C. Biblical teaching about the origin of man. Biblical doctrine of primitive religion. Longevity of the Patriarchs

named " Eve"(Navva - Heb., ῾Ευα, Ζωἡ - Greek) was the name of the wife of the first man - Adam, the foremother of all mankind. She received such a name from her husband and, what is especially important, not from the very beginning, but much later, after the fall of the first people and even after the divine judgment on them. After listening to a strict divine sentence about the universality and inevitability of death, Adam, according to the chronicler, "called the name of his wife Eve, because she is the mother of all living" (Gen. 3, 20).

In the above biblical gloss, the key to understanding the name "Eve" is given. Indeed, the word "Navva" comes from Heb. the verb hajja - "to live" and means "life" (χωἡ - Greek) or, more precisely, "source of life" "producer of life" (Ζωογὁνος - Symmacha), as it is beautifully revealed in the words of the Bible. text: "because she is the mother of all living" (kol-hajja - actually "all living"). Among the general destruction, which the supreme Judge proclaimed the last and physical lot of all people, one wife was, as it were, some kind of exception; True, she personally shared the common fate, but thanks to the act of childbearing, she, as it were, continued to live in her offspring. And in itself this childbearing, the originator of which was Eve, was, as it were, a protest against the domination of death and a symbol of the incessantly reborn life. From here it becomes quite clear the meaning of the name of the first wife by the name of "Eve", that is, "the source of life", in a figurative sense - by "life" itself.

But the biblical text gives us even more. According to the exact meaning of the Jewish original, Eve is “the mother of all things” (3, 20), i.e., the source of all and any life in general, representing in this respect the direct opposite of death brought about by sin. This circumstance, in the opinion of the holy fathers and the best exegetes, makes us connect the name of Eve with the first promise of the Seed of the woman. Looking, from the point of view of the First Gospel, with the eyes of faith at his wife, Adam prophetically saw in her the producer of offspring, actively opposing the devil, and in particular, the foremother of that great offspring who would slay the serpent and thereby free humanity from the yoke of sin weighing on him and his dues. - of death. Thus, in the fact of naming his wife Eve, Adam expressed his fervent and firm faith in the immutability of the divine promise of the Seed of the wife. The whole subsequent history of our ancestors is also full of examples of this kind, since this is revealed from the analysis of other primitive names. So, Eve calls her first son Cain, i.e., "acquisition", because, as explained further, she thought that she "acquired a man from God", i.e., in the person of her firstborn she received the same descendant, about whom proclaimed the first gospel. Eve poured out all the bitterness of her disappointment in such a hasty hope in the name of her second son - “Abel”, which means “weeping”. Finally, the awakening of a new hope with the birth of a third son, in the place of the untimely deceased Abel, she expressed in his name "Seth", which means "substitute, support." From this it is clear that all the patriarchal names (the Sethites) and the name of Eve, first of all, stood in the closest relation to the first promise of the Seed, which was the main vital nerve of the entire Old Testament religion, the religion of fallen, but not yet regenerated humanity.

But if the first wife received the name of Eve only after the fall, in connection with the idea of ​​the first promise, then what was her name before, before this fact? Turning to the biblical text for the resolution of this issue, we see that earlier she did not have her own, personal name, but she was called by a general, generic definition - isha, which means "wife, woman" in general. The philological analysis of this word reveals to us no less important and profound truths, directly referring us to the history of the creation of the first wife.

According to word production from Hebrew, the word isha is the feminine form of the word ish, which means "husband", and, therefore, should be literally conveyed by the word "husband" (ἁνδρις from ἁνἡρ). The meaning of such a name is perfectly revealed in the biblical narrative that precedes it about the creation of the first wife from the rib of the husband, which gives full reason to consider the wife as part of the husband himself. The more particular details of this narrative even more closely define both the very nature of the wife and the essence of their mutual relationship with her husband. So, first of all, the very motive for creating a wife attracts attention: for a man, there was no helper like him from among all living beings created by God and brought to Adam (2, 20). Consequently, the wife, created to fill this gap, is interpreted here as the closest assistant and collaborator of her husband, similar to him in everything, from the side of her physical, mental and moral qualities; however, only similar, and not identical with it, which establishes the individuality of sexual differences, which is reflected in each of the three above-mentioned areas. In the same way, the wife is called here only a helper, and not a boss, and not even an equal comrade, which clearly determines her position dependent on her husband, which becomes even more pronounced after the fall (3, 16).

