Myths About The Pre-Adamic World
Asher Chee |
Recently, there seems to be a resurgence of myths among Christian circles regarding the world before Adam was created. In this post, I will be addressing some of the popular Christian myths about the Pre-Adamic World.
1. There were three archangels: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer
The Bible never says that there were three archangels. In fact, among these three who are commonly called archangels among Christians today, only Michael is actually called an archangel in the Bible:
Jude 9 ESV But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Gabriel is an angel (Daniel 8:16; 9:20–21; Luke 1:19, 26), but unlike Michael, he is never referred to as an archangel in the Bible.
Now, about Lucifer...
2. Lucifer is a fallen angel now known as “Satan”
Many Christians think that “Lucifer” is the name of Satan, the devil. However, they probably learned this from their pastors or their favourite Bible teachers rather than from their own reading of the Bible.
If a pastor or teacher wants to show you “Lucifer” in the Bible, he must rely on the King James Version (KJV), because that is one of the only English translations of the Bible in which the word “Lucifer” appears, and in only one verse:
Isaiah 14:12 KJV How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Do you know why this is the case? It is because the word “Lucifer” actually does not appear in the original Hebrew text of this verse!
Anyway, if we read this verse in context, we would find that these words were not even written to Satan or some fallen angel, but to the king of Babylon (v. 4)!
But how can the king of Babylon, a human being, be “fallen from heaven”? (Hint: Figurative language!) For a fuller treatment of who Lucifer is, and who Isaiah 14:12 is about, check out this article:
3. Ezekiel 28 is about the fall of Satan
Many Christians think that Ezekiel 28 is about the fall of Satan, especially verses 13–16:
Ezekiel 28:13–16 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
...
You were an anointed guardian cherub.
I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub,
from the midst of the stones of fire.
Again, if we read this verses in context, we would see that these words are written to the king of Tyre (v. 12), and not to Satan or some fallen angel.
Moreover, God twice emphasises that the person whom these words were written to was a “man”, using the Hebrew word ʾāḏām, which means “human being” (vv. 2, 9).
But how can Ezekiel 28 be about the king of Tyre, a human being, if it says that he was “in Eden, the garden of God” (v. 13)? (Hint: Again, figurative language!) For a fuller treatment of Ezekiel 28 and who it is about, check out this article:
4. The Gap Theory
The Gap Theory states that after “God created the heavens and the earth” in Genesis 1:1, there was a gap of time during which Satan rebelled against God and fell.
Because of their view, Gap theorists understand Genesis 1:1–2 in an interestingly different way from how it has been traditionally understood. While we would normally read Genesis 1:2 as: “the earth was formless and empty”, Gap Theorists insist that Genesis 1:2 should really be translated as: “the earth became formless and empty.”
However, the Gap Theory’s interpretation of Genesis 1:2 is not supported by the grammar of the original Hebrew text. For a fuller treatment of the Gap Theory in light of the Biblical Hebrew language, check out this article:
5. Pre-Adamic civilization
Some Bible teachers claim that there was a pre-Adamic civilization on earth based on God’s words to Adam in Genesis 1:28:
Genesis 1:28 KJV And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
These Bible teachers argue that the “re” in “replenish” implies that the earth was once filled with another intelligent civilization before Adam which was subsequently destroyed, and that is why God told Adam to “replenish”—i.e., refill—the earth.
However, notice that this is an argument from an English translation rather than from the original Hebrew text. Moreover, in order to make this point, these Bible teachers have to rely on the King James Version because other translations do not support their case, rendering the Hebrew word millēʾ in this verse as “fill” instead of “replenish”.
For a fuller treatment of what the Hebrew word millēʾ actually means, and why the King James Version translates it as “replenish”, check out this article: