{"id":300079,"date":"2020-08-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-08-12T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-12T16:00:00","slug":"answering-scientific-questions-on-neanderthal-human-interbreeding-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reasons.org\/adam-eve\/early-humans\/answering-scientific-questions-on-neanderthal-human-interbreeding-part-2","title":{"rendered":"Answering Theological Questions on Neanderthal-Human Interbreeding"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"post-norm\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2\"><!-- CONTENT BEGINS --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Why do we never get an answer<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">When we\u2019re knocking at the door<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">With a thousand million questions<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">About hate and death and war?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cQuestion\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2014Justin Haywood<\/p>\n<p>When I was a teenager in the 1970s, songs by the Moody Blues were a staple on the playlists of most FM rock stations. This group helped pioneer the progressive and art rock genres in the 1960s. Truth be told, they don\u2019t make my list of all-time favorite rock bands, but some of their single releases are among my favorite rock tunes. One of my favorite songs is \u201cQuestion.\u201d This track appeared on their 1970 album <em>A Question of Balance<\/em>. The song expresses the frustration that young people felt in the 1960s and 1970s about the conflict in Vietnam, asking profound and difficult questions, but never getting answers.<\/p>\n<p>As a Christian apologist, I receive difficult and profound questions all the time. My job is to answer them and hope that my responses\u2014though many times incomplete\u2014may bring some resolution. Lately, one topic that generates quite a few questions has to do with interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals. And the questions that people raise are difficult and profound.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Is it true that modern humans and Neanderthals interbred?<\/li>\n<li>If interbreeding took place, what does that mean for the credibility of the biblical account of human origins?<\/li>\n<li>Did the children resulting from these interbreeding events have a soul? Did they bear the image of God?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a <a href=\"\/explore\/blogs\/the-cells-design\/answering-scientific-questions-on-neanderthal-human-interbreeding-part-1\">previous article<\/a>, I tackled a few of the most commonly asked questions about interbreeding and explored the scientific implications for the RTB human origins model. In this piece, I will respond to some of the most commonly asked theological questions connected to interbreeding between modern humans and hominins.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is There Biblical Warrant for Interbreeding between Modern Humans and Neanderthals?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An initial reading of the human origin creation accounts leaves one with the impression that interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals lacks biblical support. Yet, a more careful consideration of the biblical text leaves room for this possibility. Toward this end, it is interesting that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Genesis+6%3A1-2&amp;version=NIV\">Genesis 6:1\u20132<\/a> describes the Nephilim as the hybrid offspring of interbreeding between the sons of God and the daughters of men. While this is an extremely difficult passage to interpret, it <em>is<\/em> clear that modern humans\u2014the descendants of Adam and Eve\u2014interbred outside their line and it displeased God.<\/p>\n<p>In effect, the act that led to the Nephilim\u2014and by extension the interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals\u2014shouldn\u2019t be surprising. As a result of the fall, modern humans have a depraved nature. The consequence of this depravity came to a head just prior to the flood. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Genesis+6%3A5&amp;version=NIV\">Genesis 6:5<\/a> relates, \u201cThe LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.\u201d One could easily envision that out of this wickedness, humans could have pursued Neanderthals for evil ends, even though these hominins weren\u2019t like us.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Leviticus+18%3A23&amp;version=NIV\">Leviticus 18:23<\/a> also makes room for the possibility that modern humans interbred with Neanderthals (and other hominins). This passage condemns and forbids bestiality. Given humanity\u2019s propensity to have intercourse with animals, it is not shocking that humans would interbreed with creatures like Neanderthals (who much more closely resemble humans).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did Modern Human-Neanderthal Hybrids Have a Soul?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Tricky theological issues abound if indeed modern humans interbred with Neanderthals\u2014the chief one being whether the hybrids had a soul. Did they possess the image of God?<\/p>\n<p>To properly engage this concern, we need to consider the two most prominent theological models for ensoulment from the perspective of the historic Christian faith. It is clear from the genealogies in Genesis 5 that the image of God (along with the consequences of Adam\u2019s sin) have been transmitted to Adam and Eve\u2019s descendants. How does this transmission occur functionally ?<\/p>\n<p>One view, called traducianism, maintains that each individual inherits the immaterial aspect of their being\u2014their spirit or soul, if you will\u2014from both parents, with the souls of their parents blending together to produce a new soul. This spiritual inheritance bears an analogy to biological inheritance in which each individual uniquely derives their physical features from both parents through a \u201cblending\u201d of their genetic material. In traducianism, it is only Adam and Eve who possess souls that were directly created by God.