence I took you.
2Then I can again receive you at My second presence.
3And I blessed all my creatures visible and invisible. And Adam was five and half hours in paradise.
4And I blessed the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, on which he rested from all his works.
b) 2nd Enoch 58:
Chapter 58
1Listen to me, my children, to-day.
2In those days when the Lord came down on to earth for Adam's sake, and visited all his creatures, which he created himself, after all these he created Adam, and the Lord called all the beasts of the earth, all the reptiles, and all the birds that soar in the air, and brought them all before the face of our father Adam.
3And Adam gave the names to all things living on earth.
4And the Lord appointed him ruler over all, and subjected to him all things under his hands, and made them dumb and made them dull that they be commanded of man, and be in subjection and obedience to him.
5Thus also the Lord created every man lord over all his possessions.
6The Lord will not judge a single soul of beast for man's sake, but adjudges the souls of men to their beasts in this world; for men have a special place.
7And as every soul of man is according to number, similarly beasts will not perish, nor all souls of beasts which the Lord created, till the great judgment, and they will accuse man, if he feed them ill.
V. The Sibylline Oracles - Book One 1 - 81: http://www.sacred-texts.com
BEGINNING with the generation first
Of mortal men down to the very last
I'll prophesy each thing: what erst has been,
And what is now, and what shall yet befall
5 The world through the impiety of men.
First now God urges on me to relate
Truly how into being came the world.
And thou, shrewd mortal, prudently make known,
Lest ever thou should'st my commands neglect,
10 The King most high, who brought into existence
The whole world, saying, "Let there be," and there was.
For he the earth established, placing it
Round about Tartarus, and he himself
15 Spread out the gleaming sea, and crowned the sky
With an abundance of bright-shining stars,
And decked the earth with plants, and mingled sea
With rivers, and the air with zephyrs mixed
And watery clouds; and then, another race
20 Appointing, he gave fishes to the seas
And birds unto the winds, and to the woods
The beasts of shaggy neck, and snakes that crawl,
And all things which now on the earth appear.
These by his word he made, and every thing
25 Was speedily and with precision done;
For he was self-caused and from heaven looked down
And finished was the world exceeding well.
And then thereafter fashioned he again
A living product, copying a new man
30 From his own image, beautiful, divine,
And bade him in ambrosial garden dwell,
That labors beautiful might be his care.
But in that fertile field of Paradise
He longed for conversation, being alone,
35 And prayed that he might see another form
Such as he had. And forthwith, from man's side
Taking a bone, God himself made fair Eve,
A wedded spouse, and in that Paradise
Gave her to dwell with him. And, when he gazed
40 Upon her, on a sudden filled with joy
Great admiration held his soul, he saw
A pattern so exact; and with wise words
Spontaneous flowing answered he in turn
For God had care for all things. For the mind
45 They darkened not with passion, nor concealed
Their nakedness, but with hearts far from evil
And afterwards delivering them commands
God showed them not to touch a certain tree;
50 But the dread serpent drew them off by guile
To go away unto the fate of death
And to gain knowledge of both good and evil.
But the wife then first traitress proved to God;
She gave, and urged the unknowing man to sin.
55 And he, persuaded by the woman's words,
Forgot the immortal Maker utterly,
And treated plain commandments with neglect.
Therefore, instead of good, received they evil
According to their deed. And then the leaves
60 Of the sweet fig-tree piercing they made clothes
And put them on each other, and concealed
The sexual parts, because they were ashamed.
But on them the Immortal set his wrath
And cast them out of the immortal land.
65 For their abiding now in mortal land
Was brought to pass, since hearing they kept not
The word of the immortal mighty God.
And straightway they, upon the fruitful soil
Forthgoing, with their tears and groans were wet;
70 And to them then the immortal God himself
A word more excellent spoke: "Multiply,
Increase, work constantly upon the earth,
That with the sweat of labor ye may have
Sufficient food." Thus he spoke; and he made
75 The author of deceit to press the ground
On belly and on side, a crawling snake,
Driving him out severely; and he sent
Dire enmity between them and the one
80 But man his heel; for death is neighbor near
Of evil-plotting vipers and of men.
