Adam & Eve Weren’t the First Humans, According to Genesis?

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The Book of Genesis

One of the things we learn in biblical exegesis is that although the book of Genesis reads as history it also implements a wide array of literary elements of myth, allegory, metaphor, and symbolism. It is also unclear where to locate these forms. For instance, a reading of Genesis might suggest that Adam and Eve were historical people, that the Garden of Eden was a location, and that God really created the universe via physical forces, and that Cain, should we assume the trustworthiness of the tradition, really mercilessly murdered his brother in the farm fields.

Having studied Old Testament studies myself most scholars don’t actually think that Adam and Eve were actual historical people, or that there ever really was an actual location such as Eden. Rather, many would put down the first 11 or so chapters of Genesis down to mythology, a mythology that was of great significance to the author and for those he penned the account for. Similarly, most academics and experts don’t actually believe Moses penned the book of Genesis, but that it was rather a compilation of documents or traditions compiled by later authors writing within different traditions. As such, navigating Genesis is never going to be easy as its not always easy to demarcate where the likes of history, symbolism, and myth split, hence why biblical studies and interpretation shows much historical discussion and disagreement.

However, one can affirm that the author of Genesis clearly used a wide array of literary devices. Satan, as being represented in the form of a snake (Gen. 3:1-2), is symbolized as a seductive and narcissistic character. The tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17) is a symbol, and few, if any, scholars believe that there was an actual literal tree of good and evil. Eve being created from the rib of Adam (Gen. 2:22) is probably symbolic of some wider meaning, such as a woman being made for man and man being made for woman. In Genesis 2:7 we read of God forming man from the dust, which is not intended to be literal. And as is the case for a number of biblical characters, names denote a specific meaning. In Genesis, the name Eve means “The source of life” or “Mother of All Living”, and Adam simply means “man”. We are told, in an anthropomorphic use of language, that God “walks” in the garden where he placed Adam and Eve.

The point being that the early Genesis creation narrative is rife with literary devices and tools. To this end it is not always so easy to determine what constitutes actual history, what is conveyed as history but denotes something else, what is merely theological, or what is merely creative writing serving some theological purpose.

The Problem of Biblicism

The contentiousness of interpreting Genesis hasn’t been lost on Christians who themselves have interpreted Genesis differently. Such interpretations differ to various degrees. One problematic view is proposed by the camp known as Young Earth Creationists. Typically, these Christians view the Earth as being roughly 6000 to 10 000 years old, and they employ a very problematic methodology referred to as biblicism. Biblicism is an overly rigid interpretative method which fails to do justice to a number of important hermenuetical components.

As a result of this overly rigid method, this Christian finds himself facing a number of challenges when it comes to the story of Adam and Eve, of whom they believe were the progenitors of the human race. They believe, for instance, that Adam and Eve’s descendants married their brothers and sisters since this was their only choice. Ultimately this is how humanity begun, and because no-one else existed for Adam and Eve’s descendants to choose from, they must have committed incest. The general response hoping to account for this is that Adam and Eve, and their early descendants, were genetically pure as God made them that way. Therefore, any imperfections or harmful genetic mutations manifested only later.

But this is one of many flaws inherent in biblicism. Sure, it’s possible that God could have somehow made the first humans genetically pure, but by saying so one essentially speaks for the Bible as opposed to letting it speak for itself. Usually this is the result of attempting to make the biblical narrative conform to some preconceived framework one brings to the texts. A fundamental principle to engaging in exegesis is to avoid reading what they already believe into the text, rather one needs to let the text speak for itself.

Now, let’s turn to the text of Genesis itself, and see what it says. I contend that the text provides several clues that Adam and Even were not the only people alive at the time.

Cain’s worry

According to Genesis 4:1-15, Eve give birth to Cain and Abel. This, according to some Christians, implies that there were only four family members on Earth at that time. Now, after Cain had killed Abel there were only three people. But after Cain had slain his brother, God appears to him and kicks him out of the Garden of Eden as punishment. Cain then moves to the land of Nod, which is East of Eden, but what Cain then says to God is quite revealing. He tells God that he was worried of being killed by other people who would find him (4:15). Then God replies, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold” (4:15). In this text, God and Cain both imply that there are other humans besides Adam and Eve. If there were no other people, God would not have had to give him a mark in the first place, and Cain would not have had anything to fear.

Cain’s wife

Cain goes out from God’s presence and finds a wife, and impregnates her:

“Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch” (4:16)

The text implies that Cain had to find his wife, an act that could only happen if there were people to choose from. Assuming that we can trust this tradition, it is more likely that Cain came upon a village, a town, or some settlement which already existed. Otherwise, where did he find his wife? We then read that Cain was himself “building a city,” which, given the times, would have probably been a small settlement of sorts. But then why would Cain build a settlement if it was only him, his wife, and son? The text itself implies that many people inhabited the area. Thus, Cain’s narrative suggests that Adam and Eve were not the only humans alive at the time.

Be Fruitful

In Genesis 1:28 God tells Adam and Eve to: “Be fruitful and multiply, and Replenish the earth.” The word replenish means “to fill”, and one cannot replenish something, in this case the Earth (which would have likely meant the local area according to an ancient perspective), if it was not plenished (filled) to some degree before God’s command was issued. If Adam and Eve were the only two humans then this would make God’s instruction arbitrary and out of place. Instead God could have said, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the whole earth.”

Paul on the first man

Paul writes in Romans 5:12:


Biblical exegetes have generally noted that ‘death,’ as its used here by Paul, refers to spiritual death, not to physical death. On this view, Adam, being the first man to be made in the image of God, would have been the first human to break God’s trust.