But the very fact of the creation of a wife from the rib of her husband is especially significant, serving as the basis for a number of important and great truths. On it, as on its second foundation (the first is the creation of Adam), first of all, the truth of the unity of the human race is affirmed: the wife, created from the being of the first man, was the first clear example of the fact that all people descended from one person. Secondly, the creation of a wife from the rib of her husband indicated the physiological and, at the same time, the spiritual and moral basis for their closest union, in particular for that mutual attraction of the two sexes to each other, which is usually called love. Finally, the final act of the creation of the first wife - bringing her by God to Adam and the latter's confession on this occasion - are the main biblical basis for the sacrament of marriage, which was later pointed out by Christ the Savior himself (Matt. 19, 4-6). See Marriage for details.

From the subsequent history of Eve, the Bible notes two more important facts: this was her initial violation of the heavenly commandment and the inclination of her husband to the same, and the divine sentence on the fallen wife, which announced to her the torments of childbearing. But we already had a discussion about them in their place (see the Fall of the Ancestors).

The image of the historical Eve, following the example of most of the Old Testament personalities, in the New Testament also received a transformative meaning. Thus, for example, the very process of creating Eve from Adam's rib gave rise to the patristic analogy depicting the birth of the Church from the perforated rib of the Savior (John 19:34). But all this does not in the least deny the historical character behind the very facts of biblical primary history, which have always been understood and interpreted in their direct and literal sense (1 Cor. 11-9; Eph. 5.23; 1 Tim. 2, 12-13; Col. 3, 18-19, etc.).

Hence all attempts, both by the ancients (Origen, the Gnostics) and especially by the new theologians (Reuss, Wellhausen, and other rationalists) to reinterpret the biblical story in the sense of a poetic allegory, or in the sense of a primitive myth, are already untenable at their very starting point: they rape direct, positive meaning of the text, break any connection between the previous one and the next, open the door to complete arbitrariness in the view of what should stand firmly and unshakably, in a word, they deny the reasonable meaning of the entire Old Testament history arising from these facts.

As for, finally, the undoubted and often quite close relationship of the biblical narrative with similar myths of antiquity, we see evidence in this per, but not againstin Bible. All these fantastic tales, varying around the same theme, clearly prove by the very fact of their existence that they arose on the same historical canvas, on which the individual fantasy of each people wove only its own subjective patterns; but the inner essence of all of them is one and the same, precisely the same that Revelation has preserved for us intact and pure.

Literature. Hummelauer - "Genesis", Parisiis 1859. Vigouroux "La Bible et les decouvertes modenes" II, II. Palis in "Dictionnaire de la Bible" Vigouroux XV, 1899. A. B. Pokrovsky "The Biblical Teaching on Primitive Religion", 1901.

* Pokrovsky Alexander Ivanovich,
Master of Theology, Lecturer
Moscow Theological Seminary.

Text source: Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia. Volume 5, pillar. 164. Edition Petrograd. Supplement to the spiritual journal "The Wanderer" for 1904

Frank S. L. The soul of man. M., 1917; 2nd ed. Paris: YMCA, 1964.

His own. On the nature of spiritual life. - In the book: S. L. Frank. On the other side of right and left. Paris: YMCA, 1972.

Shiltov A. On the immortality of the soul. M., 1898 (author - Russian physician and religious writer).

Erdminn B. Scientific hypotheses about the soul and body / Per. with him. M., 1911.

Yampolsky S. (B. S. Bakulin). Eschatology. 1972 (typescript).

6. PROBLEMS OF EVIL, FREEDOM AND ORIGINAL SIN

Averintsev S. S. Theodicy. - In the book: Philosophical Encyclopedia. T. 5. M., 1970.

