The Genealogical Adam and Eve

The Surprising Science of Universal Ancestry

S. Joshua Swamidass

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780830865055
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion & Science

Evolutionary science teaches that humans arose as a population, sharing common ancestors with other animals. Most readers of the book of Genesis in the past understood all humans descended from Adam and Eve, a couple specially created by God. These two teachings seem contradictory, but is that necessarily so? In the fractured conversation of human origins, can new insight guide us to solid ground in both science and theology? In The Genealogical Adam and Eve, S. Joshua Swamidass tests a scientific hypothesis: What if the traditional account is somehow true, with the origins of Adam and Eve taking place alongside evolution? Building on well-established but overlooked science, Swamidass explains how it's possible for Adam and Eve to be rightly identified as the ancestors of everyone. His analysis opens up new possibilities for understanding Adam and Eve, consistent both with current scientific consensus and with traditional readings of Scripture. These new possibilities open a conversation about what it means to be human. In this book, Swamidass- untangles several misunderstandings about the words human and ancestry, in both science and theology- explains how genetic and genealogical ancestry are different, and how universal genealogical ancestry creates a new opportunity for rapprochement- explores implications of genealogical ancestry for the theology of the image of God, the fall, and people "outside the garden"Some think Adam and Eve are a myth. Some think evolution is a myth. Either way, the best available science opens up space to engage larger questions together. In this bold exploration, Swamidass charts a new way forward for peace between mainstream science and the Christian faith.

Chapter One

Courage, Curiosity, Empathy

I AM A SCIENTIST IN THE CHURCH and a Christian in science. My goal is to “make room for our differences, even as we maintain our own beliefs and practices.”1 We all come from different starting points. Some are certain Adam and Eve are a myth. Some are certain evolution is a myth. Whatever the truth of the matter, let us travel together for a moment, seeking a common good.

The question of human origins sits at one fracture in society, where divisions have grown into injuries. There are different stories in the Church and in science. Evolution splinters the traditional account of Adam and Eve along several dilemmas. This splintering brings me to a question: Alongside the scientific evidence, what are the full range of ways in which we could understand Adam and Eve? In what way does evolutionary science press on our understanding of Adam and Eve?

For thousands of years, most readers of Genesis thought Adam and Eve were real people who (1) lived in the Middle East, just several thousand years ago; (2) were the ancestors of everyone; and (3) were created, with no parents, by a direct act of God. This account is not airtight or self-contained, nor is it articulated in the precise language of science. It includes lacunae, or gaps, that are bridged in diverse ways. This is the “traditional” de novo account of Adam and Eve on which this book focuses.

There may be valid reasons to object to this definition of the traditional account. Other readings of Genesis are found in history and they might be considered traditional too. It is possible, moreover, that a nontraditional understanding of Adam and Eve might be a faithful reading of Scripture. The traditional de novo account described here, nonetheless, is how most people through history read Genesis. This account is intertwined with deep traditions of the Church, and it is the account that seems disproven by science. The atheist biologist Jerry Coyne succinctly states the consensus:

These are the scientific facts. And, unlike the case of Jesus’ virgin birth and resurrection, we can dismiss a physical Adam and Eve with near scientific certainty.2

In agreement, “evolutionary creationists” argued for years,3

The de novo creation of Adam and Eve is not compatible with what scientists have found in God’s creation.4

Is this how evolutionary science presses on the story of Adam and Eve? Does scientific evidence demonstrate the traditional account is incorrect? Maybe not.

This book arises from an ongoing “civic practice” of science “rooted in three aspirations: tolerance, humility and patience.”5 In humility, we recognize that we cannot convince everyone to agree with us. In tolerance, we make space for those with whom we disagree. In patience, we seek understanding, listening to the concerns of others, taking their questions seriously. The common good is served as we put these virtues into public practice, making room for differences. These virtues also make room for science. Science is driven by the dynamic exchange of disagreement over questions. Here, in science, the question of Adam and Eve followed me for decades.

The question, at first, required courage.

The question, eventually, was driven by curiosity.

The question, now, is motivated by empathy.

The question, here, is to be studied with a genealogical hypothesis.

The question is answered with a genealogical correction.

This question, already, is a crossroad.

As a scientist, and in the spirit of science, I want to take the question of Adam and Eve seriously, engaging it with rigor and honesty. Steeped in centuries of history, the question is storied, but a new conversation might arise around it now. Sitting at a fracture, the question itself is a crossroad for an exchange.

