Christianity Today Biblical Studies Award of Merit

For centuries the story of Adam and Eve has resonated richly through the corridors of art, literature and theology. But for most moderns, taking it at face value is incongruous. And even for many thinking Christians today who want to take seriously the authority of Scripture, insisting on a "literal" understanding of Genesis 2-3 looks painfully like a "tear here" strip between faith and science.

How can Christians of good faith move forward? Who were the historical Adam and Eve? What if we've been reading Genesis--and its claims regarding material origins--wrong? In what cultural context was this couple, this garden, this tree, this serpent portrayed?

Following his groundbreaking Lost World of Genesis One, John Walton explores the ancient Near Eastern context of Genesis 2-3, creating space for a faithful reading of Scripture along with full engagement with science for a new way forward in the human origins debate. As a bonus, an illuminating excursus by N. T. Wright places Adam in the implied narrative of Paul's theology.

The Lost World of Adam and Eve will be required reading for anyone seeking to understand this foundational text historically and theologically, and wondering how to view it alongside contemporary understandings of human origins.

The books in the Lost World Series follow the pattern set by Bible scholar John H. Walton, bringing a fresh, close reading of the Hebrew text and knowledge of ancient Near Eastern literature to an accessible discussion of the biblical topic at hand using a series of logic-based propositions.

Wright, N. T.

N. T. Wright is research professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, McGill and Oxford Universities, and was formerly the bishop of Durham and canon theologian of Westminster Abbey. A prolific writer of both scholarly and popular books, N. T. Wright has written over thirty books, including What Saint Paul Really Said, The Challenge of Jesus, The Meaning of Jesus, Jesus and the Victory of God and Paul and the Faithfulness of God. His N. T. Wright For Everyone Series includes commentaries covering the entire New Testament.

Walton, John H.

John Walton is professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He is coauthor of Manners and Customs in the Bible and The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament.