From the New York Times bestselling author of Walking the Bible comes a revelatory journey across time and space to explore the power of the Adam and Eve story to shape our deepest notions of love, duty, morality and family ThestoryofAdamandEvehasstoodatthecenterofeveryconversationabout menandwomeninWesterncivilizationforthelast3,000years.Ithasbeenbotha sourceofdivisionbetweenthesexesandamodelforhowrelationshipscan survivetemptation, transgression, loss, andpain.Forsomethisstoryismere fantasy, andforothersit'safact.Butforallofus, thestoryoftheBible'sfirst couplehasshapedhowwelivetoday. Fromtheauthorofthebestselling Walking the Bible, The First Love Story tracesthelegacyofthemostfamouscoupleinhistorytoanswerthequestion: Are AdamandEvemerelythecauseofsin, degradation, andmistrustbetweenthe sexes, ormighttheybeasourceofunityandresilience--andevenperhaps inspirationforourrelationships? Travelingacrosstheglobeandthroughhistory, fromarchaeologicaldigsin Israelandawomen'srightsprotestattheWesternWall, tothesupposedsightof theGardenofEdeninmodern-dayIraqandtheLondonofMilton'sParadise Lost, BruceFeilerexamineshowourlovelife, oursexlife, ourdomesticlife, andour spirituallifeareinextricablylinkedtothefirstpagesoftheBible.Whetherwe're debatingequalpay, thechorewars, thesinfulnessofsex, orthenatureof marriage, weareinfluencedtoanastonishingdegreebywhathappenedin GenesisbetweenAdamandEve, Godandtheserpent--andhowcenturiesof religiousleadersinterpretedormanipulatedtheseeventstopreservetheirpower. Buttheirstorydoesnotmerelydemonstratesomethingaboutwhoweare, it alsogiftsuswithpracticalwisdomabouthowwemightliveourlives.Bruce Feiler'sbookrevealsthatthefirstmanandthefirstwomanmatterbecausethey introducedtheideaofloveintotheworld, andtheirenduringloveprovidesa roadmapforhowwecanperseveretogetherandfightofftheforcesofalienation andselfishnessthatrisktearingusapart.

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