Hello. I’d like to ask a question about Adam and Eve’s union. It has been considered as the first marriage and I’d like to see what each type of believer believes. If I’m not wrong, those who view Adam and Eve as symbolic/allegorical say they are “humanity” and that the first marriage was then established for the first of them. Others who view Adam and Eve as the first intelligent humans say the first marriage was then and it was for Adam and Eve. Later humans would later marry too. What about those of you who think Adam and Eve existed, whether 5.7-10k years ago or earlier, but weren’t the first intelligent humans? Do you think that the verse establishes the first “marriage” in the Christian sense like it happened with the first Christians and continues to happen today, or do you believe something else? Thank you.
I’m not sure what “‘marriage’ in the Christian sense” really means. Traditionally it involves a sacramental aspect invoked through a ceremony, but the Genesis text says the two become one flesh – which is a term Paul applies to sex with a prostitute. This can be taken to mean that there is no such thing as premarital sex, that once you engage in sex you are married.
- In Genesis, Adam was the first male human and Eve was the first female human. Those two were the first humans to “do the deed”. As a consequence Cain was conceived in Eve’s womb. That was the very first “marriage”.
- Enough said or do you want more details?
- I think he wants to know if there was a ceremony or did they just breed in the bushes without a ceremony.
Yes it may include the ceremony. Marriage that happens through a priest (by God but through a priest nowadays). I am not talking about sex. If you do, then a problem is created because you claim that Adam and Eve’s was the first. Again, I ask those viewing Adam and Eve as literal but not the first intelligent humans. If you’re not those, then why respond?
Nope. It could easily have been the first union in a sacramental sense.
I take it literally in a theological sense; whether or not I take Adam and Eve as ‘historical’ changes often. And at the moment, I can’t see them as the first intelligent humans given that the second Creation account seems to happen after the first one.
Thank you. Is this the answer accepted by those I talk about (those who take Adam and Eve as literal people but not the first intelligent humans)? If yes I think your answer should be “liked” (the thumbs up reaction I mean) by those people.
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Because when I shared your first post with ChatGPT, it responded:
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My assessment is that Dominic has a potentially interesting question buried in a confused formulation. Before answering it, I’d want him to clarify just one thing:
Are you asking whether Adam and Eve were the first human beings ever to marry, or whether Genesis presents their union as the divine institution of marriage, regardless of whether other humans and marriages already existed?
Those are fundamentally different questions, and I suspect Dominic hasn’t recognized the distinction.
- If ChatGPT is not sure what you’re asking, why should I be sure?
I asked whether marriage as a sacrament in which God makes Adam and Eve husband and wife begins then. If it’s instituted then.
- A literal Adam and Eve but not the first intelligent humans makes them, in my world: Mammals. So what do you think, @St.Roymond. Was marriage common among any non-intelligent mammals in Genesis?
Having fun?
- Good Lord! Are you a Roman Catholic?
- @1Cor15.54, a little help please.
I’m sure you’re aware the question has already been answered by at least one of the people I asked for to answer it right?
Hi Dominic, thanks for clarifying your question. Now, I believe that Adam and Eve existed as a couple many, many thousands years ago. Whether that’s when marriage begun would depend on exactly when they existed. TBH I can’t imagine there was a ceremony, more like just pair bonding. So from modern legal perspective some wouldn’t even consider them married. We just don’t have any archeological proof to know either way.
I think there might have been some activity in the bushes before God officially declared them “a man and wife” 
That would mean many people are in trouble . But would make sense in the case of Adam and Eve
- I just want the opinion of a Roman Catholic.
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What happened to “betrothal”?
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In biblical times, betrothal was not a casual modern engagement; it was legally and spiritually considered a binding marriage contract that required a formal divorce to break, even though physical cohabitation and consummation had not yet happened. [1, 2]
Key Aspects of Biblical Betrothal
- Binding Contract: A betrothal was established through a formal agreement or bride-price (mohar) negotiated between the groom and the bride’s family. [1, 2]
- Status of Husband and Wife: Though the couple did not yet live together or share a home, they were legally recognized as husband and wife. For example, in Matthew 1:18–19, Joseph is called Mary’s “husband” while they were betrothed. [1, 2]
- Requiring a Divorce: Because the bond was a real covenant, breaking a betrothal required a formal bill of divorcement (get), rather than simply calling off an engagement. [1, 2]
- Fidelity and Adulthood/Purity Laws: Unfaithfulness during the betrothal period was treated as actual adultery under biblical law (such as in Deuteronomy 22). [1, 2]
- Completion of Marriage: The full process concluded later with a wedding procession, the bride moving into the groom’s house, and the physical consummation of the marriage. [1, 2]
??
Why does there having been other intelligent humans reduce Adam and Eve to mammals?
- Gee, so a literal Adam and Eve who are not the first intelligent humans, means what then? That a literal Adam and Eve were not the literal Adam and Eve?
It seems as though you’re equaiting “Adam and Eve” with “first (intelligent) humans”.
God makes human in Genesis 1. Then in Genesis 2 He makes a special pair, Adam and Eve. That Adam and Eve were the very first humans is a tradition, it is not in the text.