The bible doesn't say anything about what color Adam and Eve were, or what they looked like. It just says that God created Adam, then he created Eve from one of Adam's ribs. Why he didn't create both of them from scratch is not explained. Most artists paint Adam and Eve as white people, but there is no historical basis for this. Here is an explanation of skin color (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_color) -- which is due to factors such as genetics and how much sunlight your ancestors were exposed to.

This is what the Bible says: Gen. 5:1 says, "In the day of God's creating Adam he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them. After that he blessed them and called their name Man [or, Mankind] in the day of their being created. "God blessed them and God said to them: "Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth". (Thus all mankind are descendants of that first human pair, Adam and Eve.) Acts 17:26: "[God] made out of one man [Adam] every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth." (So, regardless of what races make up a nation, they all are offspring of Adam.) Gen. 9:18, 19: "Noah's sons who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth." These three were Noah's sons, and from these was all the earth's population spread abroad." (After God destroyed the ungodly world by means of a global flood in Noah's day, the earth's new population, including all the races known today, developed from the offspring of Noah's three sons and their wives.) Professor of Zoology L. C. Dunn says that there "may have been a time when the human race was actually one marriage community, because even today all races have many of their genes in common, as though they had all obtained them from a common source". Recent DNA research certainly confirms this.

this is pure myth. if the bible is anything to go by why did he create man only whereas he created the other animals male and female. what was he thinking for the case of man? he later thought he should create a female for the man. Why

---- ANSWER MODIFIED: various text improvements -------- Adam and Eve, just as Jesus and God the father, were often represented in ancient sacred art using human models which were available to the artist. So they look Italian in Italy, German in Germany and so on. Actually, if Jesus and Mary [Maria] were Jews of the Holy Land, they would have looked like the Jews who lived there at that time. As far as older figures up to Abraham are concerned, there could eventually be historical clues. Concerning the race of Noah and his family, for instance, we don't have historically reliable information. Same for Adam and Eve: we don't have any reliable information about their race - and even their existence. According to various ideologies or beliefs, the myth has been interpreted in various contradictory ways. As to the idea that they were in the "image" of God, God is NOT a human being, even if Jesus incarned as one. So God does not belong to the human SPECIES and cannot have a human race. (This applies to the God of the Bible). An interesting point: the Holy Ghost is sometimes represented like God the Father, sometimes as a dove.

There's not a verse in the bible that says they were ligh skinned, please correct me if I'm wrong.

They only seem to be white to white people, but you only have to stop and think for a moment to realise they must have been in the Middle East, because that's where the rest of the Bible is based, and you would see them in your mind's eye as Middle Eastern.

If you read about the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 you'll see where humanity was separated by language and scattered over the face of the earth. It doesn't specifically say anything about races etc but I personally think this is where it all started. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2011%20;&version=49;

I think this is obviously a very debatable question. Even if Adam and Eve were white, it depends where their decendants grew up as to their colour and race. For instance my grandfather was white, and spent many years in nigeria building a school, and when he came back, he always looked foreign and tanned. It depends on the pigmentation of the skin, and the amount of sunlight one is exposed to. Equally the chances are, they would have some amount of colour, as i believe they were from the middle eastern area. Who knows. It just depends on location i guess, and human evolution.

There is no true evidence that Adam and Eve were white people. To be honest there are more people that are not white in this world than white so why do people assume that they were christian? But if there is some evidence that they were white, then the answer to the question is probably the climate. Their desendants moved all around the world to different places so the climate must have been different. Over the years , people had tanned and paled in the different places of the World. Seeing as they were in the middle eastern place, they must have had some colour in their skin. Maybe not though. It all depends on the climate and human evolution i guess..

Despite being placed in the Religions category this question has nothing to do with religion beyond the fact that it mentions Biblical characters. It is much more about the development and spread of the human race. It surprised me to notice that every single answer that so much as mentioned the Bible has been given points and the answers that didn't mention the Bible have not been awarded a single point between them. PLEASE DON'T RATE THIS ANSWER UP BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY GIVEN MY ANSWER. You may, of course, rate it down to your heart's content.

