Adam and Eve

Is there any reason to believe that Adam and Eve and their experience in the Garden of Eden are not fairy tales?

1. Jesus said they were real. Quoted in Matthew 19:4-5, Jesus cited the precedent of God joining Adam and Eve as a married couple during their time in the Garden of Eden. If Jesus truly was the Son of God and had access to God's knowledge of the truth, why would He cite a mythical story to make His point about marriage?

2. Scientists trace all humans back to one "Mitochondrial Eve" and one "Y-chromosomal Adam." Mitochondrial Eve is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. She is the woman from whom all people are descended in an unbroken line through their mothers. The Y-chromosomal Adam (Y-MRCA) is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor from whom all currently living humans are descended through an unbroken male line.

Scientists are quick to state their belief that these two ancient ancestors were not the only woman and man alive at that time, but they are the only two people whose DNA did not die out. While no evidence exists to suggest that these two human progenitors were a couple, the most recent research indicates that the time periods and regions in which they lived may have overlapped.  

I do not dispute that a population of the human species may have existed. What I believe, however, is that God chose one couple to serve as the prototypes from which the human race would descend to inhabit the earth. I believe this because I believe in God, and when God's involved, nothing happens by accident.

3. The conscience--the moral sense of right and wrong--is generally universal among humans. Scientific evidence indicates that animals don't feel guilt. 

Scientists agree that the conscience is a combination of biological instincts and socialization. The ability to distinguish right from wrong, empathize, and feel guilt is present in young children, suggesting it is innate rather than learned. 

Because Adam and Eve were human, they were wired for morality. According to the Bible account, Adam and Eve learned about good and evil. Humans have inherited the ability to feel guilt and shame, and Adam and Eve's experience set the moral pattern that has shaped the human conscience.

To be clear, science doesn't "disprove" the reality of Adam and Eve. It suggests that the story doesn't align with evolutionary models of a small founding population. Nevertheless, scientists are theorizing from limited evidence. No one knows for sure what happened in human evolution. I look at the same evidence and theorize that God guided the origins of the human family. Some choose to believe in random gene mutation and natural selection. I choose to believe in a Creator-God who designed and guided everything. One view is not more logical than another. It's ultimately a choice. My choice is God.

A belief in the account of Adam and Eve is important because their experience is one of the three pillars of God's Plan of Salvation: The Creation, The Fall, and the Atonement. Adam and Eve's transgression in the Garden introduced sin into the world. If sin didn't exist, there would be no need for a Savior. Because I choose to believe in Jesus Christ and His atonement, I choose to believe in Adam and Eve.