The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
"Satan repurposes just about every error and heresy he has ever
engineered or promoted. Seldom do you encounter a totally original false
teaching.
---The evil one regularly takes advantage of the fact that human
beings have short memories and are easily distracted.
In 1655, two hugely controversial books appeared in Europe. In these two books......
Isaac La Peyrère argued that many other human beings had existed 
before
and alongside Adam and Eve. He claimed that Adam was merely the
ancestral father of the Jews. However, the Gentiles traced their lineage
back to various “pre-Adamites.” To make his case, he appealed to
Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, although he did question the
authority and authenticity of Scripture in many places.
---Today we hear talk again of pre-Adamites, although the arguments have
shifted because of the wide acceptance of biological macro-evolution.
---If human beings have an evolutionary history, then we are necessarily
looking at the existence of pre-Adamites.
---If macro-evolution is true and
also applies to our species, then an historical Adam (if there was one)
cannot have been immediately created by God from literal dust of the
earth (cf. Gen. 2:7). Instead, this historical Adam was biologically
created by the normal process of a sperm fertilizing an ovum. In other
words, prior to being constituted as a human being (being endowed with
the image of God), the being we call Adam had a biological father and
mother – pre-Adamites.
full-length book response appeared from the pen of Samuel Maresius (1599-1673). Maresius was a Reformed theologian from France (his original surname was De Marets).
When he responded to La Peyrère, he was
a theology professor at the University of Groningen, in the northern
Netherlands. Maresius’ book was entitled, A Refutation of the Fable of the Pre-Adamite: Accomplished in Seven Basic Questions.
Maresius treats the topic through seven basic questions. However, he
first of all writes a lengthy (109 pages) preface in which he defends
the authenticity and authority of Scripture.
1. Is Adam the first of all men and is he to be acknowledged as the parent of the whole human race?
Maresius answers in the affirmative. He supports his answer by
appealing to Scripture passages, including Matthew 19:4-5. Matthew 19:4
says that God created male and female (Adam and Eve) at the beginning
– which means the beginning of the universe, during the six days of
creation. Adam was at the beginning and is therefore the first of all,
the parent of the whole human race.
2. Is the forming of Adam and Eve described in Genesis 2
different in order and time from the creation of man in the image of God
referred to in Genesis 1?
This is to be denied, says Maresius. You cannot drive a wedge between
the first two chapters of Genesis in an effort to make room for
pre-Adamites. The man in Genesis 1 is the same as Adam in Genesis 2. La
Peyrère argued to the contrary.3. Should the foundation of the world and human affairs be regarded as having taken place long before Adam?
To this Maresius says, “No.” In other words, in answer to La Peyrère,
he maintains a young-earth position. Any time someone starts
introducing pre-Adamites, we run into the question of the age of the
earth. Maresius had to deal with it, and so do we today. 4. Does it follow from what Paul says Romans 5:12-14 that other men existed before Adam?
This was a nearly-clever argument introduced by La Peyrère. He
reinterpreted Paul to be saying that there were other human beings
before Adam who were lawless and sinful. But their actions were not
considered sin until Adam came along and broke God’s command to him. It is simply sloppy
exegesis to use Romans 5:12-14 to argue for pre-Adamites. Lesson: beware
of the Scripture-twisting needed to support a refusal to believe what
Scripture plainly reveals in Genesis 1 and 2.
5. Was the flood of Noah universal?
Maresius affirms a global flood in the days of Noah, contrary to what
La Peyrère argued in his books. Like at least some contemporary
advocates of pre-Adamites, La Peyrère maintained that the flood was a
local phenomenon. Noah’s family, preserved in the flood, continued to
represent the line of Adam. However, the Gentiles continued to exist in
other parts of the world, unaffected by the flood in Noah’s locale. But
Maresius points out that Scripture simply does not support this view.
After all, Genesis 6:12 speaks of what precipitated the flood: universal corruption."
CreationWithoutCompromise