Paul’s literal view of Adam being the first man:

Paul writes:

“But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.” (2 Timothy 2:11-14) And: “For indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.” (1 Corinthians 11:9)

Paul clearly implies that mankind came from a single pair of humans, Adam and Eve, and this would pose challenges not to the position stipulated above (that Adam and Eve weren’t the first humans created by God), but to the internal consistency of the Bible. Regarding questions of consistency, inerrancy, and inspiration, theologians hold to a number of different views. One scholar, Peter Enns, holding to a non-inerrant view of the biblical texts, argues that Paul assumed that mankind came from Adam and Eve. In this way, Paul was expressing his own view, as he did throughout his letters,

“Paul certainly assumed that Adam was a person and the progenitor of the human race, and I would expect nothing less from Paul being a 1st Century man. And again, God speaks in ways and uses categories that are available to human beings at that time. I don’t expect Paul to have had a conversation with Francis Collins (a leading geneticist, and biologist) about the Genome Project, and how common descent is essential. Technically I don’t expect him to understand that… How Paul handles Adam does not determine modern scientific discoveries about the origin of humanity.”

However, Enns’ view is not the only one out there and many Christian scholars would strongly counter his view. Some Christians would argue that to claim that Paul assumed that Adam and Eve were literal historical people is to undermine the very basis upon which he argues and constructs his theological views.

But for the intent and purposes here, Paul’s view is largely irrelevant when we look to Genesis. It is Genesis which gives clues that Adam and Eve weren’t the first human beings, and a such it doesn’t really matter what Paul thought. Genesis thus implies that God did create other people alongside and before Adam and Eve.



  1. Yes its v complicated ..but i ever read adam was created 6000,years ago..but first human exits more than hundrad thousands of years ago.😂

    • Supposition that you need to prove it:

      There are probably more than one pair of Adam and Eve (black, yellow, white) who come to this Earth after the fall. However, all these pairs do not meet. So incest does happen. Yes, it is allowed as this human being at that time is more “pure” in blood than nowadays. (Well, even if you copy a CD, it gets worse after you copy it so many times). In the Bible, I vaguely remember that there is a story that a daughter got his dad drunk to have intercourse so that she can have a baby and so their descendants continue and may still live today (and of course with some defects).

      • You don’t have to remember the story vaguely. It’s the story of Lot and his daughters (both). The daughters’ excuse was that they believed that there were no other men on earth after the destruction of Sodom and the surrounding cities.

    • when i read genesis in the King James bible in verse 2:7 it says that from the dust of the earth God created a man and breathed into him the breath of life and created a living soul. God , the way i understand this had already created man but none had a soul as Adam did.

  2. what if adam and eve represent homo sapiens. and cain intermixed with Neanderthal, outside the garden? .. just a hunch.

  3. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden of Eden long before Cain and Able were a glimmer in Adams eye. When they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they were removed and an angel was placed at the entrance to keep them out……If you get the first thing wrong then all that follows is also subject to be wrong.

  4. James, your a “theology” student ie you’re a work in progress and it shows. Cain was not kicked out of the Garden of Eden. He wasn’t conceived until after Adam and Eve were kicked out after their sin. Just because you can’t grasp a talking serpent or a tree of life, it doesn’t justify you turning a narrative into another literary nuance as you go, and hack into young-earth creationists (probably more learned than you) for something you do yourself. Not very humble of you. Both the tree and serpent are mentioned without qualification, so how else should you interpret it other than literal ?
    Interesting you never mentioned Genesis 5:4 which states Adams life span and having sons and daughters, which proves that you don’t need another race of people for Cain to be fearful of. There was no violation of God’s commandment to “be fruitful and multiply” and people were living for 900 years in the beginning anyway, therefore there would’ve been a plentiful population by the time Cain murdered Abel. Adam not being the first man ??!! Are you serious ? Genesis 2:5 states that …For The Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, AND THERE WAS NO MAN TO TILL THE GROUND”. Then Adam was created in verse 7. Genesis 2:20 says “So Adam gave names to all the cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. BUT FOR ADAM THERE WAS FOUND NO HELPER COMPARABLE TO HIM”. There you have it. Nothing a simple reading can’t refute.

      • Number 3. Cain’s Worry:
        “But after Cain had slain his brother God appears to him and kicks him out of the Garden of Eden as punishment.”

      • EVERYONE is a “work in progress”! Even shortly before Billy Graham died in a newspaper column he wrote “Judas is in hell”. NO MAN has the right to decide that about any other man!

    • Most of your comments are rude & lack understanding of what Joseph is trying to say. I think he made a mistake in his writing about where Cain & Abel were born, that’s all. While it’s true the Bible says that Adam & Eve were thrown out of the garden of Eden, it does not say to where. And that is where Cain killed Abel & was afraid of people somewhere would kill him.

    • Please let me interject, the serpent was on legs and had feet. Read your Bible. God was angry because the serpent tempted Eve and she did eat. God told the serpent, because of this, (You are cursed. Upon your belly, you shall go.) God took the serpent’s legs and feet away from him and made him into a snake. So many people over look this section of scripture. They think the serpent was a snake to begin with, and it wasn’t.

  5. Howdy James, let’s get on the same page together first, okay, Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, God incarnate and the only path into heaven is by the blood covenant He made with Abraham. As we confess our sins and accept the only gift of redemption offered for man, we do this believing by faith that it is only through the blood sacrifice of the Lamb of God (Jesus the Messiah) that our sins are redeemed through the blood covenant God made with Abraham. The Law was given to Moses (by Enoch, the son of Jared. Though some may disagree about the validity of 1st Enoch.). Jesus Christ is God incarnate, the Anointed One, the Lamb of God, and is the fulfillment of the Law. The Law was given to Moses, and Grace and Truth through Jesus Christ. Accepting John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”, is paramount to the Christian faith. Faith is the belief in things that are, and are not yet seen.

