Don Stewart :: Did Any Human Beings Exist before Adam and Eve?

Is there any biblical evidence of the existence of human-like beings before Adam and Eve? Is there such a thing as pre-Adamic humans?

Not Possible From Scripture

A close investigation of the Bible shows that it does not allow for the possibility for pre-Adamic humanity.

Adam As The First Man

The Bible says that Adam was the first man. The Book of Genesis says:

Then God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . . And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (Genesis 1:26, 2:7).

The Apostle Paul wrote:

And so it is written, the first man Adam became a living being (1 Corinthians 15:45).

According to these verses, there were no humans before Adam and Eve. The first created humans were Adam and Eve. The Bible gives no hint that any pre-Adamic race was created before them.

No Death Before Adam

We are also told that there was not any human death until after the creation of Adam.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned . . . Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses (Romans 5:12,14).

Because there was no death of human beings until after Adam, this seems to rule out any race existing before him.

Genesis 1:28

Some have pointed to a verse in Genesis that seems to support a race existing before Adam. Genesis 1:28 in the King James Version reads:

Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth (Genesis 1:28).

Why would the earth have to be replenished? Does this not assume a race existed previously? The answer lies in the verb the King James translators rendered as replenish. The Hebrew word maleh means fill. There is no idea of replenishing something that was already there. The New King James Bible properly translates the verse in this manner:

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it' (Genesis 1:28).

Angels

What about angels? Would they qualify as to being some type of pre-Adamic race? The answer is No. The Bible makes the distinction between humanity and angels. Angels are ministering spirits created to do the will of God.

In speaking of the angels He says, He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire (Hebrews 1:7).

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:14).

There is no evidence they reproduce or can reproduce. Consequently they cannot die. Jesus said angels do not marry:

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven (Matthew 22:30).

Contrast To Human Beings

Furthermore, in the Scriptures, angels are contrasted to humankind.

What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor (Psalm 8:4,5).

Many Questions

If there were a race of people created before Adam and Eve, then numerous questions would have to be answered such as: What did they look like? Did these people have a soul? Did Christ die for their sins? What happened to them when they died? Why isn't there any specific information in Scripture about them? All these questions have no answer for those who believe there was some pre-Adamic race.

Summary

We conclude that the Bible gives no evidence of any race having been created before Adam. All the evidence points to him as being the first human. To argue for a race of Pre-Adamic humanity causes all sorts of problems from a biblical perspective.