AI Leibniz's doctrine of the origin and essence of evil. - "Faith and Reason". 1905. Nom. 2.

Bugrov A. Orthodox teaching about original sin. Kyiv, 1904 (authored Orthodox writer).

Butkevich T., prot. Evil, its essence and origin. Kharkov, 1897.

Vvedensky D. Teaching of the Old Testament about sin. Serg. Pos., 1901 (author Orthodox biblical scholar and theologian).

Veltistov V. Sin, its origin, essence and consequences. M., 1885

(author - Orthodox theologian).

Volzhsky A. S. (Glinka). The problem of evil in Vl. Solovyov - "Issues of Religion", V. 1. 1906 (author - religious publicist).

Vysheslavtsev V. The Myth of the Fall. - "Path". Paris, 1932. Nom. 36.

Gutwerlet K. Free will and its opponents / Per. with him. M., 1906.

Kremlin A. Original sin according to the teachings of Bliss. Augustine of Hippo. SPb., 1902.

Levitsky S. A. The Tragedy of Freedom. Frankfurt am Main, 1958.

Leibniz G. V. Theodicy / Per. with him. - In the book: Faith and Reason. 1887-1888.

Lossky N. O. Freedom of will. Paris: YMCA, 1928.

Navil E. The problem of evil / Per. from fr. SPb., 1868.

Pokrovsky A. Biblical doctrine of primitive religion. Serg. Pos., 1901 (author - Orthodox theologian, biblical scholar and historian of the Church).

Solovyov I., prot. The teaching of the Orthodox Church about sin, its essence and origin. M., 1910.

7. DICTIONARIES AND REFERENCES

Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary T. 1-2, St. Petersburg, 1912.

Orthodox theological encyclopedia. T. 1 - 12 (the edition came out before the word "Constantinople"). SPb., 1904-1912.

Radlov E. Philosophical Dictionary. M., 1913.

Philosophical Encyclopedia. T. 1-5, M., 1960-1970.

NOTE: A bibliography on primitive religion is given in Volume 2 - "Magism and Monotheism".

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Antinomy is a paradoxical statement that goes beyond formal logic.

Anthropogenesis is the origin of man. In the narrow sense of the word, the emergence of Homo Sapiens (Homo sapiens).

Anthropoids are great apes.

Apophatic theology is the doctrine of God, which determines that He is not.

The biosphere is the world of living beings inhabiting the Earth.

Gene pool - a set of genes - material carriers of heredity.

Gnoseology is the science of cognition, its ways, possibilities and limits.

Demiurge - literally: master, creator; in Greek philosophy - the designation of the Deity, which creates the world from the eternal Matter.

Determinism is the causal conditionality of phenomena.

Discursive cognition is a rational way of cognition.

DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid, the main component of genes.

Information is a measure of organization.

Convergence - convergence, unification, rapprochement.

Creationism is the doctrine of the creation of every species by God.

Logos is a Greek term meaning word, thought, cosmic Mind and Law. In Christian theology - the Face of the Triune God, turned to the world, to creation.

Monism is the doctrine of the unity of all things.

The noosphere is a synonym for humanity, introduced by V. I. Vernadsky.

Ontogenesis is the individual biological development of an individual.

A relic is a remnant, a relic.

The singular state of matter is the state of matter, once concentrated at a single point, according to the theory of the "expanding Universe".

Teleology is the doctrine of pre-established expediency.

Transformism is the doctrine of changes in organisms.

The transcendent is beyond being. Divine.

Phylogeny is the origin of species.

Charisma is inspiration from above.

Chiliasm is the doctrine of the Millennium Kingdom of God on Earth at the end of history.

Paganism - (from the Slavic "languages", "peoples", the equivalent of the Hebrew "goim") religions of the non-biblical world. One of the main forms of paganism (but not the only one) was polytheism, or polytheism. Islam, as having grown up on the soil of the "faith of Abraham", does not belong to paganism.

