The Lilith Screenplay

Plot Outline of Lilith Screenplay

The Arthur has constructed a dramatic screenplay recounting tale of the early events in the garden of Eden, based on a list of probable events put forth by the arguments for Lilith’s legend in The Case for Lilith.   A summary of the screenplay is provided below.  A complete listing of the screenplay in standard industry format, is available here in PDF format.  

Sistine Chapel

Script begins in the Sistine Chapel with priest leading a group of children on a tour.  The Priest explains Michelangelo’s paintings to a tour group of children.  He reveals that the half-woman / half-serpent whom Michelangelo depicts tempting Eve is Lilith.  After a lot of troubled questions from a little girl, Priest says to understand Lilith and how she came to be, you have to go all the back to the start of the story.  (There is a bookend to this scene at the end of the script.)

 

 

Creation Event

Script goes back in time to 14 billion years ago to witness the creation Big Bang event.  The formation of time, energy, matter, stars, and galaxies, quasars, supernovas, and black holes are all covered, finishing with the creation of earth.  This script portion covering 10 billion years of history is nominally considered a 5 minute continuous piece of special effects.
 
  Throne Room of God

At the completion of the earth 4 billion years ago, the scene shifts to  God’s throne room.  There Lucifer leads God’s angels in worship of God over his glorious creation.  The scene of God’s worship is visualized like a majestic spiral galaxy rotating in space.  Radiant God and his majestic throne are at the center.  Star-like points of lights whom are the enumerable angels dance an orbit around God – singing and glorifying his name.  God reveals his plan for the next step in creation – man.  Lucifer rebels because of the angels proposed inferior position to man. Lucifer recruits 1/3 of angels for his rebellion.  In the ensuing battle Lucifer and his host are cast out of heaven into creation.

 
 

Earth’s Destruction

Lucifer and his angels  descend into creation (the universe) and crash a planet named Theia into the newly formed Earth.  The spirit of God descends into the chaos, and reforms the Earth with its new moon from the mess.  God creates the first life on earth.  The evolution of life over 4 billion years is then portrayed as told in the six days of creation in Genesis.

 

 

Creation of Adam and Lilith

At the culmination of creation God creates Adam and a female companion from the soil.  However, Satan erupts in a mist from the ground and preemptively animates the woman.  She becomes Lilith.  She is animated in the image of her father Lucifer, while Adam, who God had shielded from Satan’s defilement, is animated by the breath of God and made in God’s image.  Because Lilith is unfit for Adam, God states that he will condemn her to the abyss.  Adam intervenes on her behalf, saying she had done no sin.  God agrees to forgo punishment.  He blesses both Lilith and Adam, and tells them to fill the earth.  However, God declares that only through Adam’s heritage would Lilith inherit in their blessings.  She is defiant to this notion.

 
 

Lilith Tempts Adam

After some time, Lilith tempts Adam into rebelling against God.  She explains it was foolish for Adam to be a slave to God.  She summons a mist from the ground, like the one which animated her, which waters a tree of the garden.  This tree is transformed into the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Lilith tries to get Adam to eat, but he refuses.  As God approaches, Lilith flees the garden. God tells Adam that he would make for him a new helpmeet to replace Lilith, for she was more beast than human and unfit for him.  However, Adam wants to give her another chance, saying she had done no sin.  God agrees to Adam’s wishes, but warns Adam if he ever ate of the tree of knowledge of Good and evil, he would die.  God then orders Adam to judge  all the soulish animals He would bring before him, and to name them after their likeness.  He would bring Lilith too, and Adam was to name and judge her.  God then creates the tree of life by watering a tree of the garden with the living waters of God, thereby transforming it.  He commands Adam to give Lilith of the tree of Life when he meets her again.  God then summons all the beast of the field and Lilith to Adam, so that he might name and judge them.

 
 

Lilith Eats of the Tree of Life and Rejects Adam

Lilith tarries in answering God’s summons.  Three angels are dispatch to bring her to Adam.  Wishing to put an end to things, she agrees and return.  She returns to Adam at twilight.  He declares to her she had tarried, and arrived in the liyal (darkness), plus he had always perceived a certain darkness about her.  Therefore he names her Lilith (before her name was Adamah).  Lilith happily eats of the tree of Life that Adam offers her, for she wishes to obtain immortality.  After eating she rejects Adam, refusing to submit to him.  With eternal life, she proclaims she no longer has need of God or Adam.  Adam begins to use his supernatural power to force Lilith to kneel and submit to him.  She struggles against his power.  As God approaches, she utterly rebels.  She shouts the ineffable name of God, evoking its power.  A strange transformation overtakes her because of the holy living waters she has consumed.  She exclaims in pain over her belly.  She sprouts wings like her father Lucifer and flees the garden.  Adam is finally ready for his replacement mate.

