What is the Book of Adam and Eve?

Answer

The Book of Adam and Eve, also known as The Contradiction of Adam and Eve or The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, is considered a historical account of the events following the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. This book is classified as part of the non-canonical pseudepigrapha and is not included in the inspired Word of God.

The Book of Adam and Eve is attributed to an unidentified Egyptian author who initially penned the narrative in Arabic. Over time, the text was translated into Ethiopic and circulated further south. Determining the exact date of the original composition is challenging, but many scholars suggest that it was written a few centuries before the birth of Christ. The initial English rendition of the book was published in the 19th century.

The Book of Adam and Eve consists of two parts: Book I chronicles the experiences of Adam and Eve post-Eden expulsion, including their encounters with Satan. According to this book, Cain and Abel each had twin sisters. Cain developed feelings for his own twin, Luluwa, but his parents insisted he marry Abel’s twin, Aklia, leading to Cain’s fratricide. Book II delves into the pre-Flood saga of Seth and the conflicting lineages of Cain.

In essence, the Book of Adam and Eve, divided into two sections, presents a fictional narrative of Adam and Eve’s lives after their banishment. It features fantastical tales, such as the earth quaking when Abel’s blood touched it, Cain’s struggle to bury Abel due to the grave rejecting the body (Book I, chapter LXXIX), and Adam and Eve preserving Abel’s body in their cave for seven years (Book II, chapter I). Moreover, the book contradicts the Bible by asserting that both Cain and Abel offered sacrifices of blood and grain (Book I, chapters LXXVII and LXXVIII). Genesis 4:3–4, however, states that Cain presented a non-bloody offering of “some o

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.