    You present a very loose association of Biblical truth, out of context and in a convoluted manner. Is this an attempt to manipulate your audience into believing a pseudo-scientific rationale that marginalizes the doctrines of Judaism and Christianity? James, aren’t you promoting a secular humanist narrative that hopes to rationalize the hows and whys of your existence? I was created by God to serve and worship God. My instruction book, the Bible, was given to me by God. Check it out.

    You need to study that belief for yourself. The angel Lucifer occupies the serpent, or manifests as the serpent, depending upon interpretation. You should know that the angels are beings of light and can manifest themselves as objects, persons, or thoughts. At the time of Genesis, Lucifer is an angel charged with watching over and protecting mankind. A war is also occurring in heaven. God is a multidimensional being and the only non-created being. God is and always will be. God is omniscient and God is in control. Everything you stated down to Cain is true. Cain murdered his brother. The Bible is multidimensional and incorporates layers upon layers of truth. The more you read it the more you learn about God. The greatest discoveries related to mathematics and physics are located in the Bible. The Bible is a book of prophecy. I pray that your eyes and ears and heart is opened James. Time is short.

    It is clear that Adam is both representative of man (as a species in the Garden of Eden), and that he is the first man as Darren points out in Gen 2:5, and 2:7. Additionally, Darren refers to Gen 2:20. I want to point out that in the first part of Gen 2:20 the man names the creatures, and in the second part of Gen 2:20 “But for Adam, no suitable helper was found. We see that Adam is referenced as both Adam, and as the man. If that wasn’t clear, in Gen 2:21, he (Adam) is referenced as “the man” when God puts him into a deep sleep, removes a rib, creates a woman, and brings her to him. In Gen 2:23, we see that the man names God’s creation woman. Indeed, woman is only named Eve (by Adam) in Gen 3:20 after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. As Shirley points out in Gen 3:24 cherubim and a flaming sword were placed on the east of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.

    James, it surprises me that you reduce creation to a myth, or a teaching of a fable based on symbols of humanism. You may think about the reality of my savior Jesus Christ in a similar manner. I think you may be a psychology major being exposed to Christianity in a theology course, possibly for the first time, from the viewpoint of secular humanist. However, I do wish you much success in school and I hope you investigate intelligent design. I ask that you have enough faith to ask Jesus Christ to prove himself to you. I am certain He will. He so loves you that even now, He knocks at your door. Will you answer the Master’s call?

    I agree with Darren that there could be a sufficient number of births to account for Cain’s wife during the time after the fall. However, there is an alternate Christian view that births occurred in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man. A tremendous number of births occurred. When Adam was thrown out of the Garden of Eden, all of the family of man were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. Let’s look at the man creation (Adam being the first man.) blessed by God in Gen 3:28 to go forth and increase in number somewhere during the sixth day of creation. By the seventh day of creation, we see that in Gen 2:2 God had finished all the work and rested. God likes to do many things and God has the right to do all things in any order God pleases. It pleased God to rest on the seventh day. It says in the Bible that a thousand years is like a day for the Lord. First Enoch records that God blessed a group of angels known as the Watchers to watch over the Garden of Eden. To me, it’s a shame that neither the Jewish canons nor Christian canons incorporate 1st Enoch, yet historically we know that the book was common knowledge in the time of Jesus.

    Additionally, the oldest known copies of first Enoch date to about 300 years before Christ, which is about the same time as all of the oldest Hebraic manuscripts that are canonized. Jesus refers in a parable to wicked servants being left to watch over their Master’s vineyard while their Master was away. (Additionally, some Christians believe that the first five books of the Bible were given to Moses by Enoch.) People have trouble believing in angels, others with believing that angels could sin, and others struggle just to believe in God. Spiritual blindness, hardened hearts, and deaf ears. James, we were made a little lower than the angels, yet God gave us dominion over them. Let’s follow some of your additional points.

    2) where some probably get it wrong

    The Garden of Eden was a real place and a giant golden cube will rest over it during the thousand year reign of Jesus Christ. That’s prophecy.

    Additionally, time and space are relative to the position of the observer. General relativity.

    (FYI: There is a physicist who mathematically demonstrated that, from God’s point of view, from the other side of the known universe, the entirety of the creation of the universe right up until today, can be viewed as taking place over the course of a little over 7 days. Check it out.)

    3) Cain’s worry

    You got some bad intel, dude, right from the get go. Cain was never in the Garden of Eden. Cain was the first born man recorded outside the Garden of Eden after the fall of man.

    4) Cain’s wife

    There may have been other people born in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man as I noted above.

    5) Be fruitful

    I’m guessing your professor is having you make this blog so he/she can make comments about the Christians posting. No worries. Take the time to open a Bible and actually read the text. Many great translations make for some great Bible study. So let’s talk Bible okay. Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply (or increase in number); fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Show me a translation that says replenish the earth.

