Were Adam and Eve real people?

I was reading an article online from a fellow with a B.A. from Arizona State who said that Adam and Eve were not real people and by looking at the mitochondria you have to go back 200-300,000 years to find the first couple of humans.

I thought it was convenient that the first two people he referred to were able to reproduce and have children. So were there two evolutions? And was there a separate evolution for every animal, flower, plant, tree, etc.? Also, where did all the instincts animals have that are so different from each other come from? It gets a little exasperating trying to explain all of that and make sense of it.

Outside of our dining room window we can see two dove building a nest in our small tree. I don’t know what kind of tree it is but the trunk has had another kind of tree grafted upon it about 3 feet above the ground. The top is quite spindly and has only grown about 10 feet tall. So in the base of that graft where the branches go out in several directions is the nest. We sit at our dining room table and watch them hard at work.

Did you know that the male dove flies out and brings back a small portion of dead grass, climbs onto the back of the female, gives her the grass and she weaves it into the nest. This went on for several days. Finally, we saw her sit quietly on the nest. When she lifted off of the nest we could see two white eggs. We also learned that the female sits on the eggs during the daytime and at night, the male relieves her and he sits on the eggs till morning. Can you tell me why all the doves do the same thing each time? It is fascinating and It is instinct! It is God given, otherwise you have to tell me how they all do that the same way through evolution. Also, dove mate for life. They don’t jump into one nest after another, but keep the same mate for life. So that is another reason I believe God created these birds as well as humans.

Now, it is convenient to throw in 200-300,000 years to cover the falsities of this type of fictional evolutionary thinking or lets throw in billions and billions of years so nobody can figure it all out. Let’s just take man’s mind off of God by throwing in a ton of doubts.

Actually, if you trace the mitochondria back, real scientists (even those who are not Christians) have found recently that it points to 10-20,000 years when the first human placed his feet onto the soil of the earth. How do they trace it back? Let me generalize here. Basically they have found that the DNA has mistakes in it with every generation, so as you go back in history to a pure DNA without mistakes, that would be the first couple, you come up with a much closer timeline than 100-200,000 years.

I do not want to get into a scientific discussion but I only mention this as a generalization to bring a little focus to a timeline for human beings.

According to conservative Bible scholars, they put the date for Adam and Eve at about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. I believe that because I believe the accounts in Scripture to be in accordance with those dates.

People always try to detract from the Bible’s description of creation because they do not want God in their life. They do not want to follow Jesus! They want to live as they please. If God could be believed in, they would have to live by His standards and they just refuse to do that. The Bible explains all of that to us. If they only knew that believing in the God that created them would give them more freedom, then some of them might follow Him. Christianity is not following some arbitrary rules and regulations but it in a changed heart through a supernatural creation by God which causes a person to cast off old sinful ways and to desire new ways of living that honor their Creator. It brings freedom and a wonderful hope through Christ Jesus.

Back to my question: Were Adams and Eve real people and where did Cain get his wife? If you believe the Bible is God’s word, then you would instinctively believe that they were real people. Plus, their names are repeated in the New Testament several times, referring to them as real people. Jesus is called the second Adam meaning that the first Adam brought sin to the human race where people were doomed to die and Jesus was the second Adam that brought life to the human race. So take it for what it is worth. I believe the account of Scripture.

How about Cain? Where did he get a wife when Adam and Eve only had the two sons. Sounds like a daunting task to prove. But it is not! In those days, only a few women’s names are mentioned. The genealogies only mentioned men because they believed the seed came from the man. By the time Cain needed or wanted a wife, there were many people on the earth and there were sisters and cousins. Cain even went to the land of Nod then founded a town with his wives.

When Cain killed Abel they were adults. Cain farmed and Abel raised animals. That had to take some years. There could have been thousands of people living at the time. We don’t know how old they were because that is not the important narrative here. The narrative was to quickly dispose of Cain’s line and move on to the godly line of redemption through Seth which would lead to Jesus Christ.

Note also, that by chapter 6 of Genesis, when the flood came, it is estimated that there were 2 billion people on the earth. They were all killed in the flood except Noah and his family. Yes, God was angry at the wickedness and violence on the earth. Genesis 6:5

You see, much of Genesis is a synopsis of history given in a quick and understandable format. The details were not important, but the main things that were needed for future events were emphasized.

Were Adam and Eve real people? The Bible indicates that they were and I believe it.

I hope that helps you to reconcile some of these events. God did not give us the answers to all the questions we have but He wanted you to know that from the beginning He guided history to bring you a Savior, Jesus Christ. Because He loves you and wants everyone to be saved from the wrath to come on the world, He provided a way that satisfies His justice and enables you to be reconciled to Him forever and ever. Jesus said He would come back and take you to be with Him if you will just humble yourself and receive His gift of salvation and follow Him. Would you do that today? Would you believe on God’s Son?

God bless,

Ken Lewis Th.D.