What is the origin of humans according to Christianity?

Answer 1

Christian teachings about the origins of humanity are fairly simple. They are contained in the first two chapters of Genesis. Man was created 'in the beginning' by an act of almighty God. Man was made both male and female. Man (that is the male of the species) was alone and without a 'help meet' for him until woman came along. That is, none of the animals which God had made was on the same level as Adam was in terms of him being made in God's image. Eve thus shares the high place given to the man, Adam, of being unique above the animals and sharing the identity we call humanity with him.

The fact that man was made last, together with what some have termed the 'dominion mandate' indicate his superior position over against creation. The mandate, involving dominance also strongly implies stewardship and not blatant exploitation, since man, along with the rest of the animate creation is a created being.

Adam and Eve were also created complete and intelligent and as fully human as they could possibly be, with no further 'development' necessary.

This is a brief summary of some of the Christian teaching about humanity and its origins. The idea of the evolution of man, while finding no biblical reference on which to anchor itself, is indeed accepted by many who claim the name of Christ. This does not make the teaching of Darwin into the teaching of Christ, but merely indicates many who name themselves Christians believe Darwin.

Answer 2

To put it simply there are two answers to this.

The Bible is supposed to be the source, the only infallible source, for Christian teaching. Those who follow it and nothing else would believe that the Bible's teaching that mankind was created by almighty God in the beginning is the answer. This would include the idea that this occurred around 6000 years ago.

Other Christians would take other sources as having an equal or greater weight and so would believe that man evolved over time and incorporate this into their Christian faith even though it contradicts the plain teaching of scripture. Various forms of this belief may include the idea that 'God used evolution' as well.

So the answer to this question also depends on the source of authority used by the Christian person or group in question. Not surprisingly, this is a divisive issue in modern Christianity as it is to a lesser degree in the community. Personally I regard the Bible as being in complete harmony with the findings of modern science.

Answer 3

Christian teachings about the origins of humanity are quite diverse, so there is no one answer to this question.
Many Christians accept the Theory of Evolution, and teach that humans evolved, millions of years ago, from other species. They regard the biblical creation of Adam and Eve as allegorical, rather than to be taken literally.

Other Christians believe in a modified view of the Theory of Evolution. They believe that the world is as old as scientists have found it to be, and that lower animals may have evolved from earlier species, but that Adam and Eve were created by God. They teach that the biblical creation is essentially true, but that the meaning of the word "day" should not be taken literally.

Finally, other Christians believe that the world is only a few thousand years old, and that the biblical account of the creation of Adam and Eve is literally true. Some teach that when God created the world, he created "evidence" of greater age of the world and "evidence" of evolution. Others teach that scientists have falsified or misunderstood the evidence regarding the age of the world and the evolution of species.

Among Christian denominations, the Catholic Church has sided with the view that evolution is fact, provided we accept that humans have souls. The Anglican Church has taken more or less the same position, while some other major Protestant denominations have yet to declare a final position.

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Answer 4

Christians have so many different views on these matters that no one answer would suffice.

Some Christians, who believe that they are interpreting the Bible literally, say that the world and everything on it, including the first people, were created by God just a few thousand years ago. Others, particularly Christians with tertiary education, accept that the universe came into existence over eleven billion years ago, the earth came into existence over four billion years ago and that mankind evolved over millions of years. In this case, some Christians believe that God guided the natural creation of the world and the evolution of man, while others believe that he was in some way more intimately involved in those events.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/theology/the-story-of-creation