Your question has received several very thoughtful responses. For centuries, most professed Christians have been European. Many see Christianity as a Western or white religion. That is so far from true. Apparently, "Adam" is an ancient Hebrew word that means 'man' and also implies 'red' (compare with Jacob's son Esau, nicknamed Edom after the red stew he greedily ate (Genesis 25:27-34))Adam and Eve were very possibly red, maybe like American Indians. Whatever the case, we are all their children and all cousins of varying degrees. The blackest Zulu and the whitest Dane, along with the rest of us are family. The big question is, "When will we start acting like family?" The question arose 'why did God create Eve from Adam's rib and not from scratch?' The first recorded poem (Genesis 2:23) gives us the beautiful answer. "The man said, 'This is at last bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman because out of man she was taken.'" Imagine his joy at meeting his true completer, literally his own flesh. Later Adam lost appreciation for this thrilling gift (Genesis 3:12, 16). Centuries later the apostle Paul reminded husbands that this is the very reason to love and cherish their wives. Please read Ephesians 5:28, 29. Men, when we are tempted to degrade or neglect our precious mates or any woman, let us remember that they weren't made out of dirt as we were, but that they are truly of our own flesh, to be cherished and respected.

The only reason why we often think of a fair skinned Adam and Eve is that most art we see is European. The Bible does not mention skin colour, nor were there, as pointed out by Roger Kovaciny, were there any pictures in the Bible. Presumably, the DNA of Adam and Eve contained the possibilities for all skin colours that now exist on the earth. As to why Europeans depicted A & E as white: all people tend to imagine things in terms of what is familiar to them. Therefore, if you look at Christian art from non-european Christians, you will see that Biblical characters are drawn quite differently from the way that Europeans draw them. eg below I have a photo of the window in St Faith's Onhinemutu New Zealand, where Christ is depicted as a Maori chieftain. (This window is wonderful also because his feet rest on the waters of Lake Rotorua)

I don't think God ever portrayed human in His image. In fact, it is their stupidity and ignorance that made the authors of bible portray God in their own image.

Look if you believe in the bible you must be crazy. They are a range of myths and astrological symbols. The myths are not based on empirical evidence thus cannot be true. for the 1 billion christians and catholics, im sorry, but ur faith is a hoax, which is quite funny to poke at and be amused by the brainwashing which seems to go on. Thanks for your time. Bilbo baggins

Adam and Eve are a story, a metaphor of the birth of humanity. I recommended this book for you to read on the Bible: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=the+lonely+man+of+faith Furthermore, different "racial groups" are not distinctly biologically different.

Great question ! Love all the answers.

Saying that Adam and Eve were "white" is like that Amerrican senator or governor (can't remember the name) who stated in a speech: "If English was good enough for our Lord Jesus, it's good enough for me!". lol

because when project Eden was first started, they created a man and woman slave to begin their experiment of habitating this planet for labor purposes, they being our creators, the aliens or nephalim, annunaki whatever you want to call them. Now as in any experiment they had a couple of different locations picked out on the planet with identical Edens and slightly different versions of Adam and Eve, bred slightly different to see how they could adapt and survive in that area of the planet and be efficient slaves. So though even most people think we have adapted to our environment we were actually designed to already be adapted to it. Of course you only ever hear about 1 set of adam and eve because only One Adam and eve Were tippied off by one of the aliens and got wise and went to the tree (which was actually a base of operations/communication/observation tower) and they ate from the tree of knowledge (they saw the tree was a base and that they were not alone) and they were kicked out of Eden (set free) because it ruined the experiment. You can't observe animals in an environment/natural habitat if they know you are watching right? So there are different ethnicities because we were all designed from the same DNA (not our own of course)but were given certain attributes and other strengths etc different from each other to see which might perform better or be best suited for different purposes in the environment they would inhabit. if you ever want a full explanation go to http://www.informantnews.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=216 and read about the Elohim project. I am not religious but this is a greatly more plausible concept than what the bible offers.

idiots , talking about the bible. The bible should not be used as evidence of human sprawl. It is number one not reliable. Number two , there are like 100 different versions which some of them contradict each other. The old testament is just cruel. Get real. Get with the world. No angels. No gods. The ancients were personifyin natures aspects of life .eg the sun! fools i say . Run to your church get baptised and give your money away. Religions should be taxed .

