Hello, my name is Mr. Robertson and I'm really excited to be teaching this lesson with you today.

Today's lesson comes from our unit with the inquiry question, Prophethood, how are Abrahamic faiths connected through prophets? In this unit of work, we are looking to understand how the great Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have both convergence and divergence in their idea and understanding and interpretation of prophets.

In this lesson, we're going to be focusing on the person of Adam and looking at his role in the story of creation.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain the diversity in the story and status of Adam across the Abrahamic religions, and I'm really excited about learning with you today.

We have three key words today and these words are going to be really critical to understand what we're talking about in this idea of prophethood.

So our first word is this ensoulment.

I'd like you to say that one with me please, ensoulment.

Our second key word is Genesis, and our third key word is Hadith.

You can see the definitions on the slides.

So in this lesson Adam and creation, we have two parts to the lesson.

The first part of our lesson is going to look at the story of creation in Genesis, and in the second part of the lesson we're going to discuss and analyse the status of Adam across the Abrahamic religions.

Let's begin our first learning cycle.

So this unit of work is a theology unit, but what do we mean by theology? Well, when we use the discipline of theology and religious education, we can look at different types of text and interpretations of them, which can lead to different meanings.

When we read them, we consider their origins and analyse what the author intended with the text, as well as how this might have altered over time.

So in this lesson, we're going to consider how different Christians, Jews, and Muslims have interpreted the story of Adam.

So theologians, let's begin.

So let's hear the story of Genesis 2, which is going to describe to us the story of creation and of Adam and Eve.

In the Bible it says, "Thus the heavens and the Earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day, God had finished the work he had been doing.

So on the seventh day, he rested from all his work.

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work that he had done." Let's just check our understanding of that part of the text.

Which of the following does Genesis 2 focus on? Is it A, the events of the seven days of creation? B, the creation of outer space, C, the reasons God had created the world, or D, the creation of Adam.

Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent work, theologians, it's the focus on the creation of Adam.

Now let's hear the second part of the reading where we hear a little bit more about the creation of Adam.

This is the account of the heavens and the Earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the Earth and the heavens.

"Now no shrub had yet appeared on the Earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the Earth and there was no one to work the ground." You could see an image of that barren land on your slides there.

"But streams came up from the Earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being." So there you heard about that breathing in that breathing of life is known as ensoulment, and it's that idea of ensoulment which makes humans different to all other creations in the Abrahamic traditions.

God, according to the story of Genesis, breathe life into Adam in a way which is a very different form of creation from other living creatures on the Earth according to the Abrahamic traditions.

So let's just check our understanding here.

Which of these makes Adam special in creation? Is it A, being created first makes Adam special in creation? Is it B, ensoulment makes Adam special in creation? Or C, performing miracles makes Adam special in creation.

Pause the video theologians and have a think.

Excellent thinking, it's B, ensoulment.

The breathing of life into Adam from God that makes Adam special in creation.

Okay, so we've heard about the idea of creation.

We've heard about the ensoulment of Adam.

Let's see what happens next.

"Now, the Lord God had planted a garden in east in Eden and there he put the man he had formed.

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

In the middle of the garden with a tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden to work it and take care of it.

And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it, you will certainly die.

'" You can see an image of a tree there and we can learn from that, that according to these texts, God filled Eden with plants and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And Adam was commanded not to eat from that tree.

Look at this painting here.

This is from a church, a mediaeval church in Spain.

You can see the images of Adam and Eve there.

Let's continue with the story from the text.

"The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make a helper suitable for him.

' Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky.

He brought them to the man to see what he would name them and whatever the man called each living creature that was its name.

So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam, no suitable helper was found.

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh.

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man and he brought her to the man." So another section of the Genesis text there, and in that section we hear about God creating animal companions for Adam and Adam naming them, but they were not suitable.

And so God created a woman from Adam's flesh, from Adam's rib in fact, and you can see at that painting the picture of Adam and Eve.

Let's check our understanding with this true or false question.

God thought animals were suitable companions for Adam.

Is that true or false? Pause the video theologians and have a think.

Good thinking, it's false, isn't it? Because God created woman to be Adam's companion because the animals were unsuitable.

So well listened if you've got that right.

So let's just pull together what we've heard so far in that Genesis story.

Adam is described in Genesis as the first human created.

The creation of Adam is unique as Adam had life breathed into him.