VI. The Testament of Adam 3: 2 - 3: http://www.earlyjewishwritings
For [God] said to me in Paradise after I had plucked some of the fruit which concealed Death within it: "Adam, Adam, do not fear. You wished to become a god. I shall make you a god, not now, but after a period of many years. I shall deliver you over to Death, and the maggot and worm will consume your body."
I answered, saying to him, "Why, my Lord?" He said to me: "Because you hearkened to the words of the serpent, you and your descendants shall serve as food for the serpent. But after a brief time mercy shall be shown to you, for you were created in My image, and I will not abandon you to waste away in Sheol.
VII. The Apocalypse of Adam 1 - 2: http://www.earlyjewishwritings
The revelation which Adam taught his son Seth in the seven hundreth year, saying:
Listen to my words, my son Seth. When God had created me out of the earth, along with Eve, your mother, I went about with her in a glory which she had seen in the aeon from which we had come forth. She taught me a word of knowledge of the eternal God. And we resembled the great eternal angels, for we were higher than the god who had created us and the powers with him, whom we did not know.
Then God, the ruler of the aeons and the powers, divided us in wrath. Then we became two aeons. And the glory in our heart(s) left us, me and your mother Eve, along with the first knowledge that breathed within us. And it (glory) fled from us; it entered into [...] great [...] which had come forth, not from this aeon from which we had come forth, I and Eve your mother. But it (knowledge) entered into the seed of great aeons. For this reason I myself have called you by the name of that man who is the seed of the great generation or from whom (it comes). After those days, the eternal knowledge of the God of truth withdrew from me and your mother Eve. Since that time, we learned about dead things, like men. Then we recognized the God who had created us. For we were not strangers to his powers. And we served him in fear and slavery. And after these things, we became darkened in our heart(s). Now I slept in the thought of my heart.
And I saw three men before me whose likeness I was unable to recognize, since they were not the powers of the God who had created us. They surpassed [...] glory, and [...] men [...] saying to me, "Arise, Adam, from the sleep of death, and hear about the aeon and the seed of that man to whom life has come, who came from you and from Eve, your wife."
When I had heard these words from the great men who were standing before me, then we sighed, I and Eve, in our heart(s). And the Lord, the God who had created us, stood before us. He said to us, "Adam, why were you (both) sighing in your hearts? Do you not know that I am the God who created you? And I breathed into you a spirit of life as a living soul." Then darkness came upon our eyes.
Then the God who created us, created a son from himself and Eve, your mother. I knew sweet desire for your mother, for [...] in the thought of my [...] I knew a sweet desire for your mother. Then the vigor of our eternal knowledge was destroyed in us, and weakness pursued us. Therefore the days of our life became few. For I knew that I had come under the authority of death.
VIII. The Apocalypse of Abraham 20 - 23: http://www.earlyjewishwritings
31. And I saw beneath the surface of my feet, even beneath the sixth heaven and what was therein, and then the earth and its fruits, and what moved upon it and its animate beings, and the power of its men, and the ungodliness of some of its souls and the righteous deeds of other souls, and I saw the lower regions and the perdition therein, the abyss and its torments. And I saw the sea and its islands, its monsters and its fishes, and Leviathan and his dominion, his camping-ground and his caves, and the world which lay above him, his movements and the destructions of the world on his account. And I saw there the streams and the rivers, and the rising of their waters, and their windings in their courses. And I saw there the Garden of Eden and its fruits, the source of the river that issues from it, the trees and their blossoms, and the ones who behaved righteously. And I saw therein their foods and their blessedness. And I saw there a great multitude, men and women and children, half of them on the right side of the vision, and half of them on the left side of the vision.