Pokrovsky A. Biblical Doctrine of Primitive Religion: An Experience of Biblical Apologetic Research. [Sergiev Posad]: Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, own printing house, 1901. , VIII, LX, 457, II p. 21.2 x 15.1 cm. Master's thesis, autographed copy. In modern semi-leather binding. Very good preservation. On the title page is the author's autograph: "To the deeply respected Pyotr Ivanovich Kazansky from the author on 19 17/XII 00"; Owner's stamps of the library of P.I.Kazansky.

Alexander Ivanovich Pokrovsky (1873-1940) - religious scholar, professor of biblical history at the Moscow Theological Academy, assistant professor of church history at Moscow University. Edited the "Theological Bulletin"; was the author of articles in the "Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia", wrote comments on chapters 1-25 of the book of Genesis and on the 2nd part of the book of Exodus. Soon after defending his master's thesis, he was forced to leave the academy. In the 1920s, he joined the church movement of the Renovationists. AI Pokrovsky defended the importance of Oriental studies in biblical studies, his method consisted in textual and linguistic comparison of sacred texts and their translations, and criticized historical evolutionism.

Master's thesis by A.I. Pokrovsky “Biblical teaching about primitive religion. Experience of Biblical Apologetic Research” was defended in 1900 and published as a separate edition in 1901. In it, A.I. Pokrovsky argues with contemporary positivist concepts of the evolutionary development of religions from primitive polytheistic beliefs to monotheistic religions and the replacement of religion with scientific knowledge. The theologian proves the existence of pra-monotheism, that is, that the first people before paganism believed in a single god, strove for spiritual communion with him, and only later deviated into paganism. Thus, according to the researcher, the original biblical Judaism, with its set of moral norms and cult, was the religious basis for all primitive cultures.

The author seeks to refute the key ideas of positivism and, above all, the theory of progress, as not sufficiently confirmed by facts. He gives convincing historical examples of the degeneration of some Eastern and American cultures. In his research, AI Pokrovsky uses the texts of the Bible as a source, offering his own interpretation of the first chapters of Genesis. To reinforce the theory put forward, the theologian also uses the data of modern humanities and natural sciences. The main pathos of the work is the assertion of close ties and harmonious interaction between knowledge and faith, as well as the origin of the Bible as a result of divine revelation.

According to the author, the Bible is the only completely reliable source of ancient beliefs, since the data of the "exact" sciences, such as archeology, paleontology, anthropology, etc., are not reliable and can be interpreted in different ways. The researcher made a positive contribution to biblical studies, since he comprehensively studied the problem of reflecting information about primitive religions in biblical sources and proposed an interesting cultural theory of the development of religions. In his research, the author uses various translations of the Bible, including the ancient Hebrew original, Greek and Slavic translations, establishing more accurate semantic meanings of the text using a comparative method. This philological work with translations deserves the most attention.

Petr Ivanovich Kazansky (1838 - 1913) teacher at the Moscow Theological Academy, master of biblical history, writer. He taught moral theology together with pedagogy at the academy, and then the history of philosophy. Senior colleague of A.I. Pokrovsky.

Modern and primitive religions are the belief of mankind that some higher forces control not only people, but also various processes in the Universe. This is especially true of ancient cults, since at that time the development of science was weak. Man could not explain this or that phenomenon in any other way, except for divine intervention. Often, such an approach to understanding the world led to tragic consequences (the Inquisition, the burning of scientists at the stake, and so on).

There was also a period of compulsion. If the belief was not accepted by a person, then he was tortured and tortured until he changed his point of view. Today, the choice of religion is free, people have the right to choose their own worldview.

What religion is the most ancient?

The emergence of primitive religions dates back to a long period, about 40-30 thousand years ago. But which belief came first? Scientists have different points of view on this. Some believe that this happened when people began to perceive each other's souls, others - with the appearance of witchcraft, others took the worship of animals or objects as a basis. But the very emergence of religion itself is a large complex of beliefs. It is difficult to give priority to any of them, since there is no necessary data. The information that archaeologists, researchers and historians receive is not enough.

