I am just finishing up GAE and it has been one of the most fascinating and fun reads I have had in a while. Swamidass managed to answer most of my questions (or at least provide possible answers), but I still have questions regarding the people outside the garden. Josh said he believes that the people outside the garden no longer exist. Is this due to them all intermixing with A&E offspring? He briefly mentioned them being killed off or intermixing. How would they have been killed off? The flood? How long did it take for them to disappear and were they part of the biblical narrative at all?
I imagine many of these questions can’t be answered but it just came across as flippant to say they are no longer around. But I’m not a scientist so maybe there’s reason to say that?
@roxy_taylor, welcome to the forum. It’s a rowdy place, but I hope it’s also fun for you.
First off thanks for reading the book and thinking about this with us. I’m glad it was a fun read for you!
Yes. That’s right. Remember, “people outside the garden” just means people who do NOT descend from Adam and Eve. Because we all descend from Adam and Eve in present day, the “people outside the garden” aren’t around any more.
I’m not sure I said “killed.” Perhaps “died”? Remember not all of them are our ancestors, because some people never have children, and therefore can’t be our ancestors. Perhaps I was being overly precise. But most of them would be our ancestors, but not strictly speaking, would all of them be our ancestors.
From a theological perspective, nonetheless, the category of “people who do not descend from Adam and Eve” is confined to the distant past. That’s the key point.