Did Adam and Eve Literally Exist?

After converting from agnosticism to Christianity I at times felt that Adam and Eve are not to be taken literally since I have long believed in some form of evolution. I especially questioned them when I learned that genetic records show that the human population was never below 10,000. However, after learning about Hylemorphic dualism from reading Edward Feser’s work I have come to take them literally.

I view the first few chapters of Genesis much as I do Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” as both have elements of poetic form. Tennyson’s poem is about a real British cavalry unit in the Crimean War, and discusses their real ill-fated charge. In much the same way Genesis poetically deals with the heart of the Creator as he forms the universe and life. This is not a science textbook that explains how God did it—it is science’s job to write that book. Much like Tennyson’s poem deals with a real cavalry unit, Genesis deals with a real Adam and Eve.

The Evolution of Man’s Best Friend

I enjoyed NOVA’s presentation of “Dog’s Decoded” last night. It showed an interesting sexual selection experiment where scientists selected unaggressive foxes and bred them together. After the eighth generation the foxes went from snapping at humans to acting friendly like dogs. Astoundingly, the foxes started to have lighter coats and curving tails just like dogs! There was also an interesting nature vs. nurture study where a wolf cub was raised like a dog. The study showed that you can’t nurture a tame wolf, and that dogs have been genetically created to be our companions.