Who lived on earth before Adam and Eve?

Answer 1

According to tradition, Adam and Eve were the first human beings.

Note:

The creation of man is covered both in Genesis ch.1 (briefly) and ch.2 (at length).

Rashi commentary (2:8) explains that Genesis ch.1 and 2 form a single set of events, as chapter 2 expands the brief verses of ch.1 with further detail.

An attempt to split the text artificially has been perpetrated by people such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) who suggested attributing the narrative to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). Wellhausen's claims have been debunked one by one, as Archaeology and other disciplines have demonstrated the integrity of the Torah. No fragments have ever been found that would support his Documentary Hypothesis, which remains nothing more than an arbitrary claim, whose falsehood has been pointed out:

http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=1131(a Christian author)

http://www.whoreallywrotethebible.com/excerpts/chapter4-1.php

http://www.pearlmancta.com/BiblicalcriticswrongRShlomoCohen.htm

And concerning evolution and the age of the Earth:

What_are_some_proofs_offered_by_Creationists

Answer 2

Science says that modern humans have been on earth for over two hundred thousand years, but the second creation story (Genesis 2:4b-25) and the genealogies that follow place the creation of Adam and Eve only six thousand years ago. This means a great many people lived long before the time of Adam and Eve. However, science and religion do not mix easily, and science has nothing to say about Adam and Eve having ever existed.

The second creation story says that God created Adam before he created any of the beasts of the earth, so not even another animal lived before Adam, although they were all there before Eve. Taken as a unit, the second creation story says Adam and Eve were definitely the first people on earth. There is another, quite different creation story in Genesis chapter 1, and noting that this first creation story also talks of creating man, both male and female together at the same time, an early Jewish midrash says that Lilith was before Eve, and was the first wife of Adam. The fault here is in treating two quite different stories as if one precedes the other in time, whereas they are entirely independent of each other.

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

Answer 3

Lucy