Peace, I am trying to figure out how you have come to the conclusion that Adam and Eve were white to begin with??? In my opinion based on Biblical Theology man/woman was made in the likeness of H.I.M (G-d) and thus would inherit all traits comprised of H.I.M. (Domaniant and/or recessive). Has it ever occured to you (or anyone for that matter) that God holds no definitive colour but holds INFINITE colours as he is the Supreme Being and possess even the most anomalous of powers and phenomenons? If you take all colours of the universe and comprise them into One what would u get?....hummmm... I suggest first maybe knowledging the geographical aspects of civilization (keeping in mind that in biblical/ancient times earth as we now know it, was once ONE large land mass) if you really insist on finding this answer. Hopefully you will be open to finding truth about your biblical ancestors, from which we ALL decend from, and not bias to the Eurocentric ideologies, that people have been tricked into believing, thus creating ignorance. Sadly, it seems that people spend so much precious, G-d given time searching for such trivial answers when this same time could and should be spent on knowing/reflecting one's SELF, and SELFS relationship with H.I.M. Positive Edification Always Creates Enlightenment

Because some people have more pigments than others

Adam and Eve were white, and, the Bible tells us. Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. The word "man" in Hebrew is aw-dawm' which means ruddy and comes from the root word aw-dam' which means to blush or to show blood in the face of which the Caucasians are the race which blushes. God created all of the different races, they did not all come from Adam. In Genesis chapter 2, there is a parable in where, the trees in the garden are symbolic for people. And, Ezekiel 31 explains that parable. Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; And here we have the trees in the garden of Eden (garden of God) which, symbolize people. Eze 31:3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches Eze 31:8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir-trees were not like its boughs, and the plane-trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty. Eze 31:9 I made it fair by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it. Trees are used to symbolize people all through the Bible. Remember, Jesus himself said, "I am the vine, you are the branches, and also, Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Now, as for Adam and his line being white, the Bible tells us even more: This is David before he was king. He was also of a "ruddy" complexion 1Sa 16:12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he. And more: Son 5:10 My beloved is white and ruddy, The chiefest among ten thousand. And those of Zion (Jerusalem) were white Lam 4:7 Her nobles were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk; They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing was as of sapphire. There are many places in the Bible that tell that Adam and his line were white. And, since the line to Jesus was kept pure within Israel's and Adam's blood line, he would be white also. Adam was the beginning of the Caucasians only. All of the other races were in the garden of Eden, and, Adam was placed there to look after them: Gen 2:15 And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. The garden of Eden was people. You just have to read it in the Hebrew, and, understand that God speaks in parables, even back then. The Bible is an account of Jesus and his lineage only. It is NOT a history book of the world. And, if you're wondering how all of the races got past the flood, remember, God told Noah to bring 2 of ALL life on the boat. Gen 6:19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Notice it says "EVERY" living thing. That would include the other races which God made also. Have you ever wondered where Cain got his wife from, or, who he was afraid of when he was sent away after killing Abel? It doesn't say, because, it's wrapped in a parable. Most speculate that it was his sister he married, which, is not the case. He went away to the East, and, found a wife from one of the other races which God made. Who was he afraid of below? Gen 4:14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me. Who was his wife, and, who did he build a city for? Gen 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Gen 4:17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. There were other people on the earth which God made. That is who Cain married, who he built a city for, and, who he was afraid of. Man has speculated how all of these things came about, and, most have gotten them wrong. The trees in the garden of Eden were symbolic for people, and, Adam who was a type of Christ (Rom 5:14) was to look over, and, to cultivate those people. In short, Adam was white, and, the father of the Caucasian race, and, there were other people on the earth. And, God made them all. And Adam's line continues today.

Because they were much more genetically diverse than we are now. All those traits that are now tied to race didn't have to be then, you know. And I doubt very much they were white.

pale skin in the bible is look at by most people as being evil from some wrong doings or leprousy you can be cured but it may consume your whole body turning your whole body white or albino which black people still produce albino offsprings to the present day. now i beleive adam and eve were black they produce offsprings cain and abel cain killed abel the first murderer god protected and seperated him from most people or he be killed putting a mark on cain i dont know what that was but when talk about skin changing to white it is usually because of sin as was mariam when dealing with moses she was turned white like nahum and esau which was born like that and was evil down the line and jacob face should not turn pale; isaih29.22 africans and aboriginal african produce every nation of people whites chinese spanish arab indians

i wonder that too i asked my history teacher and he said that adam and eve came with all the potential types of races already in the dna @_@ idk the concept of that made my brain hurt

I think it was at the Tower of Babel, when God sent groups in different directions.