 
 

Creation of Eve

God decides to make for Adam a replacement helpmate using Adam himself as the source material.  Adam is put into a deep sleep, and Eve is created from a portion of his side.  Adam awakes to find a helpmeet in his own image and exclaims, “At long last.   This is the one.”  Adam and  Eve begin their life together in the garden.  They entertain themselves by watching a “soccer” game between lions.   They build a beautiful house via ingenious methods.  The angels marvel at man’s art and creativity.

 
 

Lilith Tempts Eve

Scene works well.  Script leverages literal reading of bible with the idea that Eve saw that the tree was 1) good for food, 2) made one beautiful (correction to KJV translation “was beautiful”), and 3) made one wise.  Thus, first Lilith eats the forbidden fruit in view of Eve, demonstrating it is not poisonous and good for food.  Second, Lilith uses the glamour of Lucifer to appear as a beautiful creature of Light, promising Eve she would become the same if she ate.  Thirdly, Lilith demonstrates god-like powers by faking the resurrection of a dead bird.  In reality this bird is just temporarily animated by an indwelling demonic spirit. Finally, Lilith argues to Eve the notion that the knowledge of good and evil is good, because it would allow Eve to discern evil and correct it as Lilith did when she resurrected the bird.  Eve succumbs and eats.  She is instantly remorseful.

 

Adam Chooses Eve over God

Eve flees to Adam.  When he sees Eve’s devastated condition, he immediately recognizes disaster has occurred (I follow Milton and Timothy in asserting that Adam was not deceived).  Adam is unable to even touch Eve in her fallen condition.  Adam goes to pray in order that God’s decree of death be lifted against Eve.  Neither God or the angels respond to Adam’s call.  But the holy spirit of God within Adam speaks to him.  It tells him that God would make for Adam yet another mate.  Adam is crestfallen and refuses such an offer.  Hechooses to join Eve by eating of the fruit voluntarily.  After he does, Lilith is joyous with victory.  She condemns the two, exclaiming that they were both naked and cursed to death.  

 

God Returns

God returns and finds Adam and Eve hiding at the clearing with the two trees.  He kills a lamb, strips it of its skins, and hangs it in the tree of knowledge, foreshadowing messiah, so that they might be clothed and stand before him.  God announces Adam is now married to Eve, and has chosen her over God.  God also announces to Eve that she will have revenge against Lilith.  Her seed shall crush Lilith’s seed.  God forces Lilith to bow to the ground and eat dust.  She is further transformed at this point into a much uglier creature, more beast than human.  She rages against God to keep his word that Adam and Eve should die that very day.  But God refuses.  God departs, setting the tree of knowledge with the hanging lamb on fire.  God stations two cherubim to with flaming swords to guard the entrance to  Eden.  Eve flees as Lilith begins fighting the angels.  Adam soon departs also.  One of the angels is grievously wounded and calls upon Michael for help.  A host of angels appears, and Lilith finally relents.  She pursues after Adam, and overtakes him in the Euphrates.  There she begins to drown, beat, and kill him.  Her hands burn from hitting the lamb skin covering him.  Eve sees the fight from a distance, prays to God to save her man.  The slain lamb rises, aflame from the angels’ swords, and enters the waters, dissolving into them.  Lilith becomes deathly ill.  Her eyes turn yellow, her stomach bloats, her skin looks as if it rots.  She leaves Adam and flees from the waters.  Adam exits, most of his wounds are miraculously healed.  He lies besides Eve on the banks.  Neither says a word.

 

 

Death of Adam

Script skips forward many years to Adam’s death.  There is tent city of  his family.  By this point hundreds and thousands in number.  Adam is cursed with old age.  But Eve is still as young as at her creation.  As Adam lies dying on his bed, a disfigured Lilith floats before him, ready to take his soul.  No one else sees her.  She is as a ghost.  Eve cries over the dying Adam that it was all her fault.   Adam responds to Eve, “You have always been a blessing to me.”Adam dies.  Eve cries out that she doesn’t want to live.  Her hair is suddenly grey, her aging has begun.  In a panic, her sons look to bury Adam by Abel, whom Cain slew.  But they find that Abel’s body is gone.  When they return, Adam’s body has been taken by Angels into the heavens.  With him is another man.  The sons see this and wonder.  Eve, suddenly grown old and near death in a single night, looks and whispers “Abel” before dying.

 
 

Earth Orbit – Present Day

The WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) space telescope peers deep into space.  We follow its transmission down to earth.  An astronomer receives the information in his office in Rome.  It is the WMAP picture of the Big Bang creation event.  The little girl from the opening scene bursts into his office.  She exclaims to her grandfather how she had earlier witnessed “how the universe was created and everything began”.  She asks what he had done that day.   Holding the WMAP picture, he says, “The same thing”.