It is impossible not to take into account the distribution of the first beliefs throughout the planet, which leads to the conclusion that attempts to search are unlawful. Each tribe that existed then had its own object for worship.

We can only say unequivocally that the first and subsequent basis of every religion is belief in the supernatural. However, it is expressed differently everywhere. Christians, for example, worship their God, who has no flesh but is omnipresent. It's supernatural. in turn, they plan their Gods out of wood. If they do not like something, then they can cut or pierce their patron with a needle. This is also supernatural. Therefore, every modern religion has its oldest "ancestor".

When did the first religion appear?

Initially, primitive religions and myths are closely intertwined. In modern times, it is impossible to find an interpretation of some events. The fact is that they tried to tell their descendants with the help of mythology, embellishing and / or expressing themselves too figuratively.

However, the question of when beliefs arise is still relevant today. Archaeologists claim that the first religions appeared after homo sapiens. The excavations, the burials of which date back to 80 thousand years ago, definitely indicate that he did not think about other worlds at all. People were just buried and that's it. There is no evidence that this process was accompanied by rituals.

Weapons, food and some household items (burials made 30-10 thousand years ago) are found in later graves. This means that people began to think of death as a long sleep. When a person wakes up, and this must happen, it is necessary that the essentials are next to him. People buried or burned took on an invisible ghostly form. They became kind of guardians of the family.

There was also a period without religions, but very little is known about it by modern scholars.

Reasons for the emergence of the first and subsequent religions

Primitive religions and their features are very similar to modern beliefs. Various religious cults for thousands of years acted in their own and state interests, exerting a psychological impact on the flock.

There are 4 main reasons for the emergence of ancient beliefs, and they are no different from modern ones:

1. Intelligence. A person needs an explanation for any event that occurs in his life. And if he cannot get it thanks to his knowledge, then he will certainly receive a justification for what he observes through supernatural intervention.
2. Psychology. Earthly life is finite, and there is no way to resist death, at least for the moment. Therefore, a person needs to be freed from the fear of dying. Thanks to religion, this can be done quite successfully.
3. Morality. There is no society that would exist without rules and prohibitions. It is difficult to punish anyone who violates them. It is much easier to scare and prevent these actions. If a person is afraid to do something bad, due to the fact that supernatural forces will punish him, then the number of violators will significantly decrease.
4. Politics. To maintain the stability of any state, ideological support is required. And only this or that belief is capable of rendering it.

Thus, the appearance of religions can be taken for granted, since there are more than enough reasons for this.

totemism

Types of religions of primitive man and their description should begin with totemism. Ancient people lived in groups. Most often these were families or their association. Alone, a person could not provide himself with everything necessary. This is how the cult of animal worship appeared. Societies hunted animals for food without which they could not live. And the appearance of totemism is quite logical. So humanity paid tribute to the means of subsistence.

So, totemism is the belief that one family is related by blood to some particular animal or natural phenomenon. In them, people saw patrons who helped, punished if necessary, resolved conflicts, and so on.

There are two features of totemism. First, each member of the tribe had a desire to outwardly resemble their animal. For example, some inhabitants of Africa, in order to look like a zebra or antelope, knocked out their lower teeth. Secondly, it was impossible to eat if you did not follow the ritual.

The modern descendant of totemism is Hinduism. Here, some animals, most often the cow, are sacred.

Fetishism

Primitive religions cannot be considered unless fetishism is taken into account. It was the belief that some things have supernatural properties. Various objects were worshiped, passed from parents to children, always kept at hand, and so on.

Fetishism is often compared to magic. However, if it is present, it is in a more complex form. Magic helped to have an additional effect on some phenomenon, but did not affect its occurrence in any way.

Another feature of fetishism is that objects were not worshipped. They were respected and treated with respect.

Magic and religion

Primitive religions were not without the participation of magic. It is a set of ceremonies and rituals, after which, it was believed, it became possible to control some events, to influence them in every possible way. Many hunters performed various ritual dances that made the process of finding and killing the beast more successful.

Despite the seeming impossibility of magic, it was she who formed the basis of most modern religions as a common element. For example, there is a belief that a rite or ritual (the sacrament of baptism, a funeral service, and so on) has supernatural power. But it is also considered in a separate form, different from all beliefs. People tell fortunes on cards, call on spirits, or do everything to see dead ancestors.

Animism

Primitive religions did not do without the participation of the human soul. Ancient people thought about such concepts as death, sleep, experience, and so on. As a result of such reflections, the belief that everyone has a soul appeared. Later it was supplemented by the fact that only bodies die. The soul passes into another shell or exists independently in a separate other world. This is how animism appears, which is the belief in spirits, and it does not matter whether they refer to a person, an animal or a plant.

A feature of this religion was that the soul could live indefinitely. After the body died, it broke out and calmly continued its existence, only in a different form.

Animism is also the ancestor of most modern religions. Ideas about immortal souls, gods and demons - all this is its basis. But animism also exists separately, in spiritualisms, belief in ghosts, essences, and so on.

shamanism

It is impossible to consider primitive religions without singling out the clergy. This is most acutely seen in shamanism. As an independent religion, it appears much later than those discussed above, and represents the belief that an intermediary (shaman) can communicate with spirits. Sometimes these spirits were evil, but more often they were kind, giving advice. Shamans often became leaders of tribes or communities, because people understood that they were associated with supernatural forces. Therefore, if something happens, they will be able to protect them better than some kind of king or khan, who can only do natural movements (weapons, troops, and so on).

Elements of shamanism are present in virtually all modern religions. Believers especially treat priests, mullahs or other worshipers, believing that they are under the direct influence of higher powers.

Unpopular primitive religious beliefs

The types of primitive religions need to be supplemented with some beliefs that are not as popular as totemism or, for example, magic. Among them is the agricultural cult. The primitive people who led agriculture worshiped the gods of various cultures, as well as the earth itself. There were, for example, patrons of corn, beans, and so on.

The agricultural cult is well represented in today's Christianity. Here the Mother of God is represented as the patroness of bread, George - agriculture, the prophet Elijah - rain and thunder, and so on.

Thus, the primitive forms of religion cannot be considered briefly. Every ancient belief exists to this day, even though it has actually lost its face. Rites and sacraments, rituals and amulets - all these are parts of the faith of primitive man. And it is impossible in modern times to find a religion that would not have a strong direct connection with the most ancient cults.

The biblical teaching about the primitive state of paradise and then the fall of man is a link between the Old Testament and New Testament teachings. The doctrine of redemption is also based on it.

Science has no data on the original life of man. According to the remarkable expression of the famous French anthropologist Catrfages: “Neither experience nor observation gives us the slightest facts about the first beginning of the human race. Rigorous science must therefore leave this problem untouched. The one who admits his ignorance in this case is less removed from the truth than the one who is not aware of it and tries to impose it on others.

The only indirect proofs of the correctness of the biblical teaching on this issue are the most ancient traditions of different peoples about the primitive times of the human race. A comparative study of these traditions leads us to assume one common source of them - the reality in the past of the "golden age" or paradise.

Vague traditions about paradise and its loss through the fall are found among the Assyrian-Babylonian peoples, Persians, Chinese, Hindus, Egyptians, ancient Greeks, Romans, etc. In a word, the biblical teaching about the primitive state of man is not alone. . Various versions of this doctrine are found in the traditions of the peoples of Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and America (in Mexico, Paraguay and others). How can we explain this wonderful mutual agreement of the traditions of different peoples about the original state and the fall of man? The only explanation can only be the historical reality of paradise and its loss through the fall.

The biblical doctrine of the primitive state of man embraces: a) the state of man before the fall; b) the first times after the fall. According to the image of the Book of Genesis, the first people before the fall were in exceptionally favorable conditions for physical, mental, and especially religious and moral perfection.

Physically, they were free from sorrow, sickness, and death. Mentally, they had great creative abilities, since they were created in the image and likeness of God and had to develop their abilities in order to rule over all the earth. As for the religious and moral state of the first people, it was a state of high grace and bliss. Their main blessedness consisted in direct personal communion with God. Their worship of God had the character of childish devotion to God; their virtue consisted in the faithful keeping of the commandments of God.

