Many different beliefs are held concerning the origin of man. Those who do not accept the existence of a God who creates, or at least do not accept the Biblical account of creation from Genesis, chapters 1 and 2, usually theorize that all life has evolved from some lower form of life. In fact, they say that all organisms are still in the process of evolution.
The Christian belief in the origin of man as described in Genesis is directly contradicted by evolutionists, who believe man evolved from some lower life form. If, however, the Bible is divine revelation, then man is the highest achievement of God's Creation.
Evolutionists agree that God (if He exists at all) did not create the earth and man in six days. Evolutionists who believe in God usually espouse the view that He used the process of evolution to accomplish creation. They claim that God created man according to His laws of evolution and that both evolution and Genesis are correct. This view is known as theistic evolution.
Some Christians begin with the assumption that evolution is true, and then try to harmonize their belief in theistic evolution with the first two chapters of Genesis. To do so, they must deny the literalness of the six days of Genesis. These days cannot be twenty-four-hour days, they say, if Genesis is describing a process of evolution. These Christians point out that the Hebrew word does not always mean a twenty-four-hour day. In the prophetical books it is used as the day of the Lord, a prophetic time period. They also quote the Apostle Peter: "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. " (II Peter 3:8).
The difficulty is that such usages are unusual and do not necessarily fit the context of Genesis. Nothing in Genesis suggests a figurative meaning. The days are described in very graphic terms: "And the evening and the morning were the first (second, third, etc.) day." This description certainly sounds like a literal twenty-four-hour period.
Another difficulty is that Genesis describes a completed Creation. No mention is made of a gradual development. This description is particularly true of man. Man is able to name the animals; he is created in the image of God; and he is given a mandate to subdue the earth. Such things would not be said of a creature who was not yet human, not yet "evolved."
Another difficulty facing those who attempt to harmonize the theory of evolution with Scripture is physical death. According to Romans 5:12, sin and death came into the world through Adam: "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned-- " (Romans 5:12). The implication is that death did not exist before Adam sinned. Since evolutionary theory posits a struggle for survival and death, it would seem to be contradicted by Paul's statement. Additionally, the issue of death is a problem if the Hebrew word does not refer to a twenty-four-hour day, but rather, millions and millions of years; no one has never lived for millions of years.
The point at issue is whether God has truly revealed Himself in the Bible. If the Bible is divine revelation, the heavens and the earth are God's creation. Man is the quintessence of this creation. Those who believe in an evolutionary origin of man, to be consistent, must assume that the Biblical account is legendary or at least is figurative.
All of the above arguments about origins tend to be theological rather than historical in nature. This stems from the fact that no human witness was present to observe creation. Many historical and chronological (time-line) questions arise because of what the Bible does not say, as well as what it does say. Christians believe that the Bible is accurate in its history. Its purpose, however, is an historically accurate account of God's redemptive process, not a definitive or complete history of the human race.
Biblical Account
The creation of man was the first major event in the history of civilization. The creation of man was the last event of the creative week. After God had created the earth and space; light and darkness; the sun and the moon; the seas, the land, and the plants; the fish and the birds; and the animals, He then made man. The creation of man is the ultimate act of the whole Creation narrative. The very decree to create man is majestic to an extent not found in the previous verses of Genesis:
Then God said, ``Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." (Genesis 1:26).
This phraseology differs significantly from previous creation verses, such as Genesis 1:20, Then God said, ``Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." In Verses 27 and 28 we have a discussion within the Godhead, not simply a joint decree. And the record continues:
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, ``Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
God made man in His own image. Most scholars understand this phrase to mean that man, unlike other creatures, is able to have a personal relationship with God; God has equipped man to communicate with Him spiritually. God is Spirit and truth; likewise, man has a spirit. God has given man intellect, emotion, and will. No beast has all of these elements to the degree of man.
God also gave man a mandate to "subdue" the earth and to "have dominion" over the animals. He placed man in a perfect environment, the garden of Eden, and gave him the task of caring for it. How much culture Adam had in his innocence is not clear. He obviously spoke a language, for he was able to name the animals, but no indication is given that he was able to write his language. His government was simple; he was governed directly by God. The law was simple; it had only one prohibition. Since nothing was scarce, no need for a monetary economy existed.
Before the Fall, man did not have what is commonly understood as a civilization. He had only two relationships in his life, God and Eve. Adam was a perfect, although untested, being. He did not know good and evil, and his relationships included a perfect understanding of his wife and his God. Finally, as the Creation week came to a close, God looked at His Creation and declared it good. "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. ."
