Hard questions: Human hybrids

This post begins an ongoing series on the hardest questions in creation. For an introduction to the idea of “hard questions,” see our introductory essay.  These occasional essays and commentaries will examine creationist perspectives on challenging research discoveries.

A tiny bone fragment discovered in a cave in Siberia lead to the revelation that the woman from whom that bone came was the offspring of two different types of ancient hominins, Neandertals and Denisovans.  Conventional anthropologists hail the discovery as evidence that the evolution of modern humans is more complicated that we previously imagined, more like a braided stream than a neatly branching tree.

Core Academy president Todd Wood recently wrote two responses to the discovery on our website Human Genesis.  In the first commentary, Dr. Wood described the bone fragment (a model of which he’s holding in the photo above) and how scientists determined that it came from a hybrid woman.

We’ve also known for many years that Neandertals, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens could all interbreed, because they were all humans.  According to our best creationist understanding, Neandertals and Denisovans are descendants of Noah.  They count Adam and Eve as their original parents, just like we do, and they are the image of God, just like we are.

In his second commentary, Dr. Wood reflects on the meaning of humanity and our relationship to biological species.  Could there be more than one human species, all descending from Adam and Eve?

The reality of multiple human species has nothing to say about their origin, of course.  As I’ve stated before, I view Neandertals, Denisovans, and modern Homo sapiens as human descendants of Adam and Eve, despite their status as separate species.

Read both essays at Human Genesis.