The abundant grace that poured out on them did not destroy their personal freedom, this greatest of all blessings given to them, making them truly god-like. Personal complete freedom, not limited, but only protected by the prohibition not to eat the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, created two opportunities for them: 1) to grow spiritually and strengthen through personal self-active moral perfection; 2) to fall morally, violating the good and perfect will of God.

The first people (Eve, who obeyed the flattery of the serpent more than the righteous law of God, and Adam, who obeyed the words of his wife more than the words of God) transgressed the will of God, fell morally, and sinned. Sin destroyed the blissful and grace-filled harmony of the entire life of not only sinful people, but of the entire universe.

Expelled from paradise, the first people learned hard work in the fight against nature, illness, suffering and death. Spiritual forces began not to develop, but to fall. Vices and crimes appeared and began to multiply. Already the first steps of a man, outside the heavenly state, are spattered with fratricidal blood. Then came polygamy, wars, debauchery and new crimes. At the same time, external culture began to develop, cities began to be built, crafts appeared, technology, science, and arts began to develop. However, all this was only a crude surrogate for that free creativity of blissful and immortal people, which were the first people in paradise. This is the biblical picture of the primitive state of the human race.

A very important issue in the study of the primitive era is the question of the level of culture and civilization in this era. Were people at that time in a wild state or did they have a culture and civilization? This question, of course, should not be resolved from a materialistic point of view, recognizing only material values ​​and ignoring spiritual (religious and moral) values. From the Christian point of view, which recognizes the immortality of the soul in man, the highest values ​​are the religious and moral demands of the human spirit, that is, the spiritual aspects of culture. Material culture, or the so-called civilization of the people, consists in the possession of means that satisfy the needs and needs of earthly life, and also make it pleasant, easy and convenient from the outside. For these purposes, of course, a certain range of theoretical scientific and practical, technical and industrial knowledge is needed.

But besides materialistic civilization, progress that depends on the development of technology for exploiting the forces of nature for the benefit of man, there is also the spiritual culture of mankind, which manifests itself in the religious and moral life of the people and leads to the spiritual and moral ennoblement of the human person.

Both material and spiritual cultures have their own special tasks and are inextricably linked with each other. So, where there is harmony between them to one degree or another, there is a normal development of the people. However, as the history of culture testifies, such harmony is quite rare; for the most part, in the life of peoples, now one direction, then another, that is, now more material, now more spiritual, predominates. Therefore, along with a highly developed material culture, savagery and barbarism in moral terms can manifest itself.

After what has been said, let us turn to the consideration of the life of people of the primitive era. The first people after the fall had to achieve the satisfaction of their worldly needs through hard work and struggle with the elemental forces of nature. The struggle for existence contributed to the development of material civilization. Based on the Bible, it can be assumed that among the descendants of Cain (Cainites), already in the seventh generation after Adam, material civilization reached a significant height (the use of metals); on the contrary, the non-Cainite tribes (descended from Seth) at first developed more spiritual culture. The more different tribes multiplied and settled in different parts of the earth, separated from each other, the more they began to differ in the degree and nature of their cultures.

The so-called prehistoric epoch of mankind lends itself extremely little to scientific historical research. It is interesting to note that both science and the Bible equally recognize Asia as the cradle of the human race.

Further, science believes that the initial period in the gradual development of human civilization was the so-called "Stone Age", when tools were made of stone. This does not contradict the Bible, which, as mentioned above, mentions the use of metal tools only in a later (approximately seventh) generation of the human race.

Some scholars make the assumption that the biblical Tubalkain (blacksmith from Tubal) was the ancestor of the Turanian tribe, who achieved success in metal technology very early.

Based on the ancient Eastern, especially Egyptian and Assyro-Babylonian cultural monuments that have survived to the present, it should be generally concluded that the Eastern peoples, who stood closer to the cradle of the human race, achieved the success of civilization much earlier than the Western peoples who migrated to the West, and that in general civilization began much earlier in the East than in the West.