Were Adam and Eve of the same species as the modern human?

As a young Earth creationist I see it this way:

God stretched out the heavens like a curtain on Day 4 (Isaiah 42:5) causing time dilation; generating billions of years' worth of starlight into the heavens in 24 hours of Earth time; to establish a clock that could run forever and be seen from the Earth from the beginning.(Genesis 1:14)

God caused a worldwide flood (Genesis 7) involving a second stretching of the heavens (rapid acceleration of the expansion rate) that resulted in accelerated nuclear decay, excess internal Earth heating, runaway plate tectonics (the bursting of the fountains of the deep), and extraterrestrial activity including possible planet fragmentation and asteroid bombardment of the planets in our solar system. The fossil record I interpret as a record of the progressive burial of ecosystems by the advance of floodwater tsunamis.

Neanderthals, Homo Erectus, and archaic Homo Sapiens I interpret as post-Flood humans whose features and measured bone-growth rates for their skulls are in line with the generations after the flood which had long life spans (Genesis 11). Four generations had lifespans of 450 years, then 3 generations had lifespans of 250 years. The rapid genetic changes have leveled off to a max of about 120. I view the Australopithecines as an extinct form of ape, likely tree-dwelling due to their 15 degree valgus angle. (Humans and spider monkeys have a 9 degree angle, ground-dwelling apes have a 0 degree angle). The Australopithecines likely went extinct as the Sahara went from jungle to savannah to desert after the Flood.

So Adam and Eve would be the same species, but with far less harmful mutations and lifespans in the 950 year range. All peoples on Earth now would be descended from Noah and his 3 sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Short answer - YES! Long answer - read below :)

You will find many science based articles that answer this question at creation.com . I am a recently converted atheist who was unable to reconcile evolution with the bible as a literal account. I believed the evolution account for 40 years.

The reason I no longer believe it is because I had an experience that moved me to believe in Jesus Christ as my Saviour (no it was not through near death or an evangelist experience, it was far more mundane, but that is another story).

I studied the bible and examined arguments for and against the Genesis account of Creation. I came to the conclusion that if I believe one part of the Bible as literal truth then I must also believe the whole thing. For a while I tried to wiggle out of the literal 6 days of creation, Adam and Eve and Noah's flood. I really wanted to believe the old earth or intelligent design argument but in the end science just does not support evolution. Evolution may in fact be the greatest hoax on earth but I invite you to read the various arguments for yourself.

Returning to your question. The Bible traces the ancestry of Jesus back to Adam, first in Genesis then in Matthew. Unless you think maybe Jesus was not a "modern human" (as opposed to his divine nature) nor any of the figures in his ancestry then sure you can imagine Adam and Eve were not "modern humans" but were some species of hominid along the "evolutionary chain". However, look at what the Bible tells us about Adam and Eve and their offspring, they sound exactly like you and I and they farmed the land.

My personal interpretation of the Bible is centered on one fact: I absolutely believe that a man named Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead about 2000 years ago. Believing that to be true I can then believe all the rest to be true because of the prophesies embedded in the texts and historical concurrences with many of them.

With love and faith Caz