When were Adam and Eve created?

But if the Bible does not furnish a date for the creation of the world, it does furnish an approximate date for the creation of man, which occurred on the sixth day of reconstruction as given to us in Genesis 1.

Archbishop Ussher, using the record in the Bible of the ages of the patriarchs and its subsequent history, has made a chronology, which fixes the creation of man at about 4004 B.C. But this chronology was not inspired. Ussher generally treated each son in the genealogy as the eldest, whereas this was not necessarily the case, as witness Seth, who was Adam’s third son, and Solomon, who was far from being David’s eldest son. It is thus possible that Ussher’s chronology is within the mark.

As to the time of the Judges it appears clear from Judges 10:7-8 that the events recorded did not all follow chronologically: there were oppressions in the west by the Philistines and in the east by the Ammonites in 'the same year;' the periods of some of the Judges also being synchronal. The A.V. of Acts 13:19-20, presents a difficulty, but most of the Editors (with MSS A B C) read "he gave them their land for an inheritance for the space of [or literally in] 450 years; and after that he gave them judges," and this rendering removes all difficulty. It will be seen by the above that most of the dates affixed to the A.V. are approximately correct: the reign of Artaxerxes is an exception and is incorrect, as may be seen under SEVENTY WEEKS. See JUDGES, KINGS, ANTIOCHUS, and NEW TESTAMENT.

The principal events stand thus: B.C. 4004 Adam created. 2948 Noah born. 2348 The Flood. 1996 Abraham born. 1921 Call of Abraham. 1896 Isaac born. 1836 Jacob born. 1706 The Israelites enter Egypt. 1491 The Exodus. The law given. 1451 The Israelites cross the Jordan. 1444 The division of the land. (See JUDGES.) 1095 Saul anointed king: the kingdom begins. 1055 David, king. 1015 Solomon, king. 1005 Dedication of the Temple. 975 Division of the kingdom. (See KINGS.) (776 Era of the Olympiads begins.) (753 Rome built: era of A.U.C. begins.) 740 Captivity of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan. 721 End of the kingdom of Israel. 658 Manasseh carried to Babylon. 606 Jerusalem taken: first captivity of Judah. 605 Nebuchadnezzar reigns alone. Time of the Gentiles begins in the first great empire — Babylon. 599 Jerusalem re-taken: the great captivity. 588 Jerusalem re-taken and destroyed. 538 Belshazzar slain: the second great empire commences. The Medes and Persians. 536 Cyrus reigns alone. The 70 years of Jer. 25:11-12 end. The Jews return. Ezra 1, 2: (See PERSIA.) 475 Artaxerxes succeeds Xerxes. 455 Artaxerxes commissions Nehemiah to build Jerusalem. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel begin. 336 Alexander the Great, head of the third great empire — The Greek. 323 Death of Alexander the Great: his four Generals divide the kingdom, but it mainly merged into two kingdoms: Egypt, 'kings of the South,' and Syria, 'kings of the north.' (See ANTIOCHUS.) 191 All Asia Minor on the west of Mount Taurus delivered to Rome. 166 to about 65 The times of the Maccabees. In 166 Jerusalem was recovered and the temple re-dedicated. 65 Rome, the fourth great empire, rapidly gains ascendancy. Syria becomes a Roman province. In 63 Judaea is subjected to Rome. In 30 Egypt becomes a Roman province. 40 Herod is appointed by Rome king of Judaea. 20 Herod begins to rebuild the temple 6 Birth of John the Baptist. 5 Birth of Christ. (See NEW TESTAMENT.)

But geologists call for millions of years for the formation of the rocks. Supposing they are right in this, there is no difficulty. Scripture allows all the time that is necessary for the mighty changes that have taken place in the crust of the earth.

At the top of some editions of the Bible there is marked the date 4004 B.C., that is nearly 6,000 years ago. But that calculation is put there by the hand of fallible man. It probably is fairly correct in dating the creation of Adam. Indeed Archbishop Ussher’s date must have had Adam’s creation in mind, for who can tell when the original creation was?

What about the remains of prehistoric man, for which great antiquity is claimed? Are we to suppose that man existed before Adam, or that far more than six thousands years have elapsed since his appearance?

To suppose that man existed before Adam would clearly be to deny Scripture. He is "the first man" (1 Cor. 15:45). As to six thousand years; we speak of ourselves being separated from Adam by about that time, accepting Usher's chronology as usually printed in our authorized English Bibles. There is, however, no certainty about that. It is a question of calculations made from the ages of the patriarchs and other historical data. Many have done it and no two agree. A few make it a little less than Usher and some a great deal more. Here, again, touching a matter of no real moment, the Bible is largely silent. We may make our calculations, but the fact is — we do not KNOW.

So without straining a point we can say there may be millions of years between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Geologists claim that the earth is millions of years old, and this the Bible does not contradict. Man and the lower animals, as we know them, are not more than about six thousand years old; but the earth itself may be millions of years old. Probably every shovelful of coals is pre-adamic.

First, in 1 Corinthians 15:45 we must notice the two words the Spirit uses in drawing attention to the great distinction between Adam and Christ. In this verse he does not speak of the first man and the second, but the "first" and the "last". There was no order of manhood in this world prior to the creation of Adam, nor will there ever be another order of manhood introduced subsequent to Christ. Adam was the beginning of the "natural" race; Christ is the beginning of the "spiritual" race in so far as an order of manhood is in view. Christ is called the "second man" in v. 47, but there it is a point of time. This helps to the understanding of v. 46. In point of time Adam, the head of the natural race, was first in this world somewhere about four thousand years before Christ came into it in Manhood. There are then but two orders of manhood in view, and we have our part in both, as we shall see.

