Humanity Before Adam!

Introduction

Creationists claim that Adam and Eve are not just historical but the first humans to ever exist on the planet. There was no evolution. God made Adam and Eve de novo (from the beginning). The thesis of this article will challenge that hypothesis. The Bible tells us humans existed before the fall and this is consistent across both testaments. This article is a biblical, not scientifically influenced, discussion.

The Biblical Case

It is written, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created” (Gen 2:4, ESV). The word translated generations is Toledot (toledoth). This phrase "These are the generations of" has become known as the toledot formula (Leithart, 2017). The formula appears ten times in two types. Either at the beginning of a narrative (2:4) or in a genealogy (11:10). This is a formula that, “serves as a heading which marks a transition to a new subject… a connective heading that opens a new unit concerning a familiar figure and the descendants…” (Schwartz, 2016, P. 1-2). Without fail, the formula introduces a new subject or thing. Therefore, the formula used here indicates a new topic.

The implication is that God created Adam and Eve after he created humans in Gen 1:26-30. The humans referenced in Genesis 1 are not those in Genesis 2-3. Based on the formula, the view that Gen 2 zooms in on the 6th day cannot be maintained. It is not the 6th day but rather the 8th day.

There is further support for this view. Cain is worried that people will find him and kill him when it is written, “I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me” (4:14, ESV). Where did the wife of Cain come from and how did just he, his wife, and his son build a city? (4:18). The quotidian response is that Cain married his sister because God had to allow incest at the time. The text does not say that. It is a conjecture placed on the text. In contrast, the humans of Genesis One are described and therefore serve as the best explanation (thatchristiannerd, 2024).

Other Scriptures

It is written,

"So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven" (1 Cor 15:45-47, NET)

This passage calls Adam the first man. How could you be so rebellious as to deny God's word to support evolution? A literal interpretation of that phrase is unwarranted. One of the salient steps in biblical interpretation is the literary context. This is a hermeneutical principle whereby one interprets passages in light of the prior and succeeding verses (Grasping God's Word, 2020).

The literary context does not support the YEC view here. Notice the contrast between the first and second man. If he were proclaiming that Adam was the literal historical man, then Christ, based on the contrast, would have to be the second or last literal historical man. Paul tells us his goal when he does this compare and contrast between Adam and Christ when it is written, “Adam (who is a type of the coming one)” (Rom 5:14). Paul is concerned with typology and theology, not historicity or common descent. Furthermore, LeFebvre (2020) has argued that this verse sees Adam as a universal king rather than a first-ever human. Based on these factors, a literal interpretation is highly unwarranted. It is written,

"From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live…" (Acts 17:26).

Creationists claim this verse is evidence for their view. Many will say that this verse shows that every person descends from Adam and none other. Understanding this passage is not a matter of literal and not literal but rather scripture interpreting scripture.

Dr. Walton points out the same thing in his book on this subject. It is written, “These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread over the earth after the flood (Gen 10:32). Based on Paul's reference to the man and nations, he is alluding to Gen 10, not 2. He references Noah, not Adam. The passage cannot refer to Adam because the text does not credit him with fashioning nations.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the Bible teaches us that humans existed before and after Adam and Eve. Other interpretations of some of these passages do not account for the data and make interpretive mistakes. The subsequent article in this series will discuss whether or not Gen 3:20 shows that the Bible teaches a universal mother.

Sources:

Duval and Hays. (2020). Grasping God’s Word, Fourth Edition: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible. Zondervan Academic.

Image by Calvin Craig on Unsplash

LeFebvre, M. (2020). First human or first king? The introduction of adam in the eden narrative. BioLogos. Retrieved from

https://biologos.org/articles/first-human-or-first-king-the-introduction-of-adam-in-the-eden-nar rative

Leithart, P. (2017, September 5). Toledoth and the structure of Genesis. Theopolis Institute. https://theopolisinstitute.com/toledoth-and-the-structure-of-genesis/

Schwartz, S. (2016).Narrative Toledot Formulae in Genesis: The Case of Heaven and Earth, Noah, and Isaac. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Vol. 16, No. 8, P. 1-36. DOI:10.5508/jhs.2016.v16.a8 That Christian Nerd. (2024). Theology Talk #14: Where did Cains wife come from? Bible scholar responds! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrthfco3Vw

Walton. (2015). The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate. IVP.

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