This is known as Ensoulment and this makes many followers of Abrahamic religions believe they are a special part of God's creation because only humans had ensoulment.

Look carefully here.

This is a very famous painting.

You may well have seen it before.

It's by an incredible artist called Michelangelo.

And in this painting we have the moment of the creation of Adam.

I wonder if you look carefully at this, what you notice that relates to the Genesis texts that we just read.

What connections can you make between the text about the creation of Adam and the amazing painting by Michelangelo and what stands out to you in this artwork? What do you think is particularly effective? Look really carefully at the image.

Can you see anything about the shapes that Michelangelo uses or the colours? You might want at this point to pause the video and talk to the person next to you or just have a think for yourself.

Well, I can hear some really interesting ideas.

You are really being art historians and thinking carefully here, aren't you? You might have said that the place that God and the angels are in looks like a human heart.

Look carefully at that.

Can you see? You can see the chambers of the heart, the veins at the top and inside the angels and God himself with a white beard and white gown.

You might also have noticed that Adam is naked whilst God is clothed.

What was Michelangelo thinking about there? What was he leaning into in comparison to the biblical texts? You might also have noticed that God is shown as a man.

Many traditions in Europe created God in an image of a white man with a beard.

But actually of course in the narratives, God does not have a gender, often, or is seen as beyond gender, but traditionally is represented in this way.

So thinking more about this painting, what might be the significance of this painting in relation to the creation story that we were hearing earlier? Well, the focus of this painting in many ways, the way our eyes are drawn together is this moment where the hand of Adam reaches out to the hand of God.

And you can see God kind of pointing, the energy of his body is leaning in towards Adam and Adam's hand is there ready to receive him.

You might have said that you can see that they're close together.

You might have thought that this implies a close connection between them.

This part of the painting is particularly famous because this is Michelangelo's interpretation of the idea of ensoulment and how important humans are in creation.

Remember, ensoulment means breathing life.

Michelangelo has taken that idea and used the two fingers of God and Adam to show the close relationship in creative terms between the divine and humanity.

Let's just check our understanding here.

Which part of the creation of Adam depicts the ensoulment of Adam? We've got three sections of the painting here.

Which one is the one that depicts this idea of ensoulment? Is it A, B or C? Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent thinking, theologians, it's C, isn't it? It's the moment of the two hands connecting which describes that idea of ensoulment, of the idea of the breathing of life.

So let's reflect on what we've learned so far.

We've read the text of Genesis which describes the importance about Adam.

We've also looked at the painting by Michelangelo and all of this helps us to understand the idea of ensoulment, the idea of breathing of life.

I'd like you to describe and explain what Genesis 2 tells us about the importance of Adam in creation.

I'd like you to use the concept of ensoulment and we've got some sentence starters here to help you.

The key events of the story in Genesis two are, Adam is important in creation because his role was to, and Adam's creation shows humans are important to God because.

Pause the video, complete these sentences.

If you want to write more, you can, that's fantastic, and we'll go through some answers soon.

Good luck, theologians.

Oh, I'm really excited to see what you've come up with.

So you might have said something like, the key events of the story in Genesis 2 are the creation of Adam and Eve once the world had already been made.

You might have gone on to say Adam is important in creation because of his role to name all of the living creatures that God had created.

And finally you might have said, Adam's creation shows humans were important to God because life was breathed into him by God.

This is called ensoulment and only happened to humans.

And at that point you might have referenced the text in Genesis and perhaps also the painting of Michelangelo, but well done theologians, if you've managed to construct an answer that understands the idea of ensoulment and the role of Adam in creation.

We're going to move on to the second part of our lesson now where we're going to analyse the status of Adam across Abrahamic religions.

So across all the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Adam is named as the first man.

The way God made Adam is described differently as we will see, but the key points of the creation stories are consistent.

So in lots of ways there's a lot of agreement and convergence between the three Abrahamic traditions and what they say about the creation of Adam.

We're going to think like theologians and interpret an extract from a Hadith to consider particularly the creation of Adam in Islam.

So a Hadith is a portion of Islamic text which describes the deeds of Muhammad or reflects on Islamic ideas.

It's separate to the Qur'an, which is seen by most Muslims as the literal word of God.

But Hadiths have grown up around and after the time of Mohammed, which gives more insight and wisdom into Islamic theology.

I'm going to read you this particular Hadith.

"Indeed Allah Most High created Adam from a handful that He took from all of the earth.

