A look at human origins

1. Creation and Evolution #4 What do Science and the Bible say about Human Origins?

2. Adam and Eve There has long been a general consensus among Christians that 1. Adam and Eve were the first human beings, (today) 2. there is something unique about them, (next week)

3. Adam and Eve But… 4. all human beings have (somehow) inherited sin and death from them (in two weeks). 3. all human beings are biological descendents of them (today?), and

6. Questions raised by reading Genesis 1 – 4 Was creation completed in six days or in one ? And there was evening and there was morning—the first/sixth day. Gen. 1:5 etc. On the day when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens…. Gen. 2:4 KJV, NKJV, Am. Stand. V, NASV, RSV, NRSV, Amp. Bible, Young’s Lit. Trans., Darby Trans. New Life V. When the Lord God made… NIV, NJB, NEB, NLB, NCB, Holman Chr. St. B

7. Questions raised by reading Genesis 1 - 4 Ambiguity in the sequence of created events? Heavens, earth, waters (vv. 1-2) Light (v.3) Sky (vv. 6-8) Dry land (vv. 9-10) Dry land, rivers (vv. 5-6) Plants (vv. 11-12) Man (vv. 7) Sun, moon, stars (vv. 14-17) Plants (vv. 8-9) * Sea creatures & birds (20-21) Land animals, birds v19* Land animals (vv. 24-25) Woman (vv. 20-22) Human beings (vv. 26-27) Genesis 1:1-2:3 Genesis 2:4-25 *Of all the translations previously mentioned, only the NIV writes, Now the Lord had planted a garden… same w/ v19

8. Questions raised by reading Genesis 1 - 4 Who was Cain’s wife—Gen. 4:17? Who were those people Cain feared would kill him—Gen. 4:14? Why weren’t Adam and Eve surprised that a snake could talk? Did snakes walk upright before they were cursed to “ crawl on their bellies…?

9. Questions regarding the sequences of Creation Gen. 1:1-2:3 Gen. 2:4-25 Modern Science Heavens, earth, water Matter, energy, space, time 13.7b Light Stars 13.5b Sky Sun 4.6 b Dry land Dry land, rivers Moon, earth, dry land Seed-bearing plants Oceans 4-4.5b Trees bearing fruit Man Single-celled life 3.8b Sun, moon, stars Multi-celled life 1-2b Sea creatures Plants Various sea creatures including early fish 520m

10. Questions regarding the sequences of Creation Gen. 1:1-2:3 Gen. 2:4-25 Modern Science Non-seed bearing plants on dry land 450 Land animals Land animals 380m Seed-bearing plants 370m Insects 350m Dinosaurs 230m Mammals 200m Birds Birds Birds 150m Land animals Fruit-bearing plants 130m Men & women Woman Men & women

12. Homo habilis 2.4 mya Hominid genera and species Australopithecus africanus 3.5mya Homo sapiens Homo erectus 1.8 mya Australopithecus afarensis 3.8 mya

13. Adam and Eve were the first human beings According to Genesis 4 , Cain “ worked the soil ” and “ brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the Lord. ” That suggests that Cain was a farmer . The next 5 slides contain words and ideas from “The Antiquity and the Unity of the Human Race Revisited,” Davis A. Young. Christian Scholar’s Review XXIV:4

14. Adam and Eve were the first human beings Abel “ kept flocks ” and “ brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. ” That suggests that Abel was a shepherd .

15. Adam and Eve were the first human beings After Cain killed Abel, he fathered a son, Enoch, who built a city . Within a few generations, people were playing musical instruments and forging tools out of bronze and iron. —Gen. 4:21-22

16. Adam and Eve were the first human beings According to studies in paleoanthropology, the domestication of animals and the cultivation of crops first occurred during the Neolithic Age, around 7500 B.C. If, as Gen. 4 suggests, Cain was a farmer and Abel a shepherd , their parents, Adam and Eve, must have lived no earlier than 8000 B.C., or some 10,000 years ago.

17. Adam and Eve were the first human beings Scientists have found fossils of hominids going back 3,800,000 years and of modern- looking humans going back at least 40,000 years . If again, as Genesis 1-4 suggests, Adam and Eve lived some 10,000 years ago, in what sense are they the first human beings? Homo sapien fossils dated to be 12,000 years old have been found in the Americas.

18. Where did Adam & Eve come from? 1. Geneticists have found that human genes are very similar to chimpanzee genes, a little less similar to other apes , less similar to dogs and other mammals and still less similar to reptiles and birds . This pattern of nested similarity matches the prediction that humans share a common ancestry with other animals.

