# Bible as the story of Man's evolution/origins

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-as-the-story-of-mans-evolution-origins/497811>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 27, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-as-the-story-of-mans-evolution-origins/497811 "2009-05-27T17:07:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-as-the-story-of-mans-evolution-origins/497811/1 "2009-05-27T17:07:46Z")

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Is there a name for the theory of the Bible as the story of Man’s emergence as modern human? Like, the idea that Adam and Eve represent humanity leaving Africa for the fertile crescent and beginning agriculture, the flood representing the possible period of time where the fertile crescent was flooded, etc. Those were bad examples, but is there any serious thought as to why the Bible (and other religious stories/myths) are the way they are?

I am operating under the assumption that humans wrote the bible based off of stories handed down from generation to generation before the advent of writing. Over time they transformed into mythology.

Are there any sites or good books I can read that talk about this idea? I’ve been trying to find em online and haven’t been able to find anything like that. I’ve been on this crazy history tick lately, and this is part of it…

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**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-as-the-story-of-mans-evolution-origins/497811/2 "2009-05-27T17:27:56Z")

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Have you ever read _Ishmael_ by Daniel Quinn? It presents some anthropological theory about some of the Genesis stories (particularly about the agricultural evolution and the clashes between early agriculturalists and pastoralsts).

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**Author:** ![EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@EvilHamsterOnCrack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilHamsterOnCrack)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-as-the-story-of-mans-evolution-origins/497811/3 "2009-05-27T17:53:15Z")

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Yes, actually I have, but only about 5 years ago. I have been meaning to re-read it since I’ve been waxing philosophic recently, but I lent it to someone I am no longer friends with and haven’t seen it since.

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**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bible-as-the-story-of-mans-evolution-origins/497811/4 "2009-05-27T18:46:02Z")

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This is known as euhemerism:

> **[Euhemerus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euhemerus)**
>
> Euhemerus (/juːˈhiːmərəs, -hɛm-/; also spelled Euemeros or Evemerus; Ancient Greek: Εὐήμερος Euhēmeros, "happy; prosperous"; late fourth century BC) was a Greek mythographer at the court of Cassander, the king of Macedon. Euhemerus' birthplace is disputed, with Messina in Sicily as the most probable location, while others suggest Chios or Tegea.\[citation needed\]
> The philosophy attributed to and named for Euhemerus, euhemerism, holds that many mythological tales can be attributed to historical pe...

[http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Euhemerus](http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Euhemerus)