Did God create people before Adam and Eve?

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Cory_G

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Hello everyone, as some of you know I recently returned to the Church. Yesterday I decided I should start studying the Bible. While I read I am probably going to have a million questions, which I will post here. If I get annoying or you don’t want to answer, please ignore me. Whenever I am studying I always come up with millions of questions. My teachers have always loved this quailty about me. 😉

My first question is,did God make people before he made Adam and Eve?

Here we see in Genesis chapter 1 that God created men and woman and then ordered them to be fertile and multiply.
Gen 1:26-28 (NAB):
26
Then God said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.”
27
God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.
28
God blessed them, saying: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that move on the earth.”
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Now here in Genesis chapter 2 we see God making Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden.
Gen 2:7 (NAB):
the LORD God formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a living being.
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Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are the same story, told from different view points. In other words, the man and woman in Genesis 1 is Adam and Eve.

Basically, the two chapters show two sides of the same God.

Genesis 1 shows God the All-Powerful Creator of the Universe - “And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light”.

And then in Genesis 2, we see God the Loving Father. You can see this in the image of God carefully molding man out of the clay, walking with man through the Garden, and allowing man to name all the animals in the world.
 
NotWorthy said:
Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are the same story, told from different view points. In other words, the man and woman in Genesis 1 is Adam and Eve.

Basically, the two chapters show two sides of the same God.

Genesis 1 shows God the All-Powerful Creator of the Universe - “And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light”.

And then in Genesis 2, we see God the Loving Father. You can see this in the image of God carefully molding man out of the clay, walking with man through the Garden, and allowing man to name all the animals in the world.
Click to expand...
And, making man in “our” image and in “our” likeness certainly stumps those who deny the trinity! We can always wonder if we are truly in God’s image, but we know that we are in Christ’s image, from all accounts given.

Always good to see you back on-line, John!
 
Cory_G said:
Hello everyone, as some of you know I recently returned to the Church. Yesterday I decided I should start studying the Bible. While I read I am probably going to have a million questions, which I will post here. If I get annoying or you don’t want to answer, please ignore me. Whenever I am studying I always come up with millions of questions. My teachers have always loved this quailty about me. 😉

My first question is,did God make people before he made Adam and Eve?

Here we see in Genesis chapter 1 that God created men and woman and then ordered them to be fertile and multiply.

Now here in Genesis chapter 2 we see God making Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden.
Click to expand...
No_ there were no folks before the first two. Two different stories from two different sources? Or does the second story just flesh out the details of the first? You decide. I prefer what they call the Documentary Hypothesis- which believes there were several different sources for the text, which like threads , can be woven into a complete story. Some folks don’t believe in it. Majority of Bible scholars believe in some form of the DH. The names “Adam” and “Eve” not real names but symbolic of their role as the first people. adamah- means dirt ,dust ,earth. He is linked to the Earth because it is the substance “Adam” was made of. Eve (hebrew Chavah) “mother of all living things” whose name literally means “life” or “live”.again symbolic. Names in Genesis have a lot of symbolism just as the numbers, 7,12,40.Numbers of all kinds are full of symbolism throughout the bible…Some people fixate about of really unimportant thins in Genesis. Main thing to remember is that God created us out of love- that he"so loved the world that He gave His only Son".That path of salvation through Christ starts here in Genesis. God bless.
 
I think I see it now. It is like a flash back or a in depth account of the sixth day.

I’m confused when it comes to “Two different stories from two different sources?” and the Documentary Hypothesis theory.
 
Cory_G said:
I think I see it now. It is like a flash back or a in depth account of the sixth day.

I’m confused when it comes to “Two different stories from two different sources?” and the Documentary Hypothesis theory.
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Well, Moses wrote Genesis, according to Jewish Tradition. The story of Genesis would be 1000’s of years old by the time of Moses. He could have combined the stories from two different legends.