    6) and 7) about Paul on the first man

    Wow James, you skipped through a lot of the Bible. You’ve got a lot of bad intel that you believe is true. It takes faith to believe in anything. You expressed a view about a topic that was dictated to you by someone else, who you likely never met, and you believe it to be true. It appears to me you haven’t studied the topic? So if someone told you to jump off a bridge, assuming you wanted to jump off the bridge, wouldn’t you really check it out for yourself first? Okay, so Paul is a Pharisee documented in Hebraic literature. He’s not like some run of the mill type of Pharisee. Who are Pharisees you ask? Pharisees and Sadducees were two predominant sects of Judaism during Saul’s life. One of the biggest differences between them is Pharisees believed in angels and Sadducees didn’t. They were both super legalistic regarding their knowledge of Jewish history and the law of Moses. I’m not talking about people who would let you get away with flippantly mentioning something like a belief from the mouth of somebody else, like Peter Enns, as you do.

    No, Saul was a total antichristian, kind of like what you’re trying to spew. He was trained by Gamaliel. Who was Gamaliel? Gamaliel was like the total badass antichristian super Pharisee of the day. He was the super Pharisees Pharisee. Saul studied under him and went around killing Christians until, on a road near Damascus, Syria he was totally blinded by God and heard the Lord Jesus Christ tell him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Saul is blind for several days, but he is no longer on his way to kill more Christians in Damascus. Instead he has what you may here sometimes in popular culture as “the Damascus road experience”. Saul becomes Christian and is healed of his blindness by some of the apostles and goes on, for the rest of his life, to be dramatically used by Jesus Christ as an instrument to reach all of the Gentiles (non Jews). Paul was also a Roman citizen. Jesus tells him on the Damascus road that his name will now be Paul.

    You’re trying to paint a picture of Paul as a misogynist. Paul is the guy who tells you to love everyone, even your enemies, and not to repay insults with further insults. Paul is the apostle who lays down the ground rules, given to him by the Holy Spirit, in super detail. The same kind of detail you would expect from someone with all of the historical knowledge of Judaism like a Pharisee. He was a super Pharisee. Paul praises women for acts of charity and love. Paul tells us that men and women are equal and yet different.

    Paul instructs us that we, as Christians, are all part of one body, and each is made differently to perform a different task (a man is different than a woman) like the foot is different than the hand, and the eye different than the ear. Paul would tell you to walk in love.

    wow!! James, your blurb about you wouldn’t expect Paul to know about where people genetically arose out of the pond scum is whacky man. So tell me, where did we originate? There is a bottleneck in human evolution that goes back to some great disaster where there were only eight survivors. Fact check me dude. There were eight survivors in Noah’s ark, and that’s why all cultures have a flood story. Additionally, every human mitochondrial DNA goes back to a single female point of origin (the woman). Every geneticist on the planet, indeed, every first year biology student, knows this science fact. Mitochondria are the cellular organelle responsible for the production of ATP in every human cell. Mitochondria possess DNA that is passed down to you from your maternal ancestor.

    8) conclusion

    Like I said, if you really want to know about the truth of the Word of God (Jesus Christ), then, with an open mind, ask Jesus to prove himself to you. He will prove himself to you. Even now, Jesus knocks at the door of your heart. Will you heed the Master’s call? I’m praying for you James. Jesus loves you and so do I. You still have time, but remember tomorrow is never promised.

    With regards to your point that man could not have started as a super progenitor species, I do not accept that point. (James, remember the fact about the origin of your own mitochondrial DNA.)

    Would you have me believe that you arose from pond scum that became more orderly as a result of a single big bang? Wouldn’t you agree that systems tend to move from order to disorder over time, and not the reverse? That’s science fact. You discount the notion of intelligent design. My infinitely powerful God made a super creation with total knowledge of every outcome because He is God. God creates in the manner that God chooses. I did not create myself. Did you create yourself? No, you are a created being. Your mother and father came together and God helped them create you.

    That being said, some Christians may believe that other human beings were born in the Garden of Eden before the fall of man, but after Adam was created. I am willing to listen to the argument, and I will briefly make that case to the best of my knowledge. It basically has three main constructs: 1) God’s blessing to the man and the woman to be fruitful and multiply in the Garden of Eden, 2) the fall of man (the man species), and 3) a statement from God about a change in how pregnancies will be experienced for the woman going forward (after expulsion from the Garden of Eden).

    1) We see in Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it….”, but this is on the sixth day of creation, kind of in the middle. Then, we see the seventh day of creation. A day for the Lord is like a thousand years. There are several hundred years of copulation for the man, him (both man and woman in Gen 1:27), in the Garden of Eden before expulsion.
    And why wouldn’t the man and the woman sexually reproduce in the Garden of Eden? God blessed them to increase in number in Gen 1:28, and in Gen 2:25, we are told that the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. This occurs during the sixth day of creation. We see in Gen 3:7 that they didn’t know that they were naked (and ashamed) until their eyes were opened after they ate the forbidden fruit from the tree in the middle of the Garden of Eden. This rebellion against God, inspired by the serpent creation, occurred sometime during or after the seventh day. This leaves possibly 500 to 1000 years of man reproducing in the Garden of Eden. There are at least 500 to 1,000 years in the Garden of Eden from the middle of God’s 6th day until sometime during or after God’s seventh day of creation for man to reproduce. You do the math.

    2016 USA live birth data from the Centers for Disease Control

    The average gestation for a single birth = 38 weeks
    Twins = 36 weeks gestation, 1 in 30 births = twins
    Triplets= 32 weeks gestation, 1 in 100 births
    Quadruplets = 30 weeks, 1 in 1,000 births
    Quintuplets = 30 weeks, 1 in 10,000 births
    The ratio of men to women births is 1:1.

    Remember, the genetic information in the Garden of Eden was pure. It was provided directly from the source (God), and it remained pure while it remained in God’s Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was perfect. Everything from God is perfect and it always will be. Sin brought into the world the corruption of the super progenitor genetic traits yielding diseases and transgender births. Your mitochondrial DNA, as well as all human mitochondrial DNA, came from a single super progenitor woman.