<\/p>\n<p>Another view, creationism, explains the origin of each person\u2019s soul or spirit as the product of God\u2019s direct creative activity. Just as God created the souls of Adam and Eve, so he creates the immaterial aspect of each person individually, presumably at the time of their conception or shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n<p>By employing either model, it is possible to conceive of scenarios by which a human-hominin hybrid receives a soul. For example, within the creationist framework, one could envision God creating a soul in the human-Neanderthal hybrid at the time of conception, honoring the fact that one of the parents is an image-bearer and knowing that the hybrid would likely interbreed with other humans.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of traducianism, as long as one of the parents is an image bearer, then the offspring should, too, possess God\u2019s image. In effect, the image of God is indivisible. Either a being has the image of God or doesn\u2019t. It makes no sense to think of a creature having only half of the image of God.<\/p>\n<p>So, even if modern humans and Neanderthals did interbreed, it doesn\u2019t invalidate the biblical account of human origins for biblical or theological reasons. While the discovery of interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals does stand as a failed prediction of the RTB human origins model, it doesn\u2019t falsify it. Rather, it forces us to revise the model. The good news is that this revision, though it leads to difficult questions, does not violate the teachings of Scripture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Resources <span> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.reasons.org\/purchase\/who-was-adam\"><em>Who Was Adam?<\/em><\/a> by Fazale Rana with Hugh Ross (book)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/todays-new-reason-to-believe\/read\/tnrtb\/2014\/08\/12\/neanderthal-population-data-raises-doubt-about-human-neanderthal-interbreeding\"><span>\u201c<\/span>Neanderthal Population Data Raises Doubt about Human Neanderthal Interbreeding<span>\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/todays-new-reason-to-believe\/read\/tnrtb\/2011\/06\/14\/does-new-date-for-neanderthal-extinction-mean-the-end-of-human-neanderthal-interbreeding\"><span>\u201c<\/span>Does New Date for Neanderthal Extinction Mean an End of Human-Neanderthal Interbreeding?<span>\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/explore\/publications\/tnrtb\/read\/tnrtb\/2012\/11\/01\/did-humans-and-neanderthals-interbreed\">\u201cDid Humans and Neanderthals Interbreed?\u201d<\/a> by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/explore\/publications\/tnrtb\/read\/tnrtb\/2012\/11\/01\/did-humans-and-neanderthals-interbreed\">\u201c<\/a><a href=\"\/explore\/blogs\/the-cells-design\/answering-scientific-questions-on-neanderthal-human-interbreeding-part-1\">Answering Scientific Questions on Human-Neanderthal Interbreeding, Part 1<\/a><span><a href=\"\/todays-new-reason-to-believe\/read\/tnrtb\/2011\/06\/14\/does-new-date-for-neanderthal-extinction-mean-the-end-of-human-neanderthal-interbreeding\">\u201d<\/a><\/span> by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>Biological Differences between Humans and Neanderthals<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>\u201c<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/todays-new-reason-to-believe\/read\/tnrtb\/2013\/04\/01\/neanderthal-brains-make-them-unlikely-social-networkers\">Neanderthal Brains Make Them Unlikely Social Networkers<\/a>\u201d by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/the-cells-design\/read\/the-cells-design\/2016\/09\/21\/blood-flow-to-brain-contributes-to-human-exceptionalism\">Blood Flow to Brain Contributes to Human Exceptionalism<\/a>\u201d by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/the-cells-design\/read\/the-cells-design\/2018\/09\/19\/differences-in-human-and-neanderthal-brains-explain-human-exceptionalism\">Differences in Human and Neanderthal Brains Explain Human Exceptionalism<\/a>\u201d by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/the-cells-design\/read\/the-cells-design\/2018\/04\/04\/did-neanderthals-have-the-brains-to-make-art\">Did Neanderthals Have the Brains to Make Art<\/a>?\u201d by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reasons.org\/the-cells-design\/read\/the-cells-design\/2018\/11\/14\/when-did-modern-human-brains-and-the-image-of-god-appear\">When Did Modern Human Brains\u2014and the Image of God\u2014Appear<\/a>?\u201d by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<a href=\"\/the-cells-design\/read\/the-cells-design\/2020\/02\/19\/ancient-dna-indicates-modern-humans-are-one-of-a-kind\">Ancient DNA Indicates Modern Humans are One-of-a-Kind<\/a>\u201d by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><strong>Archetype Biology<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/explore\/publications\/nrtb-e-zine\/read\/nrtb-e-zine\/2013\/12\/01\/archetype-or-ancestor-sir-richard-owen-and-the-case-for-design\"><span>\u201c<\/span>Archetype or Ancestor? Sir Richard Owen and the Case for Design<span>\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Fazale Rana (article)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!-- CONTENT ENDS -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Explore theological questions on human-Neanderthal interbreeding and its impact on biblical human origins from a science apologetics view.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":579,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_person_authors":[],"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_classifai_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_error":"","_classifai_text_to_speech_scheduled":false},"categories":[63968,63962],"tags":[67414,67382,67383],"discipline":[],"reading-level":[64149],"class_list":["post-300079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-image-god","category-early-humans","tag-imago-dei","tag-neanderthals","tag-israel","reading-level-advanced-deep-dive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - 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