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Three Creations: Neanderthal to Adam to Christ

In May, 2010, scientists came forward proclaiming that some of us are walking around with varying amounts, one to four percent, of Neanderthal DNA. While this may explain what many of us have long suspected about some of our co-workers, this appears to pose a dilemma for Christians who say that Adam was the first man. But it shouldn't.

Neanderthals are said to have disappeared about 28,000 years ago, which is quite a bit before the commonly accepted Christian date for Adam's creation about 6000 years ago. This raises the logical question, how can Adam be the first man if Neanderthals pre-dated Adam, as adamkind has some Neanderthal DNA today? And if we have this DNA in us today, how did it possibly get there? How did it make it through Noah's flood, especially as Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, and Neanderthals definitely weren't? And would this negate the creation story of Adam in Genesis? [See No Neaderthal Y Chromosomes Found In Modern DNA; also First Hominids Came From Europe Not Africa].

Christian media sources have been silent to date about this discovery that modern man has some Neanderthal DNA. This discovery means, obviously, that some Neanderthal DNA is compatible with human DNA, though filtered through intermediary species, which made its way into the modern day human genome. This unsettling news disrupts the commonly believed timeline for creationists and the uniqueness of the creation of man. However, no Neaderthal Y chromosome, the chromosome that passes from father to son, is in humans today. This is the paternal lineage. Adam would have had only a mankind Y chromosome. And, it should be noted, the Biblical record is a paternal history.

So how close to human DNA would a hominid have to be to be able to produce viable offspring? Chimps are about 99.6% like humans, but genetically that's too far. Today, modern man's DNA is about 99.9% alike according to geneticists. How close is close enough ... 99.8%, 99.7%?

Chromosomes probably would have to be identical in number to produce children that are not sterile. Horses with 64 diploid chromosomes, and donkeys with 62 chromosomes produce sterile mules. Humans have 46 diploid chromosomes, 23 from each parent. Chimps have 48 diploid chromosomes while orangutans have 44 and monkeys have 42.

In the second chapter of The Blind Man's Elephant, it clearly shows that when Cain left Adam and Eve and crossed the river leaving Eden, there is no Biblical record of his taking any female, much less a sister with him. None. It's just not there. Yet, the Biblical record plainly states Cain had offspring. [See chapter two, Did The Second Man Marry His Sister?, The Blind Man's Elephant, now a complimentary PDF on our Home page].

Religious reasoning basically says Cain had to have left with his sister because if it is any other way, it conflicts with our traditional beliefs about creation. This is another example of mankind projecting onto God our human shortcomings and lack of understanding. It is in the same vein of reasoning that gave us the flat Earth and geo-centric theories of creation.

The Biblical record says Cain had offspring with a female, Hebrew ishshah, who likely was a female hominid, and definitely not his sister. The Biblical record shows that Cain's offspring were fertile [Gen. 4:17, 18]. Obviously then, adamkind DNA was compatible with hominid DNA 6000 years ago. For the creationists reading this, relax, it's better than you think. It's also different than what you think. Besides, none of Cain's seed made it through the flood. [See the Sneakers article, Darwin: God Created Life].

All the above concerns, however, place the sole emphasis on our physical container, the natural body. But to do so is to completely miss the importance of Adam's creation. This apparent conundrum is discussed in detail in the first chapter of The Blind Man's Elephant, "Three Creations Of Life: A Bridge To Understanding."  A complimentary copy is available at the bottom of our Home page.

The significance of Adam's creation is not of the flesh, but rather the significance is of the spirit. When life on land was created on day six according to the account in Genesis, [see chapter four in The Blind Man's Elephant for a discussion about the six days of creation], it is stated, "And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so."

Yet with Adam, it is stated, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ...." Thus, the significance of Adam's creation, what made him the first man, is that he was the first to be made in the image and likeness of God. And as God is not of the dust of the Earth or natural, but is of the spirit, the key is that mankind, as opposed to creaturekind, has a difference that gives life to mortal bodies. That difference is the spirit of man as opposed to the spirit of creatures that hominids had. [See Zec. 12:1]. We should note here that the the use of "us" in reference to God refers to the fact that the Hebrew word אֱלֹהִים, 'elohiym, is a plural noun like the word family. It is a single unit comprised of more than one person.

This noteworthy difference between creaturekind and mankind is apparent at death as Solomon said, "Who knows the spirit of man that goes upward, and the spirit of the beast that goes downward to the earth?" [Ecc. 3:21; 12:7]. Both the natural bodies of animals and mankind, however, return to the dust of the Earth. Life similarities are of the flesh. Life differences are of the spirit.

While some people may believe it is our physical appearance that separates us from creatures and makes us "like God," our natural bodies have no preeminence over animals in this regard. "For that which befalls the sons of men befalls beasts; even one thing befalls them: as the one dies, so dies the other; yes, they have all one breath; so that a man has no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity." [Ecc. 3:19; also see Job 34:15]. Our natural bodies and the bodies of animals are the same before God. We all come from the earth and the natural bodies return to the earth.

Even if it was discovered that Neanderthals or some other hominid and modern man had nearly identical DNA, this is only a mortal similarity. Our natural bodies are just vehicles through which our spirit interacts with this "reality" we call life. [See the Feature article, Brown Paint: Quantum Potentialities]. What sets man apart from creatures is of the spirit, the spirit of man. For mankind, then, the uniqueness of our life is about choice. Do we choose to follow the way of the flesh, which leads to death, or do we choose the way of the Spirit, to elevate our lives following the "narrow way, which leads to life ...? It is this unique duality of life that provides us a portal to immortality with Christ as the mediator.

The separation of Adam from hominids didn't stop with the spirit of man. There is the third creation of life, a step above the spirit of man that was made manifest in the first century by Christ, the last Adam. [See 1 Cor. 15:45]. This portal is not available to any creature. "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also make alive your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you." [Rom 8:11] The third spirit that gives life to mortal flesh in this life, the natural body, is the Spirit of God. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." [1 Cor. 6:19, 20]. And the apostle Paul’s words to the Christians in Rome are not a reference to being resurrected back into a mortal body as is taught by the Roman church. [See 1 Cor. 15:50-54; also the Feature articles, Heaven Can Wait and Heaven Can Wait II].

The DNA closeness of our modern day natural container with hominids past is spiritually irrelevant. The significance of Adam's creation was the spirit of man. And the significance of a Christian's re-birth, made available by the last Adam, is the Spirit of God. Thus, there are three levels of spiritual consciousness in living creatures. This is where the consequence of life’s distinctions are manifested.

When we read or listen to the polarized discussions sure to appear regarding this subject, it would be wise to bear in mind what the apostle Paul said, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit."

For detailed discussion of this subject in The Blind Man's Elephant, read chapters one and two. Also see the Feature article, Is Genesis 1 A Jolly Good Myth?

Italics and [ ] are the author's.

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"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."