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Summary
- Scripture does not say whether Adam and Eve went to heaven. Genesis records Adam’s death at 930 years and does not record Eve’s death (Genesis 5:5).
- Irenaeus of Lyons argued in the second century that Adam was saved, against Tatian, who denied it.
- Augustine wrote in AD 414 that almost the entire Church agreed Christ freed Adam from the realm of the dead, while admitting that no canonical text says so expressly.
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes an ancient Holy Saturday homily in which Christ goes to free Adam and Eve, though they are not on the Roman calendar of saints.
- The Orthodox Church commemorates Adam and Eve on the Sunday before the Nativity, and its Resurrection icon shows Christ pulling them from their tombs.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Genesis 3:12–13, 15, 19–21, 24; 4:1, 25; 5:5; Luke 3:38; Romans 5:12, 14; 1 Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 11:4; 1 Peter 3:19; 4:6; Ephesians 4:9) and the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (Wisdom 10:1–2). The count of Eve’s name is from the King James Version.
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, book 3, chapter 23, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103323.htm
- Augustine of Hippo, Letter 164, to Evodius (AD 414), in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 1. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102164.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 632–637. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1R.HTM
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 120, the list of the books of Scripture. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PR.HTM
- University of Notre Dame, FaithND, “Adam and Eve.” https://faith.nd.edu/saint/adam-and-eve/
- Orthodox Church in America, “Sunday before the Nativity.” https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2038/12/19/81-sunday-before-the-nativity
- Fr. Jeremy McKemy, explanation of the Resurrection icon, first published on Orthodox Road (December 2012), as excerpted by St. Volodymyr parish, “About the Icon of the Resurrection.” https://www.stvolodymyr.ca/parish-news-updates/about-the-icon-of-the-resurrection
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Genesis 3. https://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc1.Gen.iv.html
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 7, section 5. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
- The Apocalypse of Moses, chapters 5, 37 and 42, in R. H. Charles, ed., The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913). https://ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/apcmose.htm
- “Life of Adam and Eve,” Wikipedia, on the dating of the surviving versions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Adam_and_Eve
- “Biblical canon,” Wikipedia, on the deuterocanonical books in Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Bibles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon
- “Irenaeus” and “Matthew Henry,” Wikipedia, for dates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Henry