    2) Adam is referred to as man, as you point out in your statement. Others would agree with you on this point that Adam is not just man, but he is the progenitor of the man species, which includes all mankind, including the woman. In Gen 3:23, when God banished “him” (Adam) out of the Garden of Eden, He also drove out in Gen 3:24 “the man” (species). Adam is the first in the lineage of the man species. Some words may be viewed as either singular, or plural, with the same spelling depending upon the sentence construction. I can speak to you about the lion as a species, just like I can speak to you about man (or “the man”) as a species. Additionally, you will note that only men are counted in any Bible census. Women and children are rarely mentioned. The chronology of the genealogy of the man is followed throughout the Bible. Again, in Gen 3:24, we see that God drove the man out of the Garden of Eden. It does not say that God drove Adam and Eve, or the man and the woman, out of the Garden of Eden. the Bible states that the man (species) was driven out of the Garden of Eden.

    3) The third construct is related to the pain of child bearing. Ask any of your female classmates, whom have given birth, if giving birth was pain free when no drugs were administered. Gen 4:1 states that (after the fall of man, and the expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden), Eve gave birth to Cain with the help of the Lord. Why did Eve need help from the Lord giving birth? Originally, God blessed them to increase in number in Gen 1:28, and in Gen 2:25. Giving birth was a blessing. Blessings aren’t painful. Blessings are gifts that cause no pain. However, curses are painful. Curses are the antithesis of blessings. Giving birth today for a woman still retains a portion of the original blessing, but now the curse of increased pain during birth is attached. In Gen 3:16, God curses the woman for the disobedient act of eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. After the fall of man, and before expulsion from the Garden of Eden, the Lord states in Gen 3:16 To the woman (referencing all women, just like the man references all men) He said, I will greatly increase your pains in child bearing; with pain you will give birth to children. We see that from the middle of the sixth day, God says be fruitful and multiply. And now, somewhere during (or after) the seventh day of creation, God pronounces many curses, including increased pain in child bearing. The construct of this third argument is that you can’t have increased pains in child bearing if you haven’t already born the man children.

    Regarding your inference that Cain is the firstborn man, the Biblical text does not state that Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve. Rather, it records that Cain is the first child of Adam and Eve after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

    Regarding your thought that the forbidden fruit can’t be both good and evil, you are grossly taking the text out of context. From Gen 1:9, we see that the forbidden tree in the middle of the garden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of that tree upon consumption provides the knowledge of good and evil. I’m not sure if you’re intentionally trying to mislead people when you stated that something can’t be both good and evil. Knowledge can be taught to you in a binary format like up/down, left/right, on/off, good/evil, near/far, and sweet/sour, etc.

    There isn’t enough room in the world for God to detail to us the entirety of creation in any book, nor does any textbook relate to you the entirety of any subject. God does relate to you and all mankind that He loves you, and that He gave Himself through His personage as Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for sin so that all humanity may be restored to Him by confessing your sin and believing on this blood covenant. Moses brought the Law, and Grace and Truth has been given to you by Jesus Christ. Pray for your salvation through God’s mercy today.

    Jesus loves you, you need to accept His love by faith. James, I’m praying for you and for your success.

    • Jesus himself NEVER claimed to be GOD, let alone “God incarnate”. Christians who believe that have taken on the Roman Catholic church as TRUTH, even as Protestants & Jews lost their lives for not confirming to their man-made doctrine.

      • First, all Christian branches were cruel to Jews, not just Catholics.

        Second, Catholicism does not believe Jesus is God or God’s incarnation. The “God in the flesh of man” kind of thing is because Catholicism does not see someone who was created by the Holy Spirit joining his mother’s egg as separate from God. Since the Holy Spirit is part of/is God (not like humans can known), a being existing as both part of the Holy Spirit and part of humanity is both fully human and part of God (or a part of a part of God, depending on how you view the Holy Spirit). This is why Jesus is the path to God. Because he is part of both humanity and God and so forms a living bridge for mankind. It isn’t like Jesus is worshiped in any way, either. He’s respected and his word is venerated, but he is not at all worshipped nor considered to be literally God himself or the incarnation of him, merely a part of Him that He formed into the shape of man through Mary. For example, a finger is part of someone, but it is not the person in any way, shape, or form. Catholicism views Jesus’s relationship with God in a similar way.

        There are, of course, exceptions, but those exceptions are not actually following Catholic doctrine, so it isn’t fair or right to hold their flawed beliefs against Catholicism when said beliefs are contrary to Catholic beliefs.

        • Catholics most certainly do teach Jesus is God incarnate! They decided on that doctrine at their council of Nicene. That’s where most Protestants got their teaching of the same & they never separated from the Catholic Church on the issue.

      • Dear Ann

        He may not have explicitly claimed to be God, but the Bible is rife with evidence that he IS God. If you are a Christian, you should know that the belief in the Trinity is the very core of our belief, the sole requirement to gain eternal life (after all, Jesus already paid for our sins, all we’re required, or rather, requested to do is believe in Him, study the Bible and spread His Word). As Christians, we refer to God as God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. The Trinity God. Jesus IS God. The Holy Spirit IS God. The Father IS God. Moreover, Jesus is God who humiliated HIMSELF into becoming a human being, to be on even footing with humankind. And why, you ask? Do you think a mere mortal human could have spilled his blood to pay for the sins of all of humankind? Could have endured the suffering of hell, defeated the shackles of death by himself, and essentially saved us all from eternal death? Only GOD has the power to pay the blood debt in full, to give humanity a clean slate in His eyes, and to return from hell back to life. God is all powerful. Only He can defeat sin and the eternal death beget from sin. God is all powerful, so why is it so hard to believe that Jesus is God incarnate? He managed to create a whole universe in just six days! The very fact that God sacrificed His Son, sacrificed HIMSELF shows the pure, unadulterated, all encompassing, compassionate, merciful and most of all UNFATHOMABLE love he has for His children.

