Why I Am No Longer Christian

#3: Adam and Eve Didn't Exist

The next problem with biblical inerrancy comes as a direct result of the last: since the Creation myth is false, then it is plausible — indeed, extremely likely — that Adam and Eve didn't exist.

For one, evolution does not have clear-cut markers where one species ends and another begins. What about the differences between modern humans (homo sapiens) and the other human species that scientists recognize? Homo sapiens have been around for about 300,000 years, but Neanderthals (homo neanderthalensis) coexisted with us for most of that time. And before that, there were homo heidelbergensis, homo floresiensis, homo erectus, and at least 15 other closely related species of humans. There is evidence that modern humans interbred with some of these, most famously the Neanderthals, but also a group called the Denisovans. So how would we figure out where one species ended and another began? Where would God draw the line? And once this arbitrary line is drawn, does that mean everyone who came after the line has a soul and a chance at an afterlife, but everyone before that is out of luck?

For another, the amount of human diversity we see today could not have come from only two individuals. When humans left Africa and migrated north 60,000 years ago, the minimum population needed to become the dominant, worldwide species we are today would be 2,250 migrating individuals and 10,000 individuals still in Africa. Any less, and we wouldn't see the genetic diversity we see today.

Genetic diversity is essential for our species. The more inbreeding, the more health problems that develop. This is why we tend to be attracted to those who are genetically different than we are. Modern humans could not have come from only two people, because we would have died out long before now. One of the most poignant examples of this is Charles II of Spain. He was so inbred that he suffered from many health complications: his prominent jaw made it so that he could barely eat; he drooled because of a swollen tongue; he had seizures, hallucinations, rickets, and an oversized head; he was impotent and infertile; he had weak muscles and could barely walk or speak; his urine was bloody and he often vomited and had diarrhea; he was bald by 35; and he was dead before he turned 39. Another example is King Tutankhamun of Egypt, who was frail, suffered from multiple bouts of malaria, had a clubfoot and could only walk with a cane, had two stillborn daughters with his half-sister, and ultimately died at 19-years-old from an infection in a fractured thigh bone. King Tut's parents were siblings, and his grandparents were likely closely related, as well.

While humans could not have come from one primordial couple, scientists sometimes speak of a mitochondrial Eve and a genetic Adam, which can deeply confuse the layperson. "If they are called Adam and Eve," you might wonder, "what are they, if not the very first humans?" 

Mitochondrial Eve was not the first human female, but she is the most recent female to pass on her mitochondrial DNA up to the present day. Along a similar vein, genetic Adam was not the first human male, but he is the most recent male to pass on his Y-chromosome up to the present day. Nor did this mitochondrial Eve and genetic Adam necessarily live at the same time. While they did not live too far apart (if you count both falling between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago "not too far apart"), there were still probably thousands of years between their lives. This video gives a great, quick explanation of this:

Yet another problem comes from the actual story itself. In Genesis 2, after God tries (and fails) to find a suitable partner for Adam from the other animals, God decides to create a woman for him:

Genesis 2:21-24: "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of man, and her brought her to the man.

The man said,

'This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called "woman,"

for she was taken out of man.'"

But in real life, women don't come from men. In fact, all embryos in the womb start out anatomically female. Without any other hormonal influence, all babies would be born female. It is only when androgens are released after eight weeks that embryos with a Y-chromosome start to develop into being anatomically male. Even within the womb, male embryos and fetuses have to fight for their male identity — the mortality rate for neonate and infant males is higher than for females, and the vagina is deadlier to Y-chromosome-bearing sperm.

So, it is highly implausible that Adam and Eve existed, which is yet more evidence towards the falsity of the Creation myth. In the next chapter, I will discuss how this affects the doctrine of original sin and the Fall.