19. Where did Adam & Eve come from? 2. Genomic organization: Humans and chimps each have about 30,000 genes . These genes are arranged on chromosomes. Humans have 23 pairs while chimps and other apes have 24 pairs of chromosomes. Human chromosome #2 is the oddball. It matches up extremely well, however, with chimp chromosomes #2a and #2b when those two are fused end-to-end. (cf. F. Collins 137)

20. Where did Adam & Eve come from? It is suggested that a common ancestor had 24 pairs of chromosomes and that, at some point toward the evolution of humans, two pairs fused together.

21. Where did Adam & Eve come from? 3. Introns are sections of DNA that do not code for protein manufacture. Mutations in introns almost never have an effect on the organism’s survival or function. If genes in different species were similar to each other only because they share a common function , rather than share a common ancestry , there would be no particular reason why the introns are similar.

23. Adam and Eve and the Christian Reformed Church In 1991 a Committee on Creation and Science presented its report and its recommendation to the Synod of the CRC. Synod adopted 5 declarations “as affirmations that add nothing new to the church’s confes- sions but simply articulate in the context of the present debate what is central to the church’s confessions on these matters.

24. Adam and Eve and the Christian Reformed Church The majority of the study committee also recommended that synod say nothing about human evolution, arguing that much research still remained to be done here and that the church should not bind the consciences of its members beyond what is the clear and indubitable teaching of Scripture and the creeds.

25. Adam and Eve and the Christian Reformed Church F. The church declares, moreover, that the clear teaching of Scripture and of our confessions on the uniqueness of human beings as image bearers of God rules out the espousal of all theorizing that posits the reality of evolutionary forebears of the human race. A minority of the study committee, however, proposed a sixth declaration:

26. Adam and Eve and the Christian Reformed Church This declaration was adopted. A note was added to it stating, “ of course , private research, theorizing, and discussion are not addressed by this declaration.” The next morning, Synod added a further note: “Declaration F is not intended and may not be used to limit further investigation and discussion on the origin of humanity.” ????

27. Are we all descendents of Adam and Eve? An allele is one of several different codes a gene might have. An organism has two copies of most genes, one from its father, one from its mother. If the two copies are identical (two genes for brown-colored eyes), the organism is said to have a single allele for that gene. If the two copies are different , it is said to have two alleles for that gene.

28. Are we all descendents of Adam and Eve? If an entire species had descended from a single pair of animals in the recent past, the genetic diversity within the species should be limited (4? 5-6 because of mutations?). In the human population, some genes are highly diverse, having more than 150 alleles.

29. Are we all descendents of Adam and Eve? Assuming that natural mutation rates in the past are similar to those in the present, this number is far greater than expected if all humans descended from a single pair that lived only 10,000 years ago. Population geneticists suggest that the ancestors of humans were at a minimum number about 150,000 years ago.

30. Are we all descendents of Adam and Eve? This minimum number was 10,000—100,000 individuals. They lived in Africa. It is suggested further that the human population spread into Europe and Asia, then to Australia and the Pacific islands, and finally to the Americas around 12,000 years ago.

31. Adam and Eve: So, who are they? Recent ancestors Recent representatives A pair of ancient ancestors A group of ancient representatives Symbols

32. Adam and Eve: So, who are they? Recent ancestors: Adam & Eve were specially created about 10,000 years ago and were the first humans. All humans today have descended from them, inheriting their sinful status.

33. Adam and Eve: So, who are they? Recent representatives: God created humans about 150,000 years ago using progressive or evolutionary creation, and God specially selected a pair of humans about 10,000 years ago to act as humanity’s representative . They chose to sin and their sinful status was applied to all humans.

34. Adam and Eve: So, who are they? A pair of ancient ancestors: God used natural mechanisms to create pre-human hominids ; then about 150,000 years ago God miraculously modified a pair of them into the first humans, Adam and Eve. They became a separate species and are not descended from other hominids . All humans today have descended from this pair. Variation: A group of ancient ancestors

35. Adam and Eve: So, who are they? A group of ancient representatives: God created humans about 150,000 years ago using evolutionary creation, and God specially selected a particular group and revealed himself to them. They chose to sin and their sinful status was applied to all humans.

36. Adam and Eve: So, who are they? Symbols : God created humans about 150,000 years ago using evolutionary creation. No particular single event occurred where all humans fell into sin at the same time, but many events happened where various individuals and groups rebelled against God.