Did God create only one man and one woman?

Answer 1

There are two, different creation accounts in the Book of Genesis, at Genesis 1:1-2:4a and at 2:4b-25). Leon R. Kass (The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis) says that we must scrupulously avoid reading into either story any facts or notions taken from the other. So each may have a different answer to this question.

In the first creation account, God created man last of all, both male and female (Genesis 1:27). From this text, we can not say whether he created just one man and one woman or more than one of each.

In the second creation account, God created Adam first of all, then after creating all the animals and having Adam name them, God created Eve. In this account, it is clear that God created only one man and one woman.

Of course, science tells us a very different story, with humans evolving gradually, with no real first man or woman.

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

Answer 2

That is correct (Genesis ch.2).

According to tradition, there is only one Genesis creation-narrative, with ch.2 serving as an expansion of the brevity of ch.1, not a separate set of events (Rashi commentary, Gen.2:8). In ch.1, God created the universe from nothing (Exodus 20:11, Isaiah 40:28; Maimonides' "Guide," 2:30; Targum and Nachmanides on Gen. 1:1; Rashi commentary, Gen.1:14), and in ch.2, God performed specific acts within the broader picture.While Judaism has always seen the Torah as an intricate tapestry that nonetheless had one Divine source, some modern authors such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) have suggested artificially chopping up the narrative and attributing it to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). This need not concern believers, since his 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:

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 see also the wider picture:

http://judaism.answers.com/hebrew/does-archaeology-support-the-hebrew-bible