My New Theory: To stop the arguments and to be in peace with each other’s let the Adam and Eve be the ancestors of white people. THE OTHER CAME FROM INTELLIGENT OUT OF SPACE PEOPLE (UFO)

No one really knows what colour skin Adam and Eve had,and no one can ever prove what colour it was,and if they could would it really matter.

Adam and Eve "seen" to be white people by people who have never seen them.

Scientifically, according to DNA data, the Eve theory (explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve ) (and critiqued here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/01/010111194453.htm (though I never liked Wolpoff when I studied there)) and the y-chromosomal Adam theory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Adam) actually posit and tend to prove that the first 'people' on earth were African. White people are just Africans with less melanin.

I don’t want to argue with your beliefs, but for me I grew up in my Mi'kmaq community that (for me) fully explains creation. The Mi’kmaq believe that the great Creator (who knows he could be your God too) made all people across the planet, and they were made in four different color, the red (aboriginals) the white (Europeans) the yellow (Asian) and the black (Africans). These four colors are my people’s most sacred thing and it is where the different colors come from. If you would argue and say that it is wrong because my God is not yours then you may like to know that during the time That Jesus was brought back and he was gone for three days (I think, I don't know the bible well) a strange visitor came to the Atlantic region spreading the news of what the Creator (or God) wanted of us. Kind of funny how that happened eh?

If I understand you correct...Your asking why? We are different in color and how can this be if we are all born under, Adam and Eve? I found after some research, it is because...we have traveled, some of us have moved closer to the sun...which makes our skin darker. It is also because, we eat differently all over the world. The Bottoms of the souls of our feet are the same color.

The bible never states the race of Adam and Eve. Bibilically-speaking, all peoples descended from Noah's sons, Shem, Japheth, and Ham. Notice this was after the great flood, after the Nephilim had been destroyed. Well, the Nephilim couldn't have been destroyed in their entirety because they were seen when the Jews were trying to enter the Promised Land. The above is if you assume the interpretations of these passages are historically correct and not metaphors or fables.

Who says they were white? It doesn't indicate in the bible at all what colour they were. Obviously it wasn't relevent.

well what happened was... the sun god apollo let his half-human drive his golden carriage. his half human sun wasn't strong enough and he flew to close to the earths surface, thus creating the mexicans and black people. much more believeable then God making everybody from peoples ribs.

Because the people in power when the Bible was put together where white (europeans)That's why Jesus appears as white. Adam and Eve is just another fairy tale from the Bible that never happend.

Do you know that they were white? Were you there? Is there photographic evidence?

IF it was true then it would be hard to get other races but its NOT true so evolution has made the races and everything else that makes the world great.

Who told you they were the first "people"? If you actually read "that book" you will realize that the GODS created humans TWICE. That clearly shows either manipulation of the texts or stupidity of the author(s). If you believe that such a source is reliable, then your question makes sense.

All other races are of extraterrestrial origin.

Are you asking why people assume that the biblical characters Adam and Eve are white or are you calling the genetic ancestors of the human race Adam and Eve and asking what colour humans started out as? If your question is "what does the bible say" - there are lots of answers already along those lines. If your question is genetic then the answer is: the first people were black and evolved in Africa (this is science not my opinion.) People migrated to cooler less sunny regions and the dark skin pigment was not necessary - gradually whiter skinned people evolved.

Just noticed this is an ANTHROPOLOGY QUESTION - why is almost everyone quoting the bible????

Adma and Eve were australopiths. They were very hairy, and hardly white.

Not really sure why or who decided they were white, other, or even were at all. As to the question I would have to agree that all peoples came from two which I might have a problem with.

Who ever said Adam & Eve were "white" [caucasian]? In point of fact, the Bible describes him as "ruddy-like-clay" -- that's what Adam means in Hebrew.

