Ask Fred > Faith > Did God create other humans alongside Adam and Eve?

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Dear Fred

I have a friend that says that There was Adam and Eve, and then other created human beings at that time. He uses this to explain away that Cain could have married without it being his sister and therefore sin. How can I dispute this?

Fred's Response

I'm not theological enough to answer this question. I passed it on to Bob Deffinbaugh, Teaching Elder of Community Bible Chapel in Dallas and a board member of BWF Project. ---- Dear Friend, I believe that your friend has it wrong, for a number of reasons. First, the creation of other human beings is a conclusion that does not originate from Scripture, but is rather an attempt to solve an assumed problem (more on this later). In short, the Bible doesn’t teach this, anywhere. Second, the Bible speaks of one set of “parents,” Adam and Eve, from whom the whole human race came. 20 The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living (Genesis 3:20; see also Genesis 5:1ff.; 1 Chronicles 1:1; Luke 3:38). Third, the fall of the human race is traced back to Adam and Eve, and this is seen as affecting all their offspring and descendants (see Romans 5:12ff.). Fourth, marriage to one’s sister was not a sin before the law was given (see Romans 5:13). I am also inclined to understand Romans 7:9-11 as referring to man’s fall (including Paul here) in Adam: 9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died (Romans 7:9-11). Notice that Paul does not say, “the commandments” (plural), but rather “the commandment” (singular). Adam’s sin consisted of the violation of one commandment. I take this to refer to the commandment not to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree. Remember that Abraham married his half-sister (Genesis 20:12), and this was not considered sin. Fifth, the assumption is often made that the reason for the prohibition of marriage to one’s sister is do to the possibility of genetic defects. (This would be the basis for such laws today that prohibit marriage to one’s sister.) While this is beyond my expertise, others have argued forcefully that at the outset of the human race such genetic dangers did not exist. You’ll need to research this further, if you’re interested. The bottom line is that this fellow’s “solution” has more problems than the theoretical “problem” he is seeking to solve. There is no problem (with marriage to one’s sister at this point in time), but there is a problem with adding other created human beings. I hope this helps, Bob Deffinbaugh