So the children of Adam come in according with the earth, some of them come red, and white and black, and between that, and the thin, the thick, the filthy and the clean." So here we have a Hadith describing a bit more about the creation of Adam.

I'd like you to think about this question.

According to this Hadith, how was Adam made by Allah? You might want to pause the video here and have a think, read the text really carefully and see what you might highlight.

Well done if you highlighted this part.

Indeed, Allah Most High created Adam from a handful that he took from all of the earth.

So in a similar way to the story in the Torah and Genesis, Adam is created from soil, but here we have a different word.

We have a handful from all the earth.

And so that implies that actually Adam's creation wasn't from one particular part of the earth but was actually from all of the earth, different parts of the earth from around the planet.

And that's really interesting because it's a very slight difference in the story, but that might have some really interesting theological implications.

So let's look at this next section.

So the children of Adam come in according with the earth, some of them come red and white and black.

And I wonder if we could consider this slightly trickier question.

What might the creation of Adam from soils of different colours tell us about diversity in Islam? So what might be the difference from Adam being created from just one soil like is implied in the Torah and the Bible and Adam being created from different soils which is implied within the Hadith? You might want to pause the video and have a think about this.

So you might have said that Adam is being described as being created from a handful of soil means that that is a combination of textures and colours.

Soil can look very different, can't it? In different parts of the country.

Some soils are quite red, some soils are quite dark.

And this might show that the descendants of Adam were intended to be diverse by Allah's design.

So rather than having one Adam created from a single part of soil, which might imply that there is one way in which a human might look, the Hadith is saying that in Islamic tradition, Adam can come from many parts of the earth and that's why we have such diversity amongst humans today and why humans have many different colours and shapes and sizes because that was part of Allah's design.

And so diversity is a really important part of the Islamic creation story.

It's really interesting what just this very short Hadith could teach us and make us understand about the way we interpret things.

Some Islamic scholars have noted this story in the Hadith and how it can challenge ideas of racism.

And they do that because Adam is described as being ensouled through a combination of diverse colour soils.

And as we are saying that suggests that diversity, looking different, being diverse is an important part of creation in Islam.

What do you think about this idea and why do you think that? Does it make a difference if Adam is created purely from one type of soil as in the story in the Bible and the Torah? Does it make a difference in this Hadith that Adam might be created from a combination of soils? Again, you might want to pause the video and talk to the person next to you about this.

Let's check our understanding here.

True or false? Adam's creation from different soils can be seen as a symbol against racism.

Is that true or is that false? Think about the Hadith we were just interpreting.

Excellent, theologians.

It's true, isn't it? And it's true because in the Hadith it said that Allah created Adam from different coloured soils, knowing his children would be diverse.

And this shows Allah's appreciation of different ethnicities.

Well done if you got that right.

A further point of divergence is this.

We have an image of Abraham here and in Jewish and Christian tradition, Abraham is seen as the first prophet.

He was the person who created a covenant between God and humans based on his commitment to believing in one God.

In the book of Genesis, Abraham is called a prophet.

And this is the first time the word is used in the Torah and the Christian Old Testament.

So let's just check our understanding here.

Who did Jews and Christians traditionally believe was the first prophet? Is it A, Adam, B, Moses, or C, Abraham? Pause the video and have a think.

Let's see if you're right, theologians.

Yes, it's C, Abraham.

Abraham for Jews and Christians is the first prophet.

That's the term used about him in the Torah and the Bible and that's the first time it's used.

Let's take this further.

So this is different in Islamic tradition where Adam is not only the first man, but he's also the first prophet.

In Islam, Adam was the first Muslim and he's seen as a prophet because he is an example for how to live.

For Muslims, Islam did not begin with the prophet Muhammad and the revelation of the Qur'an.

From an Islamic point of view, the world has always been Muslim.

So when the world was created, Adam was Muslim, but later texts created inaccuracies.

And so the prophet Muhammad comes as the final prophet to bring the final revelation.

But from an Islamic point of view, all of the prophets were Muslims and Adam is a Muslim.

Islamic prophets are chosen by Allah to lead and their examples provide Muslims with guidance for how to live.

Adam is recognised with the same level of respect as prophets such as Ibrahim and Musa or Abraham and Moses.

So this is quite a big difference between Islamic theology and Jewish and Christian theology.

Let's just check our understanding of this.

True or false? Muslims believe Adam was the first man and the first prophet.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think.

Good thinking, theologians.