Man was created on the sixth day — last of all the works of God. The work of the sixth day (as that of the third) was in two parts, first cattle etc., then man (Gen. 1:24-31). In connection with the latter there was divine consultation. "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." When lower creatures were required it sufficed to say: "Let the waters bring forth … let fowl fly," etc., and the creatures required were forthwith alive upon the scene. The grave consultation recorded in Gen. 1:26 should of itself suggest to the most cursory reader that now a being of a different order from all others was to be brought into the world. Man is thus a distinct and independent creation, having no link whatever with beast, fish, or fowl. "Created" is repeated three times in v. 27, as if the Spirit of God would be beforehand with his rebuke of evolutionist absurdity. Moreover, Adam was the FIRST man. The whole structure of Holy Scripture falls to the ground if there were really men before, or independent of, Adam; for the entire volume of inspiration revolves around two men — the fallen first man Adam, and the peerless Second Man, the Lord Jesus (1 Cor. 15:45-47). One man and one stock is God's account of our race and its head. "He has made of one blood all nations of men … we are the offspring of God" (Acts 17:26-29). Such was the elementary lesson administered by Paul to the learned heathen in Athens.

We get a further example of this kind of thing when we come to Abraham, at the end of Genesis 11 and this leads us to remark that it is not safe to lay too much stress on chronologies deduced from the details given in our chapter as to the ages of these patriarchs. It is easy to do this, and to make the years from the creation of Adam to the flood to be 1,656. But then the version of the Old Testament in Greek, known as the Septuagint, made about a couple of centuries before the time of our Lord, and, we are told, often quoted by Him, differs from the Hebrew. Adam's age when Seth was born is given as 230, and his subsequent years as 700. The same feature marks the next four patriarchs and also Enoch, so this at once adds 600 years to the calculation. There is also a difference of six years in the case of Lamech the father of Noah, which brings up the total years according to the Septuagint, to 2,262.

The same thing appears when we come to the ages of the patriarchs after the flood in Genesis 11. Here the Septuagint version would add 650 years to the chronology we should deduce. This is the explanation of the difference between Usher's chronology, following the Hebrew, and that of Hales, following the Greek. Some of the earliest "Christian Fathers," asserted that the years were curtailed by the Jews in the Hebrew, in order to oppose the argument of Christians using the Septuagint, that the Messiah appeared in the sixth millennium from Adam, as their tradition had led them to expect.

Consequently the common idea of putting the creation of the world some six thousand years ago is a mere blunder. The Bible is in no way responsible for it. Where does Scripture say so, or anything approaching to it? It is only the annotator at the beginning of the Authorised Version who joins B.C. 4004 with Genesis 1:1. I do not doubt that the margin was thus supplied by men, excellent, learned, and with pious intentions. But it is only man, not God, who dates creation from Tisri or September 1st. And this is the blessedness of the Bible, that we have in itself that which corrects the best of men who laboured on it with the best means and desires. Is this a loss? To my mind an immense boon, especially to those who boast of no wisdom except that which the Bible gives them. The Bible — and this is its boast and ours — is the book for all, be they the simplest or the most ignorant. The Bible — and where is there the appearance of such another book — can correct the best wisdom that man has ever laid up, not merely outside, but from the Bible itself. The Bible, then, nowhere puts creation in connection with Adam — expressly not; nor is it in connection with animated being, with beasts, or birds, or fishes, or reptiles, nor even with the grass and fruits of the earth. It simply affirms what man never knew as a certainty without the Bible, that "in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Thus even Bishop Horsley writes, in his Biblical Criticism, i. 111: "The creation of the world, as it is described in the first chapter of Genesis, was not a single instantaneous act, but a work performed by gradual stages in the time of six successive days or entire revolutions of the globe of the earth upon its axis."

Chronological Arrangement of Some Leading Persons and Events in Genesis B. C.

The creation of Adam 4004 The birth of Seth 3874 Enos born 3769 Cainan born 3679 Mahaleel born 3609 Jared born 3544 Enoch born 3382 Methuselah born 3317 Lamech born 3130 Adam's death 3074 Enoch's translation 3017 Noah's birth 2948 The Flood 2348 Peleg born 2247 Nahor born 2155 Terah's birth 2126 Noah's death 1998 Abraham's birth 1996 Abraham's call in Ur 1945 Terah's death 1921 Second call to Abraham 1921 Abraham in Egypt 1920 His return 1912 Abraham takes Hagar 1911 The birth of Ishmael 1910 The Covenant sign given 1897 Birth of Isaac 1896 Sarah's death 1859 Isaac's marriage 1856 Jacob born 1836 Abraham's death 1821 Marriage of Esau 1796 Death of Ishmael 1773 Jacob's flight 1759 His marriages 1752 Jacob's flight 1739 Meets his brother 1738 Jacob at Bethel 1731 Death of Rachel 1728 Joseph sold 1727 Joseph in Egypt 1717 Death of Isaac 1716 Joseph interprets dreams 1715 Egyptian famine 1707-01 Jacob's death 1689 Joseph's death 1635