According to modern science, human beings came from “cavemen”, primitive humans sharing almost as much in common with apes as man. This line of thinking is drawn from evolutionary theory and has largely shaped today’s view of the first humans.
Even older cartoons depicted early man as uncivilized and largely unintelligent. These club wielding barbarians would speak only in grunts and display a very limited intelligence.
What does the Bible teach about the intelligence of early man, specifically the first man, Adam?
Genesis 1:11-13 → God made the earth fully developed, with mature plants producing fruit. This
process happened over the course of a single day, as was necessary to have a
fully functioning planet able to sustain life.
Genesis 1:14-19 → God made the lights in the heavens and set them in place in accordance to his
intelligent design. Therefore, if the stars truly are millions of light years away (which
is far from verified science) this is because God created the universe in accordance
to the rules he set in place.
Clearly, God designed a fully functional earth and universe ready for man on which to dwell and have dominion.
If God can create a fully formed and developed universe, why could God not create a fully formed and functional man?
Genesis 1:26 → Man was made in the image of God. There are two different Hebrew words used to
explain how man was created.
Man was made in the image (selem) of God. This word is used in the context of physical appearance. Therefore, God has a physical shape and man is an image of that shape.
Man was made in the likeness (demooth) of God. This word is also used in the context of physical appearance.
According to Genesis 2:25, the man and his wife were naked but felt no shame. Therefore, the human states of shame and perversion did not exist within Adam and Eve. If this is the case, Adam must not only have been created to physically resemble God, but in his spirit, God placed some piece of his qualities within Adam. Adam was innocent, pure, and had not partaken in wickedness. As a result, he and his wife had no awareness of evil.
If God created Adam with the qualities of innocence and purity, could he not also create Adam with qualities of wisdom and intelligence?
Genesis 2:15 → Adam was given responsibilities of caring for and protecting the Garden of Eden. In
order to do so, Adam must have possessed intelligence. While the garden had all the
provisions for Adam, there was still work to be done, perhaps to even improve it. This
would take creativity and critical thinking skills.
Genesis 2:19-20 → Adam was capable of speech and providing names to all the animals of creation.
Furthermore, Adam possessed a high level of emotion that was capable of having
a relationship with one of his own kind. In verse 23, Adam clearly understands
how Eve came into being and was able to articulate with words what had taken
place.
Genesis 3:7 → Adam and Eve possessed the knowledge to sew leaves together. Perhaps they had
sewed something before while “dressing” the garden.
Genesis 3:21 → God then clothed them with animal skin. While Adam and Eve may not have known
how to skin and make clothing from a hide, they were certainly smart enough to do
so. More than likely, this was done to shame Adam and Eve. To wear the skin of a
dead animal must have been horrific to them. If they witnessed the death of the
animal, they must have wondered and determined death would happen to them.
The Biblical principle that Adam was intelligent greatly impacts the view of the world and history.
Man did not evolve from some lower level of a human-like species. Man did not slowly develop speech and language over hundreds of thousands of years. Man was created with intelligence and understanding. There are some children who are brilliant, but still maintain innocence and purity.
Genesis 3:17-19 → God gave wisdom to Adam and taught him how to cultivate the land.
Genesis 4:3-4 → By the second generation, man had domesticated animals.
Neanderthals were once thought to be a separate species from “modern man”. However, the current data now reveals that neanderthals and homo sapiens interbreed and had fertile offspring. Therefore, if they could do this, they were the same species!
Throughout history, societies have progressed in some ways, but digressed in others.
With the improvement of technology, society can no longer answer simple questions like, “What is a woman?”. In many ways, man is becoming less intelligent.
Romans 1:22-23 → Man traded the wisdom that God gave him for foolishness.
From the evidence in Genesis, the first humans were not ignorant cave dwellers. Nor did they worship the birds of the air or the beasts of the field. They knew who God was! They knew that their father, Adam, walked with God in the Garden of Eden. Only after their falling into further and further perversion did they forget.
We need to return back to that ancient wisdom! Forgetting the past and believing ourselves to be the wisest is the farthest from the truth.
