Interestingly enough, the fossil record indicates that there were indeed many other hominids that walked the Earth, all of which are now extinct. Homo Sapiens seems to have been around 200,000 years or so, with behavioral modernity approximately 50,000 years ago.
Yes, and it seems that the emergence of “behavioral modernity” also seems to point to a single geographical origination point (i.e., the Garden of Eden). Though this location seems to be central Africa (see “Out of Africa” theories).
Also called by some the “Great Leap Forward,” this sudden explosion of creativity and civilization coincides well with the belief in the infusion of a rational soul and the properties it gives man (superior to animals).
Thus, scientists have discovered evidence that corresponds well with the Genesis account, so long as we don’t impose on Genesis a modern scientific straightjacket for our interpretation, forcing on it timelines and locations or alternately filling the gaps in its descriptions with magic rather than biological explanations.
I often find that people often talk across each other, using different definitions of things like “evolution” so they’re not even talking about the same things. For instance, accepting evolution as a biological process, without any metaphysical assumptions that are really philosophy and not science, is perfectly marriageable with faith. As a biological process, evolution still requires a Creator and Designer, after all; it works by His laws, and is limited to the material forms, not having anything to do with the spiritual soul.
So: God created everything ex nihilo, generating and sustaining all physical laws and processes of the universe (including, probably, evolution), through which He created life and by which processes He generated the human body. Some 50,000 years ago, it appears, God took that human body (from among other hominids) and re-created it in His image with a spiritual soul, through Adam and Eve. The trail of physical evidence from our first parents appears to date back through their descendants to 50,000 years ago and is being described by modern “Out of Africa” and “Great Leap Forward” theories (and those like them).
There are still many other interesting questions, such as what happened to the other hominids, what their status was, whether there was interbreeding (as seems the case with Neanderthals–and which may help explain certain passages of Genesis such as those having to do with Cain or the Nephilim), etc.
On the other hand, since I am somewhat confused by subsets, let’s go back to the original post I answered.
