Morledge: A Genetic or Genealogical Adam and Eve? (… An Alternative to “Deconstruction”)

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Great review by @cmorledge. Thank you. I hope you put part of it on amazon :slight_smile:


Enter S. Joshua Swamidass, a doctor and scientist teaching at Washington University, who runs a website at PeacefulScience.org. Unlike those who favor the deconversion narrative, Swamidass is optimistic. He has proposed a very interesting answer to these questions, an answer that might resolve the difficulty. In short, to quote from his new book, “ Evolution fractured the origin story of Adam and Eve, but we can recover it now ” ( The Genealogical Adam and Eve , ch. 14).

Dr. Swamidass grew up in a home where Young Earth Creationism was taught, and interestingly, he even shares the same birthday as Ken Ham, the founder of Answers in Genesis, the world’s leading Young Earth Creationist ministry.

In other words, Swamidass’ proposal seeks to build bridges across wide divides, but in doing so, he breaks all of the older molds. But perhaps the older molds all need breaking. Perhaps those who are less in entrenched in their particular silos might be open to what Swamidass has in mind.

This is the reason I am really excited by professor Swamidass’ peace proposal . We see all kinds of issues where Christians will divide from one another: separating churches, damaging friendships, and even causing tensions in family relationships. In an age when the church is divided about a number of issues (charismatic gifts, the EndTimes, women in ministry, etc.), it is really encouraging and refreshing to see how someone is creatively willing to try to get a number of Christians, with very different views of human origins, into a room, to try to hammer out a peace proposal, as a sincere attempt to try to build unity among believers, without compromising truth.

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One issue though:

Even some Old Earth Creationists have their doubts about Swamidass’ thesis.

Hans Madueme is a YEC, not a OEC.

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Thanks, Joshua, for the kudos. Will look at the idea of posting on Amazon… Also modified the link in my blog post regarding Hans Madueme. I am kind of surprised that a YEC would post at The Gospel Coalition, as most of their writers are OEC, in orientation.

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@cmorledge and @TedDavis, can you tell us more about this story?

As I wrote about a few months ago, some post-Reformation era scholars, several hundred of years ago, began to reexamine the Bible, and noticed that there is evidence in the Scriptures that there were humans living on earth, as created by God, prior to and concurrent with the arrival of Adam and Eve. The exploration of this idea helps to answer the age-old question of “ where did Cain get his wife ?“ This was the infamous question that Clarence Darrow asked William Jennings Bryan, while Bryan was on the witness stand, at the 1920s’ Scope Monkey Trial, the turning point moment in both the classic play and movie, “Inherit the Wind,” which were based on that trial.

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