The first people... (soul, evolution, recall, God, Adam and Eve)

[ChristineES]

To answer questions asked me. I have no idea how to answer them. Since I believe in God and all that-- I can say that maybe what they call Adam and Eve in the Bible may have been the hominids, or they could have been the Homo Erectus or maybe they were Neanderthal or Homo sapiens(cro magnon). It is hard to know.

According to what I heard there is an debate as to whether Homo sapiens evolved from Neaderthals or not. (If they did not, do they believe that both Homo sapiens and Neanderthal evolved from Homo erectus? )

The questions I mostly have about hominids is how they are able to determine that we evolved from them? Their skeletons look like apes to me and the it seems they say they are not apes just because of reasons such as they could walk upright. (there may be other reasons, as I am sure someone will point out to me, lol).

That is all I have to say on the subject.

[Seyorni]

Originally Posted by The Great Architect

And from there... did humanity progress to the next stage of evolutionary development?

There is no such thing as "progress" in evolution. This is a popular myth. Evolution is more about adaptation to better fit an existing or changing environment. There is no purpose or direction to it. Sometimes these adaptations result in increasing complexity, sometimes in simplification/decreasing complexity.
The bottom line is: any feature increasing reproductive success will tend to be retained and passed on.

Has somebody thought of a way to include Adam and Eve (I mean, in terms of the evolutionary progression)? Or, is it impossible to combine the two strains of thought?

Religious mythology and science are completely separate fields. There are plenty of religious scientists, and no shortage of churchgoers who accept the findings of science.
I think most Christians today believe that the Biblical stories of Genesis, The Garden, &c, are allegories, not literal descriptions of concrete events.
Most Christians today also accept that the Earth circles the Sun and not vice-versa, though this was, like evolution today, hugely controversial at one time.

and again, may I point out, "evolutionary progression" is a non-principle.

Is there an explanation of the evolutionary process, that includes Adam and Eve?

There is no physical evidence of Magical Creation, and of two specific individuals fathering the whole human race. There is evidence of evolutionary bottlenecks, where the lineage of hominids we're directly descended from consisted of a very small group of individuals, as well as of specific, individual traits like blue eyes or red hair resulting from specific mutations in single individuals.

[Super Universe]

Originally Posted by The Great Architect

From whence did we (the human species) emerge? Didn't the first humans come from Africa? My knowledge of this is shaky, at best. Do people who believe in God, and people who believe in evolution, agree on anything? Regarding the origin of species, I mean.

I absolutely believe in God and I absolutely believe in evolution.

God created the universe, the earth, and humanity His way, not the way the Pope wanted it to be.

[Somkid]

There is actually a tribe of our ancestors in Africa they are not African but look more like Indians almost every human being on earth has DNA and genetic markers in common with this tribe there is a documentary about this but I don't recall the name if I remember anytime soon I'll post it.
In the mean time here is some interesting reading on the topic.

Geneticist to students: You're all related - The Boston Globe

[The Great Architect]

Originally Posted by Sunstone

That's good. I was going to ask about the evolutionary progression, and what all these Latin terms mean. I am clueless, but I'm slowly getting the idea.

Also, what's a hominid?

[kai]

A hominid is any member of the biological family Hominidae (the "great apes"), including the extinct and extant humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. This classification has been revised several times in the last few decades. These various revisions have led to a varied use of the word "hominid": The original meaning of Hominidae referred only to the modern meaning of Hominina, including only humans and their closest relatives. The meaning of the taxon changed gradually, leading to the modern meaning of "hominid" in which it includes all great apes.

wiki

[Seyorni]

Are you not familiar with the Linnaean system of classification, Architect?

[The Great Architect]

Originally Posted by Seyorni

Are you not familiar with the Linnaean system of classification, Architect?

No, I am completely clueless. I never had an opportunity to study it. I find many of the science-based subjects very difficult, because I am physically incapable of writing notes, calculations, or formulae; and that kind of thing is required for the more 'scientific' subjects. I am incapable of using a pen, at least, to a degree that would satisfy most people. My mental arithmetic is good, but when the maths gets practical,I have great difficulty. (Sorry, that was very much off-topic.)

[logician]

Originally Posted by Super Universe

I absolutely believe in God and I absolutely believe in evolution.

God created the universe, the earth, and humanity His way, not the way the Pope wanted it to be.

Evolution is not a belief, it is a science, just like physics and chemsitry. You don't "believe" in sciences, they are end products of the scientific method.