“ . . . the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” Luke 3:38
Was there a literal Adam created along with his wife Eve in the beginning 6,000 years ago? Does it really matter when it comes to the biblical plan of redemption? Yes, and yes. Yet many academics and even Christians claim humans descended from apes through an intermediary evolutionary process over millions of years, contradicting the Bible’s account of mankind’s creation directly by God, in His image.
Let’s begin by briefly addressing the evolutionary explanation for human origins, proposed as an alternative to Adam being the father of all mankind. Australopithecus are ape like fossils thought to represent the first precursor to the genus Homo, or human. However, nothing has been found to bridge the gap between the two groups because Australopithecus fossils are nothing more than chimp-like apes. Even evolutionists acknowledge this. A 2016 Royal Society paper titled “From Australopithecus to Homo: The Transition That Wasn’t” says, “Although the transition from Australopithecus to Homo is usually thought of as a momentous transformation, the fossil record bearing on the origin and earliest evolution of Homo is virtually undocumented.”1 In other words, the missing link is still missing.
In addition to fossil data debunking human evolution, DNA studies for the mitochondrial genome and the protein coding regions of the nuclear genome give a timeline of human genetic variation starting at 5,000 to 10,000 years ago.2 This supports a timeline based on biblical chronologies and genealogies starting with Adam that give a 6,000-year date for creation from the present (4000 BC).3,4 Unfortunately, many Christians are unaware of this Bible-affirming data that support the historicity of Adam.
Based on a literal Adam’s disobedience to God in the garden of Eden, all creation became cursed. This was accompanied by the total depravity of mankind. It is Adam’s sin that explains the problem of evil in the world. Paul confirms the historicity of this and its consequence in Romans 5:12: “ . . . just as through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” But he also uses the fall of Adam to explain the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”
The idea that after millions of years of evolution, humans somehow magically emerged from apes is completely unbiblical and is also unsupported by sound empirical science. There truly is no need for Christians to compromise on this important Bible issue. Adam was a real person, and the last Adam, Jesus Christ, lived a morally perfect life and died a substitutionary death for the sins of mankind, making penal satisfaction for the holy God’s justice and wrath against sin. Because of this, people who place their faith in Christ can receive eternal life and be justified by faith in Him, receiving His free gift of righteousness. This is why the Scripture says in Ephesians 2:8–9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
References
- Kimbel, W. H. and B. Villmoare. 2016. From Australopithecus to Homo: The Transition That Wasn’t. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 371 (1698).
- Tomkins, J. P. 2015. Genetic Clocks Verify a Recent Creation. Acts & Facts. 44 (12): 9–11.
- Johnson, J. J. S. 2008. How Young Is the Earth? Applying Simple Math to Data in Genesis. Acts & Facts. 37 (10): 4.
- Tomkins, J. P. 2026. In the Space of Six Thousand Years: What the Reformers and Puritans Believed About the Age of the Earth. Puritan Reformed Journal. 18 (1): 27–46.
Dr. Tomkins is a research scientist at the Institute for Creation Research and earned his Ph.D. in genetics from Clemson University.
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