Book of Adam and Eve
What is the Book of Adam and Eve?
The Book of Adam and Eve, also called The Contradiction of Adam and Eve or The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, is supposedly a written history of what happened in the days of Adam and Eve after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. The book is part of the extra-biblical pseudepigrapha and not part of the inspired Word of God.
The Book of Adam and Eve is believed to be the work of an unknown Egyptian writer, who first wrote the story in Arabic; eventually, the book found its way farther south and was translated into Ethiopic. Pinning down the date of the original writing is difficult, but many believe the Book of Adam and Eve was written a few hundred years before the birth of Christ. The first English translation of the book appeared in the 19th century.
There are two books that constitute the Book of Adam and Eve: Book I follows Adam and Eve upon their exit from Eden and their subsequent temptations from Satan. According to the Book of Adam, Cain and Abel both had twin sisters. Cain fell in love with his own twin, Luluwa, but his parents wanted him to marry Abel’s twin, Aklia, and that’s why Cain murdered his brother. Book II of the Book of Adam and Eve relates the pre-Flood history of Seth and Cain’s warring families.
In summary, the two-part Book of Adam and Eve is a fictional account of Adam and Eve after the fall. It is filled with fantastical stories, such as how the earth trembled when the blood of Abel touched it; and how Cain was unable to bury Abel because the grave kept spitting out the body (Book I, chapter LXXIX); and how Adam and Eve kept the body of Abel in their cave for seven years (Book II, chapter I). The Book of Adam and Eve also contains blatant contradictions of the Bible, claiming that both Cain and Abel brought sacrifices of blood and grain (Book I, chapters LXXVII and LXXVIII). Genesis 4:3–4 states that Cain brought a bloodless offering of “some of the fruits of the soil” and Abel brought “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.”
There is really nothing in the Book of Adam and Eve that can be verified or corroborated. It is not a “lost” book of the Bible but was never part of Holy Scripture. The Bible is our authoritative, God-inspired resource, not the Book of Adam and Eve or other works of fiction.
