Q. I have a friend who
believes and teaches about preadamites. It isn’t that theory itself
bothers me, as much as the idea that comes from it. The bible clearly
says that Adam was the first man, and that through him (Adam) was sin
and death brought into the world. If a race was already here and God
destroyed it, wouldn’t that make these verses in the bible untrue? He
teaches that this race happened between Gen 1:1, and Gen1:2 during the
Gap Theory. Any biblical thoughts would be more than appreciated, thank
you.
A. The only pre-Adamite beings were the angels, who Job identifies as being present when God laid the foundations of Earth (Job 38:2-7).
The notion of a pre-Adamite race of human like beings on Earth who were judged and destroyed cannot be reconciled with the Bible and was not originally part of the Gap Theory. This theory, also known as the Ruin-Reconstruction Theory, places an undetermined period of time between Genesis 1:1 & 1:2 where Earth sat in the dark, an uninhabitable ruin, as a result of the fall and judgment of Lucifer.
It’s been around since at least the 1600’s but the first one to popularize the idea of a pre-Adamite race, at least among believers, was probably Dr. Finis Dake, editor of Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, early in the 20th Century. While the original Gap Theory is consistent with the Creation account, the unfortunate inclusion of a pre-Adamite race destroys it’s compatibility.
The pre-Adamite idea relies on a highly speculative interpretation of the phrase “after its own kind” found in several places in the Creation account, and the incorrect translation of the Hebrew word “male”, which is translated “replenish” in the King James Version of Genesis 1:28. It actually means “to fill.”
As you’ve pointed out it attacks the veracity of the Biblical account. Both cannot be true, since Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, plainly stated that Adam was “the first man” (1 Corinthians 15:45), and that through Adam’s sin death entered the world (Romans 5:12; 8:20-22; 1 Corinthians 15:21).
A. The only pre-Adamite beings were the angels, who Job identifies as being present when God laid the foundations of Earth (Job 38:2-7).
The notion of a pre-Adamite race of human like beings on Earth who were judged and destroyed cannot be reconciled with the Bible and was not originally part of the Gap Theory. This theory, also known as the Ruin-Reconstruction Theory, places an undetermined period of time between Genesis 1:1 & 1:2 where Earth sat in the dark, an uninhabitable ruin, as a result of the fall and judgment of Lucifer.
It’s been around since at least the 1600’s but the first one to popularize the idea of a pre-Adamite race, at least among believers, was probably Dr. Finis Dake, editor of Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, early in the 20th Century. While the original Gap Theory is consistent with the Creation account, the unfortunate inclusion of a pre-Adamite race destroys it’s compatibility.
The pre-Adamite idea relies on a highly speculative interpretation of the phrase “after its own kind” found in several places in the Creation account, and the incorrect translation of the Hebrew word “male”, which is translated “replenish” in the King James Version of Genesis 1:28. It actually means “to fill.”
As you’ve pointed out it attacks the veracity of the Biblical account. Both cannot be true, since Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, plainly stated that Adam was “the first man” (1 Corinthians 15:45), and that through Adam’s sin death entered the world (Romans 5:12; 8:20-22; 1 Corinthians 15:21).
