(Culled from The Undotted Scriptures, 2002: Chapter 2)

By Okenze George Nkwoji

The issue of whether Adam (4114BC-3184 BC) was the first human being in the world has continued to confound Christendom arising from Apostle Paul’s teaching in the Bible which says: “For the scripture says, the first man, Adam, was created a living being, but the last Adam is the life-giving spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45). Apart from Apostle Paul, no other teacher made that statement. Not even God or Jesus Christ ever mentioned Adam as the first man throughout the Bible.
Unfortunately, early Christians, on the basis of the Apostle’s teaching came to the conclusion that Adam was the first man on earth. That teaching was subsequently transferred to all generations of Christians and they later found the distorted teaching difficult to discard, despite abundant evidences which show that Adam was not the first man created by God.

The truth according to the Bible, which it recorded in black and white, is that Adam and his wife, Eve had two sons called Cain and Abel. Wicked Cain had killed his only brother, Abel, and was consequently punished by God and banished to the wilderness.

Cain was frightened because he was going to live without the protection of his parents. He therefore prayed God for protection from being also killed by other people and the Lord answered: “No, if any one kills you, seven lives will be taken in revenge. So the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who meet him not to kill him”( Gen 4:15). This is a glaring evidence in the Bible to show that people were existing before the creation of Adam.

Cain was said to have settled in a town called Nod or Wandering, located east of Eden. He married his wife from that town. In other words, Cain lived in a town habited by other people. Since his wife who was not a child of Adam and Eve, it then goes to prove that a community of human beings was already in existence in or around Eden when Adam was moulded.

This is the position of the Bible which is the word of God Almighty. This testimony must not be distorted any further if we claim to be true Christians. Those who continue to say that Adam was the first man are plainly saying that non-Jews were not created by God.This has been the reason scientists arrived at the conclusion that human beings came about through evolution. If the Bible had been properly taught, the wrong impression that this world is about six thousand years old would not have been created.

Finally, let us find out from the Bible the year Adam was moulded and when he died based on Biblical genealogies. In doing so, our reference point is the year King Solomon started his reign which the Bible puts at 476th year after the exodus: “Four hundred and eighty years after the people of Israel left Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the second month, the month of Ziv, Solomon began work on the Temple”(1Kings 6:1). That 476th year after exodus is identified as 970BC by Good News Bible (Today’s English Version with Concordance) as the year Solomon began his reign in its records of the Kings of Israel.

Now, going by Biblical genealogies from Gen.5:1 when Adam was moulded to 1Kings 6:1 when Solomon began work on the Temple, it will be discovered that Solomon ascended the Throne some 3144 years after Adam was moulded. That year is identified as year 970BC. The implication is that Adam was moulded 3144 years before 970BC, which corresponds to the year 4114BC.

It is also appropriate to add here that the people of Swaziland in South Africa were mining ores when Adam was just fourteen years old. Their oldest mine site at Ngwenya town started production in 4100BC till 1979 when it was shut down and is still extant.

In conclusion, Adam was not the first man created by God. The Garden of Eden had neighbouring communities when Adam was moulded. Africans had even developed technologically to the extent of mining ores.

The relevance of Adam to human affairs is that he is the ancestor of Jews and that Jesus Christ descended from him.