Q: In your section on 1 Timothy 2, you state that Adam saw some of the animals being created, perhaps the mates of the animals already created on day six. However, says that God had formed “all of the beasts” (NIV) or “every beast” (NASB). Wouldn’t you say that it’s a stretch to say that means “some” animals were formed when Genesis says that God formed every beast?

A: As we documented in WIM from Hebrew scholars, Genesis shows a second creation of the animals after Adam was created. Although these could have been the mates to the animals created earlier in the day, it certainly could have been both male and female of all of the kinds of animals. We do know that every animal was created after Adam and the point that we make is not which animals are created after Adam (whether they are male or female or both) but the fact that there are animals created after Adam allowing him to be the only one in all of human history to see creation first-hand.

Q: You make mention that it’s likely the animals Adam saw created were the mates because on day six in chapter 1 the animals were not told to be fruitful and multiply. However, the birds created on day five were told to “be fruitful and increase in number”. The birds are referred to in the same breath as the beasts: “Now the LORD God had formed…all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air.” How can we differentiate between the two when the verse itself doesn’t?

A: This verse doesn’t differentiate between the two, but the actions of God after their original creation does differentiate them (birds were told to be fruitful, but the animals were not). However for the point of argument, we will stick to what we know from scripture not what we can speculate. We know for sure from Genesis 2:19 that God formed these animals and then (the wording connects the next action) brought them to Adam. These were not the exact same animals that God originally spoke into existence in chapter one although they are the same kinds of animals. God created all kinds of animals at the beginning of day 6 and then created more of the same kind after Adam. This is not too hard to understand at all. After all God did the same thing with humans. God created the first of the kind of humans (the man) and then much later in the day he created the same kind (human) but in a different way (from Adam’s side – not from the dirt). If God did a separate creation of the same kind in two different creative acts with humans, surely it cannot be hard to conceive that God can do the same thing with the animals (as He says he did). The original animals were not formed by God from the dirt but were spoken into existence. The second set of animals (of the same kind) were created differently. They were formed from the dirt and then brought directly to Adam. This we know from scripture and there is no contradiction here, just a similar action with the animals as God does shortly with man. Creation at different times and in different ways