        John 1, right at the beginning (verse 1-5), explains the the Word of God has existed since the beginning, that the Word was WITH God, and that the Word WAS God. That the Word became flesh (verse 14), and thus Jesus Himself, the light that shines in the darkness, is the Word of God. Thus, Jesus is God! Moreover, even the Holy spirit has been mentioned since the very beginning of the Bible! See Genesis 1, the second part of verse 2 “…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Spirit did not just come into existence when Jesus went to heaven. It was there since the beginning of time! All three of them were!

        It would be difficult for me to explain the entire problem with your statement. This link explains very clearly what it means to believe in a Trinity God.

        We do not believe in 3 Gods, but one God, yet he somehow exists as 3 different beings while at the same time remaining one entire being. It is IMPOSSIBLE to understand this. Our human brains are incapable of understanding the true might, the very EXISTENCE of God. That is what makes him all powerful, that is what makes him GOD. If we could understand God’s powers, then he wouldn’t be God! Believing the unbelievable is the very definition of belief!

        I’m sorry if I blew this out of proportion. I get overly passionate about the little details. But please don’t take this the wrong way, but no, Christain’s belief that Jesus is God did not derive from catholic belief. Although both catholics and protestants believe this, we protestants draw our belief from the BIBLE, NOT the catholics. That is why we are protestants in the first place, and I can 100% say that the very root of my belief is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This is ultimately what I wanted to portray.

        I hope you check out the web page, it’s a really good summary of what I’m trying to say and really informative. Not just for you, but anyone that is struggling with this type of thing. What matters is not where this belief originated (though in my belief, it originates exclusively fom the Word) but how the Bible portrays God. After all, the Bible is the very guideline to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the one and only true God. Thank you for reading thus far!


        • I believe in the Trinity..How can you not?

          Man or woman can be many things so why can’t you believe in the Trinity. I myself am a mother, school teacher and a wife. so I can be many things at the same time.

    • About creation. I want to add to what you said by reminding readers that anyone thousands of years ago witnessing some vision of the creation of the universe isn’t going to understand *any* of the scientific stuff in the background. If God says “let there be light” and stars ignite, the witness isn’t going to understand that God compressed gas to create nuclear fusion balls in space. He’s only going to think “God said it and it happened” and that is what he will write down. If he saw animals evolve over a period of time he cannot begin to comprehend, he isn’t going to write “they evolved”, he won’t even have words for it. He’ll write “God said so and they appeared” because that’s as close as he can get to grasping what he is seeing.

      Actually, General Relativity was disproven by the existence of Black Holes. Once black holes were proven to exist (which they very recently were), General Relativity became incapable of being true. Of course, I could have told any scientist this seeing as Einstein gave up on it because he couldn’t figure out how his own idea could be possible…

      Anyway, this also means everything based on a belief in General Relativity is also questionable and things utterly dependent on GR being true (such as the postulate that nothing can go faster than light) are outright false as the entire basis of those ideas has been proven to be untrue. This is what happens when scientist use a mere hypothesis as a basis for anything.

    • There is no such “fallen angel that rebelled” called Lucifer. That is a lie created by man. That “lucifer” word is used exactly ONE TIME in the Bible and it is a mistranslation of the word heylel in the Latin Vulgate.

      In John 8:44, Jesus describes the devil/satan this way “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer FROM THE BEGINNING, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Jesus NEVER calls the adversary by any such name.


      Again, not “lucifer.”

    • Thank you and God bless you for this beautiful and Spirit led response to James. I pray you will find comfort knowing it has strengthened my own faith. God is good…ALL of the time.

  6. That will be something to take in consideration if we analyze the scriptures with our western way of thinking.
    Let’s try to reason this with a hebrew or eastern way of understanding scriptures, our way of thinking is abstract their ways are concrete

  7. Has anyone read God’s Plan for Man by Jennings Dake? He goes step by step regarding biblical references. I believe there was a pre-adamite race. He elaborates in fallen angels mating with humans. Think about it. Satan was kicked out of heaven for wanting to be like God. When kicked out, he took fallen angels. The Bible speaks of angels mating with humans. There is so much more to the Bible than what was taught in Sunday school! Jennings Dake even shows where dinosaurs are mentioned in the Bible. It goes deeper if one would study it. Some people speculate fallen angels could also mean alien life. I could go on, but too much to list. I just recommend getting the book I listed above, research and study.

    • Who actually CARES about what ANY MAN says? It’s what does the Bible says? How much of what they say is TRUTH? Study to show approved…

  8. Nice start at understanding Genesis 1-3. The strident claims for literal interpretation or complete myth miss an important point that you hit- much of the account is symbolic. Genesis 1-3 is an historical account cloaked in mystery for child like humans who have had no idea of DNA or science, both recent discoveries. It does offer clues that both camps ignore. The surprising details are that DNA reveals a common mitochondrial EVE ! Please notice what Adam names woman- Eve. Meaning… mother of all those living. No scientific dispute there. So ….

  9. Lovely, but many do not know of the generation before Adam and Eve. Which raises another extremely interesting point. Was Adam Cain’s father? In the new testament it is stated ” be not as of Cain from the evil one” the first Adam being made from the earth could not have been evil after being made in the likeness of GOD. GOD trusted him enough for him to allow him to give names to very species on this earth, did he not?. If I’m wrong please guide me on the right path.

