GENEALOGICAL ADAM & EVE HB

Evolutionary science teaches that humans arose as a population, sharing common ancestors with other animals. Most readers of the book of Genesis in the past understood all humans descended from Adam and Eve, a couple specially created by God. These two teachings seem contradictory, but is that necessarily so? In the fractured conversation of human origins, can new insight guide us to solid ground in both science and theology?

In The Genealogical Adam and Eve, S. Joshua Swamidass tests a scientific hypothesis: What if the traditional account is somehow true, with the origins of Adam and Eve taking place alongside evolution? Building on well-established but overlooked science, Swamidass explains how it's possible for Adam and Eve to be rightly identified as the ancestors of everyone. His analysis opens up new possibilities for understanding Adam and Eve, consistent both with current scientific consensus and with traditional readings of Scripture. These new possibilities open a conversation about what it means to be human.

In this book, Swamidass untangles several misunderstandings about the words human and ancestry, in both science and theology explains how genetic and genealogical ancestry are different, and how universal genealogical ancestry creates a new opportunity for rapprochement explores implications of genealogical ancestry for the theology of the image of God, the fall, and people 'outside the garden'

Some think Adam and Eve are a myth. Some think evolution is a myth. Either way, the best available science opens up space to engage larger questions together. In this bold exploration, Swamidass charts a new way forward for peace between mainstream science and the Christian faith.

As reviewed by Dr. Stephen McQuoid in January 2021- 'One of the great questions that arises in the creation vs. evolution debate is that of whether or not Adam and Eve are the parents of all of mankind and whether we are ‘physically’ present in them. This is a question which Swamidass, who is a scientist, tries to answer using genetics. A book like this was always going to be controversial, but I nevertheless read it with an open mind. Swamidas makes the point that there is a difference between genealogical ancestry and genetic ancestry, and we need to be careful not to conflate the two. Genealogical ancestry charts the history of a family line and original parents can be traced in a fairly straightforward way. However, when it comes to genetic ancestry, the reality is that if you take any cross section of a population at a given time, they will have many ‘original parents’ and genetics cannot definitively prove that Adam and Eve are our first parents or even that they are not. Swamidass also points out that there are complications is assuming the original parentage of Adam and Eve for all mankind, such as the presence of remote populations in places like Tasmania. As the book develops it is clear that Swamidass is working on several assumptions. One is that evolution is true and the world is very old, another is that there were more ancient populations outside the garden of Eden that were essentially human, another that Adam and Eve’s descendants interbred with those populations outside the garden and another that the fall had an impact on all humanity. This is put together in a speculative narrative at the end of the book. Personally, I don’t totally buy into his thesis (either scientifically or theologically) and elements of his narrative are, I think, theologically unsustainable. Nevertheless, it is a book that pushes boundaries, that asks profound questions and tries to marry science and genetics with biblical theology. To that end it is a complex and thoughtful piece of work that is worth the read though is definitely not for the feint hearted.'

Publisher : IVP Academic; Illustrated edition (10 Dec. 2019)
Language: : English
Hardcover : 264 pages