Myth Busters - Adam's Apple?

None of us like to be taken on a ride, hoodwinked, bamboozled, or simply mistaken about the things we believe. But how do we really know? There’s hope! Every month we will take a look at one belief that is commonly held to be Biblical but is not. We will investigate where the myth comes from and learn what the Bible really says about the subject. Sometimes the myths dealt with will be fun, sometimes profound; but always eye-opening!

Let’s get started… We’ve all heard about Adam and Eve’s apple in the Garden of Eden, right? The story is a timeless lesson in temptation, choices and leadership. The question we have is this - how do we know it was an apple that Eve ate and then offered to Adam?

Looking it up in the Bible (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-7), we find that it does not say what kind of tree bore the forbidden fruit. The tree was known merely as the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil". Nowhere in this passage or any other passage of scripture does an apple play a role in the first temptation and sin of mankind. Even the apocryphal scriptures (books written long ago but not accepted into the Bible) say nothing about an apple.

Where does this belief come from if not from the Bible? It seems that the origin of this myth is found in artistic renderings of the event. Hieronymus Bosch (1504), Albrecht Dürer (1507), Jan Gossaert (1520), Titian (1550), and Tintoretto (1550), among others all painted renditions of this story using apples. In all fairness, as an artist painting a scene described in the Bible, you have to take certain liberties. If things are not clearly described, you must make them up. It is very difficult to paint the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil without having a particular tree in mind!

Apparently, these and other artists’ paintings have sunk into our consciences to the point where we speak of Adam’s apple. So what do we learn? It could have been an apple tree, but it also could have been an orange, pear, banana or plum tree... (I personally think Adam would not have fallen for anything less than a papaya!) The traditional apple tree cannot be proven, thus it must be a myth!

“So, what’s the big deal?”, you might ask, “this myth is trivial!” And you would be right. However, the fact that so many people can believe something that may not be true is dangerous! What if there are other, more important beliefs, that we don’t know are false? There are many, and next month we’ll look at one. Stay tuned!