Pshhhhhhhhhhhh they were black - white people are genetic mutations of black people, and from there they moved out to different parts of the earth and became different shades of tan

The oldest fossils on Earth are from Caucasians. It appears that “white” people were here for thousands of years before any variations of ethnicity are observed. There is proof via osteology and forensic data that Caucasians ruled the Earth for many millennia. The first dark skinned people came up on the radar about the time when the Curse of Ham was bestowed upon the Earth. Interbreeding of the darker skin tone with the lighter skin tones has created an entire plethora of different races. Evolutionary factors such as intelligence, diet, climate ect. has had an impact as well. I.E. A diet followed by the Asians for thousands of years has built up fatty deposits on the interior of their eyelids and orbital tissue, thus giving a slight deviation or slant to their eyes. As for different languages, the Tower of Babble has that covered. This puts an end to this discussion.

I don't think Adam and Eve are seen as "white" people by anyone other than Americans, actually. Regardless, other races, I think, come from people adapting to their surroundings and, for lack of a better word, their "habitats."

I had heard a few years ago that the races were all ranked as to first appearance on earth. The results were not published, however for fear that the race that first appeared would be considered not as advanced as the rest. Here's a hint though, anthropologists believe that humans first originated from the Fertile Crescent in what is now modern Turkey. As we all know however, more archaeological digs in other areas could change this supposed Eden, but it is not likely. Your question also mixes one religion with science. Other religions do not believe that Adam and Eve were the first man and woman, but male and female resembling their races. Also, Jewish legends tells of another female before Eve named Lil or Lilith who was a vampire and refused to be inferior to Adam, which would make Eve the second woman ever in this religion. Finally, diversity in all animals can be found in Darwin's "Evolution of Species", wherein being cut off from others of your kind causes variation. Things that can cause variation include mountain chains and large bodies of water. It was important for our survival long ago to adapt to our surroundings and our characteristics had some specific use at that time.

where did you get the impression t hat they were white? i guess on tv and in movies they are portrayed that way, even through history, probably because Europeans have portrayed them in their own image, but it is highly unlikely they were european given where they originated. more likely they were semitic or african people.

WEll the person that sed every on the top is rite people like me need to come to god because that how the world should be every one it should be no evil only good

There was simply no Adam & Eve! That story is a simplified tale of the original, which is used to symbolize a single origin & the concept of the process of human reproduction. Best made evident by saying Eve came from the rib of Adam. Laughable but still based on the truth. If u'd like the real story write to: [email protected] Khepera, Osara

To say that Adam and Eve were white is a matter of opinion.This is probably a western European conception which was even taught to Africans during colonization. We cannot tell to this very day tell whether the first human beings were 'white','black','brown'or whatever else! Every person would see Adam and Eve as themselves. Although recent genetic studies shows that the first humans had an African origin or genesis, but their skin color is not determined. Anyway the question of race has to be determined what is 'white'or 'black'or'brown'etc...? I believe that all human beings had a common origin!

Easy answer, it's not true. Do you not believe in evolution. Cause if not, then this whole endeavor takes one a different spirit sendschie

Adam and Eve must have been mid-brown in skin color to have the genetics coding for WHITE and BLACK descendants. But remember that God is a Sprit and He does not have a physical body. So He could not have given to Adam His own genetic color code, because He does not have a color. Therefore, when He created Adam and Eve, H had to make them mid-brown and place within the genetic coding to produce every color of person there has ever been in the history of the world. Please read Genesis 1:1, 9:1 where it states in verse 11. ..."Let the earth bring forth grass..." Since the earth could not have brought forth anything that it did not already have, this tells me that God created the heavens and earth, He must have put into the earth the genetic coding for all plants,trees and vegetation,so that at a certain time, He could say, "bring forth." If God did that for the ground, why wouldn't He follow the same principle with Adam?

Jesus was white too. I heard Chinese christians drawing a chinese looking Jesus and African countries they have black Jesus too. So there might be various colored Adam and Eve might have been bron at different places. A business have to survive.

I like your question. looking at the facts of the Bible we see that God used material from the Earth, dirt when he created both Adam and then Eve. So using that fact as our starting point, what color is dirt, or clay?, it usually ranges from brown to black, right? So Adam and Eve was probably in that color range also, but with genetics and migration we end up with the human color spectrum we have now. I will leave a link that I hope will help with your research. https://www.jw.org/finder?srcid=jwlshare&wtlocale=E&prefer=lang&pub=ce