The article explores the drama «Eve» by Sixt Birck (ca. 1501-1554), a German humanist and writer of the Reformation era. Based on a legend retold by Melanchthon in the letter to John von Wiede in 1539, this drama tells the story of the establishment of social order and areas of responsibility between the church, secular power and women. The key idea is the need for education, since uneducated people cannot know the true God, whereas enlightenment brings Him closer. Birck shows that the cause of Cain's rebellion was precisely the neglect of knowledge. Thus, the text is a warning to contemporaries. At the same time, Birck offers in his play a certain minimum of knowledge that he considers necessary for future ministers of the church and state. Apparently, this is the catechism, Latin and rhetoric. And the play aims at learning of them. However, the 1547 edition also includes the original source from Melanchthon and a poem in Greek, which also, in our opinion, aims to develop some of the students' abilities, namely critical thinking (verifi cation of texts), the ability to judge poetics and, of course, knowledge Greek Thus, «Eva» Birka is a kind of apology and tool for a humanistic-protestant educational project.