It's true, isn't it? Why, because in Islam, Adam is regarded as a prophet and therefore shares that status with Ibrahim and Musa.

Well done if you got that correct.

Andeep explains his views on whether it matters that Adam is seen as a prophet in all Abrahamic faiths.

Andeep says, "I don't think it matters whether people of different faiths agree on specific things like a title because the story and the message are still the same and so we understand the teaching." What do you think about what Andeep is saying there? Do you agree or disagree with him? Does it matter whether things like a title like Adam being a prophet, is that important or is does it not matter that much because the message of the story is the same? I wonder if you'd like to talk to the person next to you or have a think about this, whether you agree or disagree, and most importantly, why do you have that view? Really interesting to hear your discussions and thoughts about that question.

Let's just check our understanding so far.

Which Abrahamic faith considers Adam a prophet? Is it A, Judaism, B, Christianity, or C, Islam? Pause the video and have a think.

Excellent, it's C, Islam, isn't it? Congratulations if you got that correct.

Okay, we've got two tasks now to reflect and think about all that we've learned in this lesson.

For our first task, I'd like you to do this.

I'd like you to create a table of similarities and differences showing Jewish, Christian and Muslim beliefs about creation.

So in the left hand column, I'd like you to think about similarities across Abrahamic faiths.

What ideas are shared in the creation story and the idea of the creation of Adam between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. In the right hand column, I'd like you to think about any differences that we've discussed where Islam has a different view than Judaism and Christianity.

Pause the video, have a go at filling in that table.

I'm looking forward to see what you do with it.

So what have you thought of? You might have said there are some similarities because humans were placed in a garden.

Adam was the first man.

That's an idea which is shared across both of the traditions, all of the traditions and humans were given free will.

Some differences in the story.

Adam was created of seven handfuls of soil.

That's a difference because in the first story we looked at, Adam was created purely from one type of soil.

And another big difference is that Adam is seen as a prophet in Islam, but as the first man only in Judaism and Christianity.

Well done if you got that right.

And for the second task, I'd like you to think about this.

Why might Jews and Christians and Muslims disagree about whether Adam is a prophet? You might want to think about this diagram which helps us understand these prophets in more detail.

We've said that prophets often overcome personal challenges, they have a strength of character, a commitment to the will of God or loyalty.

Thinking about what you've learned so far, why might Muslims view Adam as a prophet? You've got a sentence starter there.

Muslims may view Adam as a prophet because, and then let's put the counter argument.

However, Jews and Christians may disagree and say that, why might Jews and Christians disagree about whether Adam is a prophet? Pause the video theologians, have a go.

Looking forward to seeing what you've done.

Okay, so you might have said Muslims may view Adam as a prophet because Adam was chosen by God to be special amongst other humans.

And the story of creation can teach humans a lot about how God wants us to live, which fits with the nature of other prophets.

So actually Adam can be seen as prophet because he had ensoulment, he was seen as a special human and he could teach humans about how to live.

However, Jews and Christians may disagree and say there was no established Judaism, Christianity, or Islam as we know them until Abraham and he's the first prophet named in the Bible.

And so from a Jewish or Christian perspective, Abraham is the first prophet because it says that clearly in the Bible.

Whereas in Adam's time, the religious traditions have not begun.

But Muslims might disagree with this view because as we said earlier, Muslims may feel that some of the holy books like the Torah and the Bible contain inaccuracies and only the Qur'an is fully accurate.

And also, as we've said, Muslims might see Adam as the first Muslim and so therefore can have the role of prophet.

So well done, theologians, if you answered this question, you've started to think and interpret texts and you start to articulate reasons about why believers may say the things they do.

Let's sum up what we've learned today.

Adam is considered the first man by Jews and Christians and we see that in the book of Genesis and Muslims and we see that in the Qur'an and also the Hadith.

The creation story is largely the same in how it describes God's power and Adam's ensoulment, but there's divergence in the description of creating Adam.

Muslims consider Adam a prophet, whereas Jews and Christians do not.

And this is supported by the Hadith that we looked at.

So you've learned a lot today, theologians.

You've learned about the story of Adam.

You've seen how Muslims might regard Adam as a prophet whilst Jews and Christians do not.

So you can see that the idea of Adam is at once a point of connection between the three Abrahamic traditions, but it's also a point of divergence or difference.

Fantastic learning so far and I look forward to learning with you again.

Thank you very much.