I don’t buy it. I still feel its God’s way of saying, “Yeah, I created all things with simply a Word, but I still care for each and every one of you, My children”. One story shows God’s unlimited power. The other shows God’s unlimited Love!
 
juliamajor said:
No_ there were no folks before the first two. Two different stories from two different sources? Or does the second story just flesh out the details of the first? You decide. I prefer what they call the Documentary Hypothesis- which believes there were several different sources for the text, which like threads , can be woven into a complete story. Some folks don’t believe in it. Majority of Bible scholars believe in some form of the DH. The names “Adam” and “Eve” not real names but symbolic of their role as the first people. adamah- means dirt ,dust ,earth. He is linked to the Earth because it is the substance “Adam” was made of. Eve (hebrew Chavah) “mother of all living things” whose name literally means “life” or “live”.again symbolic. Names in Genesis have a lot of symbolism just as the numbers, 7,12,40.Numbers of all kinds are full of symbolism throughout the bible…Some people fixate about of really unimportant thins in Genesis. Main thing to remember is that God created us out of love- that he"so loved the world that He gave His only Son".That path of salvation through Christ starts here in Genesis. God bless.
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The Toledoths of Genesis
 
Cory_G said:
I think I see it now. It is like a flash back or a in depth account of the sixth day.

I’m confused when it comes to “Two different stories from two different sources?” and the Documentary Hypothesis theory.
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Read the Toledoths of Genesis in the above post.
 
NotWorthy said:
Well, Moses wrote Genesis, according to Jewish Tradition. The story of Genesis would be 1000’s of years old by the time of Moses. He could have combined the stories from two different legends.

I don’t buy it. I still feel its God’s way of saying, “Yeah, I created all things with simply a Word, but I still care for each and every one of you, My children”. One story shows God’s unlimited power. The other shows God’s unlimited Love!
Click to expand...
By Jewish tradition-Moses wrote it. technically it looks like more then a few hands wrote the Torah.You can buy the Documentary Hypothesis or not.-It’s not as important as the messages in Genesis.
 
I am going to read that link, and will post back after I do. I currently attend college online and the weekend is the best time for me complete my course work. I will try and read through that site tonight.

Thanks for the link.
 
juliamajor said:
By Jewish tradition-Moses wrote it. technically it looks like more then a few hands wrote the Torah.You can buy the Documentary Hypothesis or not.-It’s not as important as the messages in Genesis.
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You are right. Its not as important as the message.

But there are some really bizarre theories about Genesis.
 
If God did make people before Adam and Eve, He made them without an immortal soul, such as the kind of souls that animals have that die when the body dies. We have souls that are immortal, that live after the body dies, and it goes to Heaven or Hades or Purgatory immediately after our bodies die.
 
COPLAND_3 said:
If God did make people before Adam and Eve, He made them without an immortal soul, such as the kind of souls that animals have that die when the body dies. We have souls that are immortal, that live after the body dies, and it goes to Heaven or Hades or Purgatory immediately after our bodies die.
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Is that a possible theory, that God created soulless humans before Adam and Eve? Do you have any links you could share where it has been discussed or written about?
 
Cory_G said:
Is that a possible theory, that God created soulless humans before Adam and Eve? Do you have any links you could share where it has been discussed or written about?
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The Church teaches that this is an acceptable theory. BUT… these people would have died out by the time of Adam.

According to the Church, we must believe that Adam and Eve are ultimately our ancestors. Else, Original Sin would only be applied to those who are descendants of Adam and Eve and not to those descended from these soulless beings.
 
NotWorthy said:
The Church teaches that this is an acceptable theory. BUT… these people would have died out by the time of Adam.

According to the Church, we must believe that Adam and Eve are ultimately our ancestors. Else, Original Sin would only be applied to those who are descendants of Adam and Eve and not to those descended from these soulless beings.
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I did a quick look up and found a lot of articles for pre-adamites that I will have to read later.

If the Church takes the position that it is possible, why do they insist that they must have all been extinct before Adam?

Since technically we are also all decedents of Noah, and if Noah and his wife were descendants of Adam and Eve then original sin could still be valid.

Has that take been discredited?
 
Cory_G said:
I did a quick look up and found a lot of articles for pre-adamites that I will have to read later.

If the Church takes the position that it is possible, why do they insist that they must have all been extinct before Adam?

Since technically we are also all decedents of Noah, and if Noah and his wife were descendants of Adam and Eve then original sin could still be valid.

Has that take been discredited?
Click to expand...
Would Noah’s wife be a descendant of Adam and Eve? How are we sure of that?
 
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