  10. This is Heretical teaching and doctrine. Bible clearly states that by ONE MAN sin entered the world; that is ADAM. To indicate that there were other humans outside of Adam who Eve was created from; means that banishment from the garden happened prior to the Original Sin. How? The other humans would have had to encounter the serpent as well; imparting Adam and Eve as not Earth and life which is what their name means. In Hebrew because Earth is how Adam was formed the dust and from the dust came life that is Eve via the rib. Woman is from MAN. Original MAN. Adam. Adam means EARTH.

    Some of you theologians are truly lost and too deep for your own good in your effort of attempting to be wiser than GOD you come off as foolish and borderline satanic.

    Adam and Eve were the first humans. To think otherwise is to cast a doubt of God and his Holy Word. This is witchcraft.

    • Johnthan – How appropriate to accuse others of ‘heretical teaching’ when your own ‘exegeses’ on Adam fails by the very comment you make, i.e. Adam was the first human. Pray tell me where in scripture it says he was the ‘first human’. It’s theologians that make that claim, not scripture’s. Who is this Adam and Eve mentioned in Genesis 1? Why would scripture have only an “Adam” in Eden with no “Eve” when Genesis 1 already claims to have “created” them? Scripture is very clear that creation is substance, i.e Living creatures. How does one explain “the beast of the field”? I pose these questions to you so as to afford you an opportunity to further avoid having to accuse others being ‘borderline satanic’.


    • ALL things are possible with GOD! It’s heretical to see the Bible as dropped down in the form it is, that church doctrine is more important than what the Bible says & NOT to STUDY to show thyself approved…

    • You have obviously been man taught rather than Bible and Holy spirit taught! Jesus said “Judge not that ye be not judged”! No man has the right to decide who is teaching heresy! The Roman church taught so many erroneous doctrine that Protestants assume are correct! They’re not! Study to show thyself approved…that means study when and where doctrines of man were introduced!

  11. World events and the Bible seems to have a sensible explanation of Bible scripture. If you don’t understand Genesis you’ll never understand Revelation. Worth checking out.

    • I would be interested in reading your understanding of Genesis and how it relates to Revelation by providing a url site or other means of communication the exegeses on this subject matter

  12. Distortions and deception of truth. That is what evil is all about. To make the Adam and Eve narrative symbolic is nonsensical. I am assuming you also believe that the ministry of Jesus is symbolic.

    • First of all – assumptions are after all, just assumption’s, but in ones mind it is making a statement to be true. Paul comments that the OT are Shadows and Types. Therefore I have every right to take all that is contained within the OT and creatively change the narrative to shadows and types, ( which is not the case ) that is of course if one believes in Paul being a messenger and take his word as authoritative. Your last comment ( suffixed with a “.” instead of a “?”) indicates that it is a question, is not addressed to any particular person commenting, I will then take it that it is addressed to the author of this article. Maybe a re-read of point 8 may clarify and answers your question.

  13. Very true Jonathan! Either God’s Word is true or He is a liar. And we know while there were 40 writers of the 66 books there is only One author – the Holy Spirit. And I would never call Him a liar. Besides if these theologians just took a moment off themselves they would ask the questions – why then did Jesus have to come?!! Why the fall that caused both sin & death to set in?? Why sin? Why death? Why the curse? Why the resurrection! Why the expected return of Christ?! Why the church? Why God? You see nothing would make sense if the Bible was untrue. From Genesis to Revelation every thing within is inspired and is just not for information but brings about transformation! Blessings in Christ Jesus 🙌

  14. Ummm, the Bible doesn’t say that God didn’t use physical forces to make the universe.

    Adam and Eve were kicked out because they gave flawed humanity the knowledge that they can commit evil. Guess what humans started doing? Yep.

    Perhaps humanity is an example of how angels come to be. Think about what Jesus is said to be like when he returns in Revelations. It also says humanity will become like that. So, does this mean that humanity’s existence is basically the birthing cycle of a new type of angel? Well, maybe not, since the Bible says “like the angels” not that we become actual angels. Maybe more like Cherubim, since they are the only angel type that is alive (hence the name)?

    For death, it is important that in Christianity, our bodies dying isn’t considered a “true” death as our souls still live. To truly die is what happens to those who reject God. It isn’t so merciful as non-existence, either. Is it surprising? If you’re leaning over a cliff and someone reaches out to you and you refuse to take their hand then fall to your death, is it that person’s fault you fell? Of course not. God reaches out to us all constantly and the word of God has already spread world-wide. If people choose to ignore it and choose not to take his hand, and choose to reject him, then the consequences are their own fault. He has already warned everyone. He isn’t going to make our choices for us even though he could. If he did, then our existence would be utterly pointless and hollow as mere puppets. In the Bible, Hell is not some plane of constant torment. It is to be without God, cut off from him. This only happens if you reject him for obvious reasons. If someone reaches out to you and you walk down a hall and lock yourself in a room and then rant about how you being in locked in the room is that person’s fault, aren’t you sounding ridiculous and wouldn’t everyone else look at you like you’re nuts? Exactly.

    You know, I never understood why people say things like “why does God let evil exist.” Would they rather He mind-control humanity? God doesn’t let evil exist, humans bring evil into existence. If free will was regulated, there wouldn’t be anything free about it.

  15. The smallest city in the world by population has a population of 1

    That deals some blow to the implied existence of other humans by the statement that Cain built a city.

