I just finished reading the book (enjoyed it!), and I have a few questions. Let me first say that I went into the book a bit skeptical for the need for GAE, and I am still not sure that it’s needed, but I can now see how it could be helpful to a lot of people, including YEC folks. I am still working out what I think about Genesis 1-11, and I worship with a congregation that teaches YEC, though the leadership knows that I accept old earth and evolutionary biology (including humans). My own background is that I was an electrical engineer prior to kids, and now I’m a homeschooling mom with an interest in science and theology. I left YEC a few years back, had a crisis of faith, was an atheist for several months, then returned to the church and have kept the line of communication open with church leadership - asking lots and lots of questions, and discussing issues as needed.
Now to my questions for @swamidass and anyone else who might be able to answer…
- How does Noah fit into the GAE? If Noah was 2000+ years later than Adam and Eve, wouldn’t a fairly large number of people be descendants of AE? So in that scenario, who is killed in the flood? I believe there was a regional flood, and I’ve been leaning toward the flood killing the line of Adam except for Noah and his family. But is that scientifically possible if AE’s descendants have already spread around much of the globe? Or are you proposing that the descendants don’t spread until after the flood? And in that case, is there, scientifically, still time for that descent to spread around the globe by 1AD? I see in the book you mention that you have 5 people to descend from. It just wasn’t clear to me if the scenario still works with that. And related to that, if GAE hits a bottleneck of 5 at the flood, how is it spreading to the people in the Americas, since the original land bridge is gone by that point?
- There’s a recurring figure, and I think the most information is given on page 90, Figure 7.1. The text explains what A, B, C, D, and E are, and I understand that GH is the Genealogical Hypothesis, but what are F and G? I don’t see the full figure explained anywhere. There seem to be bits and pieces explained in different places. It might be fully explained somewhere and I missed it. And related to that, in that figure on page 90, why are the “Elements of Adam and Eve Account” only all met under the YEC camp?
- How would you explain 2 Peter 3:5-6 in light of the GAE hypothesis? I’ve seen some YEC’s use this verse to say Christians who don’t accept a global flood are scoffers.
I may have more questions after I process the book more and discuss it with an elder or two at my church.