32. And I said, "0 Eternal, Mighty One! What is this vision and picture of the creatures?" And He said to me, "This is my will for those who exist in the divine world-counsel, for thus it seemed well-pleasing in my sight, and so afterwards I gave commandment to them through my word. And so it came to pass that whatever I had determined to be, was already planned beforehand in this picture-vision before you, and it has stood before me before it was created, as you have seen."
33. And I said, "0 Lord, Mighty and Eternal! Who are the people in this picture on this side and that?" And He said to me, "Those who are on the left side are all those, born before your day and afterwards, some destined for judgment and restoration, and others for vengeance and cutting off at the end of the age. But those on the right side of the picture, they are the. people who have been set apart for me, and whom I have ordained to be born of your line and called my people, even some of those who derive from Azazel.
34. Now look again in the picture, and see who it is who seduced Eve, and what is the fruit of the Tree, and you will know what is to be, and how it shall be with your seed among the people at the end of the days of the age, and all that you cannot understand I will make known to you for you are well-pleasing in my sight, and I will tell you of those things which are kept in my heart.
35. And I looked into the picture, and my eyes ran to the side of the Garden of Eden, and I saw there a man of imposing height and mighty in stature, incomparable in aspect, and he was embracing a woman, who likewise approximated to the aspect of his size and stature. And they were standing under a tree of the Garden of Eden, and the fruit of this tree was like a bunch of grapes of the vine. And standing behind the tree was one who had the aspect of a Serpent having hands and feet like those of a man, and wings on its shoulders, six pairs of wings, so that there were six wings on the right and six on the left. And as I continued looking, I saw the man and the woman eating the fruit from the tree.
36. And I said, "Who are these who are embracing, and who is the one between them who is behind the tree, and what is the fruit that they are eating?" And He said, "This is the council of the world, this one is Adam, and this one, who is their desire upon the .earth, is Eve. But he who is between them represents ungodliness and their beginnings on the way to perdition, even Azazel."
37. And I said, "0 Eternal Mighty One! Why have you given such as him the power to destroy the generations of men in their works upon the earth?"
IX. The Koran, Sura 20: 115 - 123: http://www.submission.org/suras
[20:115] We tested Adam in the past, but he forgot, and we found him indecisive.
[20:116] Recall that we said to the angels, "Fall prostrate before Adam." They fell prostrate, except Satan; he refused.
[20:117] We then said, "O Adam, this is an enemy of you and your wife. Do not let him evict you from Paradise, lest you become miserable.
[20:118] "You are guaranteed never to hunger therein, nor go unsheltered.
[20:119] "Nor will you thirst therein, nor suffer from any heat."
[20:120] But the devil whispered to him, saying, "O Adam, let me show you the tree of eternity and unending kingship."
[20:121] They ate from it, whereupon their bodies became visible to them, and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise. Adam thus disobeyed his Lord, and fell.
[20:122] Subsequently, his Lord chose him, redeemed him, and guided him.
[20:123] He said, "Go down there from, all of you. You are enemies of one another. When guidance comes to you from Me, anyone who follows My guidance will not go astray, nor suffer any misery.
X. The Book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi 2: 10 - 25: http://www.worldwideschool.org
10 And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him to be judged of him according to the truth and holiness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement--
11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.
13 And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.
14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.
15 And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.
16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.
17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an angel of God, according to that which is written, had fallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a devil, having sought that which was evil before God.
18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he sought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all lies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.
19 And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden of Eden, to till the earth.
20 And they have brought forth children; yea, even the family of all the earth.
21 And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their parents.
22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.
23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.
24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
XI. From The Alphabet of Ben Sira: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
"Soon afterward the young son of the king took ill. Said Nebuchadnezzar, "Heal my son. If you don't, I will kill you." Ben Sira immediately sat down and wrote an amulet with the Holy Name, and he inscribed on it the angels in charge of medicine by their names, forms, and images, and by their wings, hands, and feet. Nebuchadnezzar looked at the amulet. "Who are these?"
"The angels who are in charge of medicine: Snvi, Snsvi, and Smnglof. After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone' (Genesis 2:18). He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels to bring her back.
"Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, fine. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'
"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.'
"When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."