    Cain being afraid of attack, he probably fortified his house and this could be an important element of the house becoming a city.

  16. All races are made in the image of God.

    Before God created Adam and Eve he created all the different races, the red race, yellow race, black race,and the white race.
    The serpent was not a snake like they teach you in Sunday School but the serpent was someone from another race and that Cain’s father was not Adam but the serpent.
    Jesus ancestors were from Adam’s race and Jesus was killed by those who were from Adam’s race.
    50 days later the very first converts were the very ones who killed Jesus.
    Jesus died for Adam’s race and for all races.

  17. What the human race has failed to do is live in harmony and love with each other, and our home, planet Earth. The Bible, Tora and Koran sadly teach intolerance and hatred towards women and minorities, focusing on a “God” who wiped out the entire planet with the exception of Noah (not a great example to set) and has some pretty questionable traits such as being jealous, judgemental, homophobic, misogynistic, secretive, ambiguous, displaying favoritism and an appalling communicator.

    If there is a God, and I hope there is, I think they are likely to show the traits of Jesus, full of love, wisdom and forgiveness, even unto death.
    We can learn much from Krishna and the North American Indian tribes about peace, harmony and love. So called Christians have sowed the seeds of death and destruction for centuries, persecuting and destroying every part of human kind and ravaging the planet for greed and gain. The christian church in its many forms of Catholicism has fulfilled the prophecy of Revelation, the great harlot, that sells its souls for 30 pieces of silver!

    • and I can prove through science that the earth is FLAT and we live in a dome – go figure. Science is nothing but a theory that is hypothesised and then claimed to be so by questionable logic.

  18. The Bible plainly says that on the 6th day God created man and gave him dominion of the earth, to go forthome and multiply. Then on the 7th day he rested. God formed Adam from the earth and placed him in the Garden of Eden and created Eve out of Adam’s rib because God seen he was lonely. The Bible also said that Cain went to the land of Nod and knew his wife.

  19. Good assumptions by a bishop, all those are not structural.
    Have you tried to assume how old Cain was when he killed Abel? And how many brothers and sisters they had? Also those directions can help you help you know that there were no other people before Adam and Eve as you assumed..
    If you believe in the Bible Truth Genesis 3:20 says that Eve was the mother of living…this is also enough to conclude that there were no other people(living) on earth before Adam and Eve…

    • So, to help others who are unsure of this biblical truth, it is saying Cain and Abel had to be born out of incest. Biblical truth is that incest is a sin! Are there exceptions in God’s word? The point of view is, was this a human or God who interacted at some point in scripture due to physically witnessing the possibilities of mental complications due to incest.
      Cain and his mental instability could have been a prime example! This I believe is the reason so many are searching and re-searching to put favor on how Adam and Eve could have been the first humans on earth. To my thinking, this surely had to be a possibility!

      • Cain and Abel were born to Adam and Eve and they were created by God directly. Incest was not incest until God pronounced it to be. Marrying a close relative was common practice in the ancient world and we know this because Abraham married his half-sister. Also, cuneiform tablets indicate such marriages. Further, when someone marries someone else, he or she is marrying a relative either close or distant in relation. And further, we all share 99.9 of our DNA with other people no matter the continent they are from. We’re all related and the Bible and science prove this fact!

  20. The Bible is absolutely true and that is the attitude a believer must take when it comes to God’s word. Now if the believer runs into comprehension problems he/she should pray for Divine understanding.
    A cardinal mind will never be able to grasp what God is saying via man. The end result will always be exactly like the article you have posted… absurd.

  21. Genesis 1:28 says “And blessed them ayth Eloheem and said to them Eloheem, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill ayth the Earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the Sea and over birds of the Heavens Dual and over all beasts creeping on the land.” – direct translation from Hebrew.

  22. Women can pro create and men cant and yet the men who wrote the bible try to make it about men when its actually women who are mother earth and mother moon and creators of life . Perhaps a jaded man twisted the real facts from way back because lots of ladies were warriors and soldiers from way back and that too is quite provable !

  23. The days of Creation in Genesis: how many Earth hours in each of those days? How many Earth hours, days, or years are there in God’s timetable of a Day? Were the Neanderthal’s and Cro-Magnon Man descendants of Adam and Eve? I doubt it.
    The redemption or soul saving aspect of the Bible is complete. The historical aspect of the Bible is incomplete and only a part of the whole BIG picture.

  24. Read Genesis Chapter 4 and 5 in it’s entirety.

    Chapter 4

    (vs 11-16) After Cain kills Abel he’s sent away. A mark is placed on his head so no one kills him (so his siblings he doesn’t know don’t kill him, seriously).
    (vs 17) Cain has sex with his wife (who we’re supposed to believe with his sister). There is no mention of him finding her. It just says he had sex with her and had a son named Enoch.
    (vs 18-24) Cain builds a city and Enoch has a child and his child had a child and his child had a child who married two women.
    (vs 25) Pay attention! it says Adam and Eve gave birth to a son and named him Seth and said “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.

    Chapter 5

    (vs 3-4) Adam and Eve had Seth when Adam was 130 years old (it says Adam lived 800 years after Seth was born and he died at 930 years old) it goes on to say he had other sons and daughters after Seth.

    The remainder of the chapter goes through Adam’s birth line from (Adam to Noah). Adam was Noah’s Great x8 Grandfather. Technically, even if there were other people on Earth (which I believe there were especially after reading this). Everyone died in the flood except for Noah and his family. If Noah is the great x8 grandson of Adam and Eve, he came from them and therefore so did we.

    I believe Adam and Eve were not the only humans created in the beginning but everyone living today originated from them.

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