Drawing from a wide range of sources--from biology and archaeology to mythology and religion--a noted historian presents an innovative approach to history that begins with humankind's evolutionary heritage and ends with a radical interpretation of the sexual forces that shaped our culture.

In Eve's Seed, McElvaine bridges the gap between evolutionary biology and history to create a new approach he terms biohistory."--BOOK JACKET.

Drawing from a wide range of sources--from biology and archaeology to mythology and religion--a noted historian presents an innovative approach to history that begins with humankind's evolutionary heritage and ends with a radical interpretation of the sexual forces that shaped our culture.

Eve's Apple is the story of how one lady, Eve, contracted and spread the most fatal disease ever known to mankind as an act of her mind and will. The name of this disease is sin. This disease of sin is the root cause of all war, murder, stealing, lies, and every other known form of evil in the world. The result has been the death of every generation of mankind who has ever lived. "But wait a minute," you say. "I believe death is caused by old age or cancer, a heart attack, or some other physical problem or disease and not by some religious belief called sin." This is partly true. But what is the root cause of all known diseases? And if all known diseases result in death, isn't this just another way sin manifests itself? In addition to all these facts, I believe the story of Eve's apple defines the history of the human race. Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "There is no such thing as history, only biography." Well, if history is a collection of biographies, or stories, then this story of Eve's apple ranks among the most important of all. The story of Eve's apple began mankind's conflict with a good and evil in our world. This struggle by you and me and the rest of the human race has affected our world and history more than any other challenge in life. How mankind has chosen to struggle with this conflict has shaped the history of our world If the above reasons for Eve's importance to history and your life are not enough, may I suggest one more: contained in this story of Eve is the prophecy of God's answer to Eve's sin, which contains faith, hope, and love.

Eve gave up her belief in stories and magic after her mother's death, but a mysterious birthday present takes her and a boy who claims to be a ghost on a strange journey, to where their supposedly cursed town flourishes.

This book is a lively exploration of the amazing revelation known to Mormons as the “Word of Wisdom.” It counsels us how and what we should eat to reach our highest potential, both physically and spiritually. New and surprising insights are presented through the perspective of what has been proven to be the healthiest human diet, a way of eating supported both by history and by science: a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet. WFPB vegetarian diets have been scientifically proven to both prevent and cure chronic disease, help you achieve your maximum physical potential, and make it easy to reach and maintain your ideal weight. In this book, you’ll find the stories of dozens of people who are enjoying the blessings of following a Word of Wisdom diet, and you’ll get concrete advice on how to get started! You will discover: What we should and should not eat to enjoy maximum physical health. How food is intimately connected to our spiritual well being. Why Latter-day Saints are succumbing to the same chronic diseases as the rest of the population, despite not smoking, drinking, or doing drugs. How the Word of Wisdom was designed specifically for our day. How you can receive the “hidden treasures” and other blessings promised in the Word of Wisdom. Why eating the foods God has ordained for our use is better not just for our bodies, but for the animals and for the earth. You may think you know what the Word of Wisdom says, but you’ll be amazed at what you have missed. Learn why Mormons all over the world are “waking up” to the Word of Wisdom!

In Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance, John M. Riddle showed, through extraordinary scholarly sleuthing, that women from ancient Egyptian times to the fifteenth century had relied on an extensive pharmacopoeia of herbal abortifacients and contraceptives to regulate fertility. In Eve’s Herbs, Riddle explores a new question: If women once had access to effective means of birth control, why was this knowledge lost to them in modern times? Beginning with the testimony of a young woman brought before the Inquisition in France in 1320, Riddle asks what women knew about regulating fertility with herbs and shows how the new intellectual, religious, and legal climate of the early modern period tended to cast suspicion on women who employed “secret knowledge” to terminate or prevent pregnancy. Knowledge of the menstrual-regulating qualities of rue, pennyroyal, and other herbs was widespread through succeeding centuries among herbalists, apothecaries, doctors, and laywomen themselves, even as theologians and legal scholars began advancing the idea that the fetus was fully human from the moment of conception. Drawing on previously unavailable material, Riddle reaches a startling conclusion: while it did not persist in a form that was available to most women, ancient knowledge about herbs was not lost in modern times but survived in coded form. Persecuted as “witchcraft” in centuries past and prosecuted as a crime in our own time, the control of fertility by “Eve’s herbs” has been practiced by Western women since ancient times.

Encountering Eve's Afterlives: A New Reception Critical Approach to Genesis 2-4 aims to destabilize the persistently pessimistic framing of Eve as a highly negative symbol of femininity within Western culture by engaging with marginal, and even heretical, interpretations that focus on more positive aspects of her character. In doing so, this book questions the myth that orthodox, popular readings represent the 'true' meaning of the first woman's story, and explores the possibility that previously ignored or muted rewritings of Eve are in fact equally 'valid' interpretations of the biblical text. By staging encounters between the biblical Eve and re-writings of her story, particularly those that help to challenge the interpretative status quo, this book re-frames the first woman using three key themes from her story: sin, knowledge, and life. Thus, it considers how and why the image of Eve as a dangerous temptress has gained considerably more cultural currency than the equally viable pictures of her as a subversive wise woman or as a mourning mother. The book offers a re-evaluation of the meanings and the myths of Eve, deconstructing the dominance of her cultural incarnation as a predominantly flawed female, and reconstructing a more nuanced presentation of the first woman's role in the Bible and beyond.