A QUESTION OF COURAGE

How much does evolutionary science press on our understanding of Adam and Eve? This question, at first, required courage. I was raised as a young earth creationist, believing that the Earth was just six thousand years old, following a literalistic interpretation of Genesis. I was taught that all humans descend from Adam and Eve. By a direct act of God, Adam was created without parents, from the dust of the earth, and Eve was created from his side. They lived just six thousand to ten thousand years ago in the Middle East. This is who we are and how we got here.

My parents were immigrants from India. We were not tightly connected to the history of conflict in the West over evolution and Genesis. Instead, we read Genesis, and it left us with a strong impression that we all descend from Adam and Eve, who lived recently in the past. We trusted Genesis, so this is what we believed. This was the first origin story I learned, understanding it as historical fact, but the story was still alive with mystery. I did not pretend to understand all the details. Like many readers before me, I wondered about Nephilim. “Who was it outside the Garden that interbred with Adam and Eve’s lineage?”

At the same time, I was drawn to science. I learned of another origin story, that of human evolution. “Humans arise from common ancestors with the great apes, and we seem to arise as a population, not a single couple.” How was I to resolve the conflicts between these two accounts? At question were my loyalties, and the right answer was clear. I trusted Scripture more than evolution. The clarity was comforting.

As we will soon see, I was mistaken. Whatever one believes about Adam and Eve, evolutionary science does not require us to reject the Genesis narrative. Adam and Eve, ancestors of us all, could have lived as recently as six thousand years ago in the Middle East. They could have been de novo created, the first “humans” of Scripture, free of death in a sinless environment. Ripped from the comforting clarity of conflict, we will see that evolutionary science could be true, even as our loyalties remain with Scripture.

There will be several twists and turns in this conversation. For many readers, those that reject evolution, it will require courage to leave the conflict and engage the question. Uncertainty requires courage. Take this as a thought experiment. Even if you are certain evolution is false, let us imagine together how we might understand Adam and Eve in a fictional world where evolution is true. Let us see how far we can go together. Step into this thought experiment with me.

A QUESTION OF CURIOSITY

The question of Adam and Eve lurked in my mind for years. At first, the question required courage. Eventually, in the mystery, fear gave way to curiosity.

Over several years of study, I was slowly convinced of the evolutionary account, which I understand as the providentially governed process by which God created us. For me, seeing and understanding the evidence for myself was important. I was (and am) still a Christian, and I still trust Genesis. How should I understand Genesis with science in view? Initially my questions required courage. At first, I was fearful. Eventually, however, I found a faith rooted in Jesus, not Adam. Whether or not Adam and Eve were real, there is public and private evidence that Jesus rose from the dead.6 On this cornerstone, I came to trust what God did in history to reveal he exists, is good, and wants to be known. Finding confidence here, I no longer feared what I might find out about Adam and Eve.

As my confidence grew, so did my curiosity. Through my scientific education, I often wondered about the questions of Adam and Eve. I wondered about them when I graduated from high school in 1996. When the human genome was first published in 2000, I graduated from the University of California in Irvine with a degree in biology. This question still on my mind, I spent nine years in graduate school to become a computational biologist and a physician. Through my education and early career, curiosity brought me back to this question over and over.

Now, I am a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, authoring a book about Adam and Eve. On a personal level, I do not fear any particular answer to the question. I am, all the same, still curious about how the new knowledge of science interacts with the old stories of Genesis. Through my path, I discovered a curious fact. Everyone was convinced that evolutionary science unsettled our understanding of Adam and Eve, but I couldn’t find the evidence that demonstrated this as true.

A QUESTION OF EMPATHY

In this book, I do not press my personal beliefs, focusing instead on explaining how science interacts with the questions put forward by others. For many pastors, theologians, parents, and students, the question of Adam and Eve is the central question of origins. Over the years, my empathy grew, as did my skepticism of the conflict. I was raised believing the traditional de novo account of Adam and Eve. As I studied science, I never found any evidence that gave reason to doubt this account. Even if Genesis was a myth, the story itself was compatible with what I saw in science. Still, others were caught in this avoidable conflict. My empathy grew.

A salient example of the conflict is an exchange in 2017 between a scientist and Tim Keller. A well-known pastor in New York, Keller agrees with mainstream science on most things. He agrees that the Earth looks old because it is old. He makes no objection to evolution among plants and animals nor does he insist Adam and Eve were in ...