Historical Christadelphian Approaches - 8

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Index of Early Genesis, A review of historical Christadelphian approaches

by Bro Ken Chalmers, January, 2016
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8. The origin and existence of man

Evidence of pre-Adamic man was recognised by our early brethren, purely from what they viewed as Scriptural ‘hints’, long before any scientific evidence. The following is a selection:

“There are indeed hints, casually dropped in the Scriptures, which would seem to indicate that our planet was inhabited by a race of beings anterior to the formation of man.”[1]

“Before the six days’ work began, he speaks of the earth as being ‘without form and void’, and ‘darkness on the face of the deep’ (Gen i. 2). How long it had been in this state is not hinted; but the narrative leaves room for the measureless ages said to be required by geology. Neither was the human the first rational race on its surface, if we are to attach the same sense to the words addressed to Adam as they possessed when addressed to Noah. ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish (fill again) the earth’. There may have been a previous race, swept away after the manner of the flood, the catastrophe leaving the earth in the state in which the six days’ work found it.”[2]

Reference has been previously made (see previous page) to bro Jardine’s ‘mere suggestion’ that what we have recorded is God’s dealings within a ‘contracted territory’ (Eden and environs) and that all other activities and ‘transactions’ outside of Adam’s dominion are not described.

In more recent times, a 7 part series addressing science and religion, described in its concluding part, as follows:

“Long ages, then, are not without their own problems. But if they are accepted as valid, we might yet say: (a) we are not called upon to account for God’s activities in the past. He may well, for reasons which He has not clearly disclosed, have seen fit to let man-like creatures dwell on the earth before Adam came . . .  We might also say, (b) the brevity of the account in Genesis 1 forbids us to suppose that we know about the condition of the earth at the time when Adam was formed; and the existence of manlike creatures who were nevertheless not ‘men’ in the Scriptural sense, outside the confines of the Garden of Eden, is not excluded in Scripture . . .  To suppose this, would not involve us in any denial of the uniqueness and specialness of Adam, unless we chose ourselves to make it so.

“A man might, that is to say, express himself thus: ‘I think there may have been non- Adamic, manlike creatures in existence in the earth at the time when God formed Adam and placed him in the Garden. I think it possible that, after Adam had sinned and been expelled from the garden, his children may have had opportunity to come into contact with these creatures. They might, indeed, have established unlawful relations with them, and this might be what occurred when Cain went out into the Land of Nod. This might have been some part of the sin of the ‘sons of God’ in the record of Genesis 6. It might have been this unholy seed which was extinguished at the Flood.’

“We might not be satisfied with the wisdom of such speculations, but nothing essential is lost by them, for we preserve the uniqueness of Adam, the reality of the Fall, and our own present Adamic nature. And in the limited nature of our knowledge, even from Scripture, of what the condition of the world outside Eden may have been at that time, we find sufficient latitude for a proper calmness in the face of possibilities which do not injure our deposit of faith.”[3]

At this time, other writers have also suggested, on the basis of scientific data, that the existence of human-like species, needs explanation:

“There is abundant evidence of early ‘man’ at a time which certainly appears to be far beyond the limits allowed by Bible chronology. This must be admitted even after discounting the slender and uncertain remains claimed for a still more remote antiquity, about which there have been such notorious blunders and even downright fraud.”[4]

Others have expressed themselves as did bro Sargent:

“It is quite unreasonable to doubt that reasoning beings with bodies like ours existed a hundred thousand years before Adam and Eve were created. This fact poses a number of questions. How do these pre-Adamic ‘men’ fit in with the enactments of creation revealed in Genesis? In what ways did these ‘men’ differ from Adam and Eve? Had they all died out before Adam and Eve were created? What is the strength of the alleged evidence that their descendants exist until this day? Such questions are asked by thousands of brethren and sisters and wondered about by many more who scarcely dare to speak. They are not the results of doubts in the faithless; they are the inevitable outcome of literacy and common sense among believers. It is therefore quite disheartening to find a section of the brotherhood poised like a vulture ready to swoop down and devour anyone who has the temerity to try and tackle them.”[5]

Others have simply said ‘we don’t know how exactly’, such as the following:

“Whilst we do not claim to know in literal detail either the time taken or the methods used by God in creating Adam, we believe that Adam came into being as the purposed result of God’s creative activity, and that he was distinct in kind from the animal world, the fishes, birds, and the beasts of the field, this distinctiveness of kind being indicated by the Scriptural record that ‘God created man in His own image.’”[6]

  1. Thomas, J, Elpis Israel, p 10
  2. Roberts, R, The Christadelphian, v10, p163 (1873)
  3. Norris, A D Norris, A D, Where Science and Religion Meet, in The Christadelphian, v102, p 149 (1965)
  4. Sargent, L G "The Origin of Man", The Christadelphian, v102, p344 (1965)
  5. Reynolds, P W, Letter to the Editor, ibid, p 462 (1965)
  6. Watford Ecclesia Arranging Brethren, The Christadelphian, v103, p546 (1966)
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